Torun M. Vatne

Torun founded the Sibling Project and is the main developer of the SIBS intervention. She leads the projects “Development and Implementation”, “SIBS-Online”, and “MiniSIBS”. Together with Krister W. Fjermestad, she plays a central role in the development of all components of the Sibling Project and its associated research projects. Torun is a clinical psychologist and researcher at the National Centre for Rare Disorders, Unit Frambu, and a university lecturer at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo. She has extensive theoretical and practical experience, specializing in clinical work with children and adolescents, and holds a PhD on communication between chronically ill children and healthcare professionals. She also has experience as a clinical psychologist working with seriously ill and terminally ill children, as well as long-standing practical experience working with families of children with severe or rare diagnoses. Torun’s areas of specialization include siblings’ understanding of diagnoses, leadership and communication in group interventions for children, parent–child communication, and siblings of children with life-limiting conditions.Torun can be contacted at sibs@frambu.no.

Krister W. Fjermestad

Krister is part of the leadership team of the Sibling Project together with Torun Vatne and plays a central role in the project’s development. He leads the work on “Research and International Collaboration” and was the project leader for the “SIBS-RCT”. Krister is the main supervisor for all PhD candidates in the project and is one of the developers of the SIBS intervention. He is involved in all research projects and also works as a project staff member in “SIBS-Online” and “Development and Implementation”. Krister is a professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, and a specialist psychologist and researcher at the National Centre for Rare Disorders, Unit Frambu. He is trained as a psychologist with specialization in clinical work with children and adolescents. He has extensive clinical experience working with families of children with physical and mental illnesses, as well as research experience related to rare diagnoses and how illness affects families.Krister can be contacted at sibs@frambu.no.

Amalie Schumann

Amalie is a PhD candidate at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. As part of her doctoral research, she examines how SIBS can be adapted and used within child and adolescent mental health services in England for families where children and adolescents have eating disorders.

She holds a degree in psychology from the University of Oslo.

Amalie can be contacted at amalie.schumann@psych.ox.ac.uk.

Solveig Kirchhofer

Solveig is a PhD candidate holding a dual-position appointment as a researcher and psychologist in specialist training at Nic Waals Institute, Lovisenberg, and the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo. She is affiliated with the SIBS-RCT and has a particular interest in and focus on exploring social support for siblings of children with chronic illness and predictors of siblings’ mental health over time.

She has experience in health psychology and has worked clinically in OCD and DBT-C (Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Children) teams, and is currently undertaking further training in both treatment approaches.Solveig can be contacted at solveig.kirchhofer@gmail.com.

Trude Fredriksen

Trude is a PhD candidate in the Sibling Project, with a particular focus on the family perspective and the effects of SIBS on siblings’ mental health. She is a psychologist specialized in clinical work with children and adolescents and has experience working with eating disorders, assessment of neurodevelopmental disorders, and psychotic conditions.

Trude has further training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and the clinical use of hypnosis, and has worked with the implementation of Family-Based Treatment (FBT) in child and adolescent mental health services.She can be contacted at trude.fredriksen@sykehuset-innlandet.no.

Linda Nyanchoka 

Linda is a postdoctoral researcher in the Sibling Project, funded by the Research Council of Norway. She holds a PhD in International Health and focuses her postdoctoral work on the implementation of sibling interventions.

Linda has an academic background from universities in Paris, Liverpool, Sheffield, and Copenhagen, and has worked for the Cancer Registry of Norway and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.Linda can be contacted at l.m.nyanchoka@psykologi.uio.no.

Bendik Jakobsen

Bendik is the project coordinator for SIBS and the Sibling Project and is responsible for administrative tasks, coordination, and communication related to the project’s implementation and development. He contributes to ensuring good information flow between researchers, collaborators, and participants, and is often the main point of contact for questions about the project.

Bendik holds a postgraduate degree in social anthropology from the University of Oslo. He can be contacted regarding questions about the Sibling Project at sibs@frambu.no.