Biography

Dr. de Vries is a psychologist who specialises in psychology of health, cognitive dissonance research, stress management, cognitive neuroscience, and social psychology. He holds a PhD in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin and an MSc and BSc from Utrecht University in The Netherlands.

Dr. de Vries started his research career in the Netherlands at Utrecht University where he was a researcher in the Theatre, Film and Television Department. The research focussed on emotions in spectators of theatre and film. At that time he also started his research on stress management in performers, which was the topic of his Masters thesis in the Netherlands and later his PhD in Ireland. The research included a survey of performers, semi-structured interviews, design and evaluation of an intervention for performers in training (including follow-up), and led to the design of stress management workshops. He moved to Ireland in 1994 to extend and complete the research started in the Netherlands. While in Ireland he got involved in a variety of projects including a feasibility study for TCD and DIT on setting up of an Arts Therapies programme. This included focus groups. Later he set up, coordinated, and evaluated an extensive programme of dialogue, healing and reconciliation at the Glencree Centre of Reconciliation (Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow). In 2000 he was offered a visiting professorship at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He stayed in the USA for six year combining teaching of a variety of psychology classes with research on dating services. At present he is lecturing in psychology in the School of Nursing and Midwifery in TCD and involved in a variety of research programmes originating in the School. He is a reviewer for Family and Marriage review and was a member of the Stress Management Policy Development group for the Health Service Executive (HSE). This present research activities include the Cognitive Neuroscience of Cognitive Dissonance; Applications of Cognitive Dissonance (to Hand Hygiene and Conflict Management); Psychology Teaching in Nursing; Various Evaluations of Mental Health Programmes and other training programmes; Leadership in Nursing; Accident Proneness and Functional Health Patterns, and Community Integration in People with and Intellectual Disability.

https://www.tcd.ie/research/profiles/?profile=devriej

Link to a short video on his research: