Background and experience
Ane Ugland Albæk is Associate Professor at the Department of Psychosocial Health, University of Agder. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Bergen and is trained as an organizational psychologist. Her doctoral dissertation, "Walking children through a minefield", explored professionals’ experiences of addressing abuse in child interviews through qualitative studies.
Ane has extensive experience in teaching, training, and supervising professionals and leaders working in people-centered services. Her background includes work in specialist health care, municipal services, and national competence centers, with a focus on strengthening practitioners’ ability to support individuals with diverse needs. She regularly teaches professionals across sectors such as education, child welfare, health services, NAV, habilitation, and voluntary organizations.
Her research centers on professional practice and helping relationships, with particular attention to relational competence and service quality. Key topics include the identification and handling of violence and abuse, and the emotional demands of care work.
Ane leads the research group FORMA – Research on Therapeutic Environmental Work – at the Department of Psychosocial Health.
Teaching
General psychology, Communication and relationship-building, Empathy-oriented milieu-therapeutic work, Violence and abuse against children, Mental health and wellbeing.
Research
Research interests include:
Identification and handling of violence and abuse against children
Work-related emotional strain
Relational competence as personal skills
Life skills and mental health in schools
Therapeutic environmental work (practice, competence, and attitudes)
Quality and interdisciplinary collaboration in services for people with complex challenges
Additional academic interests include:
Mental health, childhood adversity, children and youth, complexity in care, existential health, development of personal skills, communication, relational competence, organizational psychology, and leadership.