Arjan W. Braam

Profiel

Arjan Braam (1969), psychiatrist, is based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and is active in the department of emergency psychiatry and head of the residency training program in psychiatry for Altrecht, a major Mental Health Care organization in the region.

He started his career as a researcher in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), with a focus on religion and mental health. LASA is carried out in the VU University and Amsterdam University Medical Center. The first studies on religiousness and depression followed a sociological and epidemiological approach. His dissertation (‘Religion and depression in later life, an empirical approach’ 1999) was based on data from LASA and EURODEP, a collaborative program of epidemiological studies into depression in old age. Afterwards, the possibility was obtained to use methods and insights as available in the psychology of religion, such as on God-representation and religious coping. Again, the ongoing LASA study facilitated the proceedings of the research.

In 2012, he received an endowed chair ‘Religion/Life-view and Psychiatry’ at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht.  The chair was initiated by the Knowledge Center for Religion / Lifeview  and Mental Health (‘KSGV’). Other subjects of research include emergency psychiatry, epidemiology of depression, and case reports in clinical psychiatry.
Meanwhile, he got involved in qualitative studies (e.g. in Master theses and PhD theses) on issues of meaning in life and mental health. He chaired the committee that provided the ‘Zorgstandaard Zingeving in de psychische hulpverlening’ (Practical Guideline Meaning & Spirituality in Dutch Mental Health Care; Akwa GGZ 2023).

Within the Netherlands, there are close ties with scholars participating in the Dutch Federation on Meaning and Mental Health (contributors: KSGV, CVPPP, KCIG, NVvP = FZGG). He participates in the scientific board of the European Network of Research on “Religion, Spirituality and Health” (RSH), with international conferences every two years.