A stay in Leuven to conduct research on emotional maturity in a clinical setting

Last January, psychologist Pilar Aviñó, a pre-doctoral researcher in group Infinity: Family, Love, and Sexuality at the Institute for Culture and Society ICS) at the University of Navarra, packed her bags and traveled to Leuven, the Belgian city where she completed a research stay May. Over the course of these five months, she delved deeper into her thesis at the Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY) at UCLouvain, under the supervision of Professor Jochem Willemsen.

Aviñó says that the stay has contributed significantly to her research  emotional maturity as a clinical construct: “In Leuven, I was able to test my framework and methodological framework with specialists in psychotherapy, development , emotional regulation, and qualitative methodology. I also presented my project a group seminar , where I received very valuable feedback.”

For the researcher, the experience has been “very positive and enriching, both academically and personally.” In this regard, she appreciates having been able to step outside her comfort zone, learn about a different approach to research, and experience it in a different context. Added to this is the challenge working in three languages (English, French, and Spanish): “I’ve enjoyed it immensely. The stay has helped me make progress on my thesis but it has also helped me gain confidence, improve my skills in research , academic writing, and scientific communication, and work in an international environment in English and French.”

New opportunities

Aviñó also appreciates the attention and work the team that welcomed her: “I had the opportunity to have very interesting conversations with professors and researchers at the university, which I result and which helped me take more initiative, overcome my fear of sharing my ideas, reexamine my epistemological frameworks, and learn to defend them more effectively.”  In addition, the visit enabled her to participate in research seminars—particularly those focused on qualitative methodology—attend three international conferences, and present her project to the group she worked group . “We’ve also prepared a paper in partnership the group , and a line of work remains open: one article practically finished, and another is already planned.”

He also highlights the opportunities that living in Brussels and working in Louvain-la-Neuve have afforded him: “It’s been very enjoyable because of the combination of the two environments: Louvain is a university town—quiet and designed for intellectual meeting academic life—and, at the same time, I’ve really enjoyed Belgium’s cultural richness and its openness to people from different countries.”

Now that he’s back in Pamplona, he feels that this experience has been “very intellectually stimulating and quite demanding.” “I’m left with the feeling that I’ve grown a lot and that I’ve proven I’m capable of getting things done in an international setting. I’m also taking away academic connections that I hope will continue to grow in the future,” Aviñó summarizes.