Sari Ahlqvist-Björkroth profile picture
Sari
Ahlqvist-Björkroth
Doctoral Researcher, Psychology
University Teacher, Psychology
University Lecturer, Psychology
Teacher, Psychology
Docent, Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology
Psychologist, Docent/ Associate Professor
APPLE research (https://sites.utu.fi/apple/en/); SCENE research group (https://sites.utu.fi/scene/)

Contact

Areas of expertise

Transition to parenthood
early parent-child relationship and its assessment
depressive symptoms in the perinatal period
effects of neonatal hospitalization on parent-infant closeness and separation
early parenting interventions
family-centered neonatal care

Biography

I am a psychologist specializing in psychotherapy (2011), a doctor of psychology (2017) and an associate professor (docent) of clinical and developmental psychology (2022).

Currently, I work as a university lecturer at the Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology. In addition to this, I manage my own research projects and supervise dissertations. I also actively collaborate in several national and international research projects.

Teaching

My teaching at the university focuses on teaching clinical psychology. My teaching responsibilities include, for example, courses on interaction and self-reflection skills, mental health disorders, and an advanced studies course on early family relationships and child development. I am also a responsible teacher at a multi-professional teaching clinic.

I am also responsible for the training process for the Close Collaboration with Parents intervention when it is implemented in a new hospital setting.

Research

My research focuses on the effects of psychosocial and environmental factors on early parent-child relationships and attachment formation in the perinatal period. I am also interested in how internal representations of the unborn child and parenthood are formed during pregnancy and how they relate to postpartum parenting. I am particularly interested in this process for fathers, as very little is known about it.

I am particularly interested in the development, implementation, and effectiveness of interventions and practices based on theories on developmental psychology. For example, I have developed the Close Collaboration with Parents intervention for neonatal intensive care teams and the Interactive Ultrasound intervention for depressed pregnant women.

Publications

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