The Nils Klim Symposium: ‘Storying the Person in a Mental Health Crisis’

The symposium is held in honour of the 2026 Nils Klim Laureate Majse Lind. The Laureate’s lecture is followed by presentations by invited guests, a panel discussion and a Q&A session. In her Nils Klim Lecture the Laureate will link the storied sense of self, the narrative identity, to the development, severity, and recovery of personality pathology. This symposium will focus on the role of personality, especially narrative identity – the evolving story people construct to make sense of themselves and their lives. The speakers will highlight its central role in the development, maintenance, and severity of mental health problems. We will discuss how personality and narrative identity can serve as early markers of psychopathology, contribute to self-stigmatization, and offer clinical and preventive utility. Evidence will span across mental illnesses and settings, including family and outpatient contexts. Each speaker will share key lessons and milestones to guide future research and practice in addressing the ongoing mental health crisis Speakers Majse Lind, 2026 Nils Klim Prize Laureate, and Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Aalborg Annabel Bogaerts, Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Developmental Psychology University of Amsterdam Elisabeth de Moor, Assistant Professor of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University Rikke Amalie Agergaard Jensen, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark Event image: Cropped version of "The Oak" (1906) by Edvard Munch. Available in the Public domain. Accessed via rawpixel.com.