An oncopsychologist is a psychologist who specializes in supporting cancer patients. Whether it's the shock of the diagnosis, anxiety, depression, self-image, or fear of recurrence, psychological difficulties can arise at any stage of treatment, before, during, or after. To address these challenges, the psycho-oncology team at the Jules Bordet Institute offers individual or group consultations and activities (support groups) for patients and their loved ones (partners, children, etc.).
The objectives of the Psycho-Oncology team of the Institut Jules Bordet are:
- the psychological and psychiatric management of the patients and/or those close to them,
- the development of clinical research projects,
- healthcare-provider/patient communication training and psycho-oncology training in general.
The common objective of the psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, neuropsychologists and smoking cessation specialists of the Psycho-Oncology Clinic is to preserve and improve the quality of life of patients with or who have had cancer. They are available for the patients themselves and for those close to them (children, partners, siblings, etc.).
Individually, the psycho-oncology team of the Institut Jules Bordet offers:
• psychological and psychiatric management specific to the problems found in oncology,
• psychotherapies,
• neuropsychological consultations for carrying out an assessment and a possible treatment of cognitive disorders,
• assistance with smoking cessation
In group, the psycho-oncology team offers:
• psychotherapeutic measures to help patients to better regulate their emotions and manage fatigue,
For families, the psycho-oncology team offers
• psychological consultations intended for the patient and those around them, in a couple or as a family.
• Bordet'n Family activities to better manage the repercussions of the disease on the family.
The measures are directed at anyone with or having suffered from cancer, as well as at those close to them. The support can take place during the patient’s hospitalisation and/or in consultations.
During hospitalisation, the involvement of the psychologists, psychotherapists and neuropsychologists is included in the price of the hospital stay. Outpatient and day hospital interventions are subject to fees. Some of these interventions may be available at a preferential rate within the framework of specific projects and within the framework of the INAMI's primary psychological care agreement. The involvement of the psychiatrist is always subject to fees.
Several members of the Psycho-Oncology Clinic are involved in teaching in the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Psychological Sciences, the Schools of Nursing and training in palliative care.
The members of the Psycho-Oncology are regular trainers in the Interuniversity Certificate in Psycho-Oncology. In addition, they offer training in healthcare-provider/patient communication accessible to all caregivers (doctors, nurses, psychologists and paramedics) working in oncology in Belgium.
Research projects
The Psycho-Oncology Clinic has developed specific and valuable collaborations with the ASBL Psycho-Oncology Centre and with the Psychosomatic and Psycho-Oncology Research Unit of the ULB. Each research project is based on this collaboration and is coordinated by a member of the Psycho-Oncology Clinic, under the supervision of Prof. Isabelle Merckaert.
Project 1
Better control over emotions in day-to-day life: a study evaluating the impact of a group psychological intervention for patients with a metastatic cancer.
- Project leader : Florence Lewis et Isabelle Merckaert
- Collaboration : Centre de Psycho-Oncologie and l’Unité de Recherche en Psychosomatique et Psycho-oncologie (ULB)
- Financing : L’Association Jules Bordet, Fonds Désiré et Simone Drieghe Miller (géré par la Fondation Roi Baudouin).
Project 2
BORDET’N FAMILY: SUPPORT INTERVENTIONS FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES WHO INCLUDE A CANCER patient
- Project leader : Aurore Liénard
- Collaborations : Hôpital Erasme, Centre de Psycho-Oncologie et l’Unité de Recherche en Psychosomatique et Psycho-oncologie (ULB).
- Financing : L’Association Jules Bordet
Project 3
THE CHILD AND A SICK PARENT: A PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION TO SUPPORT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN CANCER PATIENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN, TEENAGERS AND YOUNG ADULTS
- Project leader : Aurore Liénard
- Collaborations : Centre de Psycho-Oncologie et l’Unité de Recherche en Psychosomatique et Psycho-oncologie (ULB).
- Financing : L’Association Jules Bordet, Fonds Thierry Maricq & Véronique Detournay (géré par la Fondation Roi Baudouin).
Projet 4
ONLINE RESILIENCE GROUP-BASED TRAINING PROGRAM, ECOLOGICALLY BOOSTED AND SCHEDULED IN THE EARLY CANCER TREATMENT PERIOD OF AYAS WITH CANCER: A LONGITUDINAL MULTICENTER RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL
- Project leader : Yves Libert et Isabelle Merckaert
- Collaborations : Le Centre de Psycho-Oncologie, l’Unité de Recherche en Psychosomatique et Psycho-oncologie (ULB), l’Institut de Recherche en Sciences Psychologiques de la Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l’Éducation (UCL) et les Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc (UCL), le GIGA Consciousness, Sensation and Perception Research Group (ULg) et le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège (CHU Liège) (ULg).
- Financing : Le FRS.FNRS – Télévie, L’Association Jules Bordet.
Our team
Psychologist Coordinator
Yves Libert
Clinical Psychologists
Carla Baron
Loriane Boas
France Delevallez
Salomé Lamal
Florence Lewis
Aurore Liénard
Isabelle Merckaert
Lucie Ponsard
Antoine Van Lierde
Kylian Vincx
Denis Walravens
Pauline Waroquier
Neuro-psychologist
Cindy Borghgraef
Smoking cessation specialists
Martial Bodo
Laurence Gilson
Hilde Vandecasteele
Psychologists specialists (consultants)
Marie Caillier
Laure Chaix de Lavarène
Ariane Fauconnier
Diane Gillet de Chalonge
Ines Mattiussi
Angélique Moucheux
Daniela Rios
Oriane Verkaeren
Justine Wéry
10/07/2025
Publications 2024
Early palliative care in metastatic uveal melanoma (early together): protocol of a prospective randomized Phase III trial.
Auteurs : Piperno-Neumann S, de Koning L, Marchal T, Gastaud L, Waechter L, Fogliarini, A, Bouleuc C, Libert Y, Seban R, Thery L, Ducoulombier A, Rodrigues M, Bredart A, Alexia Savignoni A, Dolbeault S, Burnod A
Année : 2024
Journal : Melanoma Management
Volume : 11(1)
Interventions aiming to improve advance care planning uptake in oncology: a scoping review of recent randomized controlled trials.
Auteurs : Libert Y, Langhendries C, Choucroun L, Merckaert I
Année : July 2024
Journal : Current Opinion in Oncology
Volume : 36(4)
A new comprehensive and stratified concept for supportive care in cancer patients.
Auteurs : Klastersky J, Libert I, Libert Y, Echterbille, MA
Année : July 2024
Journal : Current Opinion in Oncology
Volume : 36(4)
Communication and support of patients and caregivers in chronic cancer care: ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline.
Auteurs : Stiefel F, Bourquin C, Salmon P, Achtari Jeanneret L, Dauchy S, Ernstmann N, Grassi L, Libert Y, Vitinius F, Santini D, Ripamonti CI
Année : July 2024
Journal : . ESMO Open
Volume : 9(7)
Scientific publications
Improving emotion regulation in breast cancer patients in the early survivorship period: Efficacy of a brief ecologically boosted group intervention.
Authors : Merckaert I, Waroquier P, Caillier M, Verkaeren O, Righes S, Liénard A, Libert Y, Kristanto P, Razavi D
Year : 2023
Journal : Psychooncology
Frailty in older adults with cancer (Fabio Gomez, editor) - Part III : Breast cancer in older adults with frailty
Authors : Dal Lago L, De Caluwe A, Borghgraef C, Dumont L, Pepersack T
Year : 2022
Journal : Book
Volume : part III
Pages : 303 - 318
Psychological factors associated with clinical fear of cancer recurrence in breast cancer patients in the early survivorship period.
Authors : Waroquier P, Delevallez F, Razavi D, Merckaert I
Year : 2022
Journal : Psychooncology
Volume : 31
Pages : 1877-1885
A randomized controlled trial assessing behavioral, cognitive, emotional and physiological changes resulting from a communication skills training in physicians caring for cancer patients.
Authors : Libert Y, Peternelj L, Bragard I, Marchal S, Reynaert C, Slachmuylder JL, Razavi D
Year : 2022
Journal : Patient Educ Couns
Volume : 105
Pages : 2888-2898
Psychological interventions targeting patients with metastatic cancer and prolonged survival expectancies: advances and challenges.
Authors : Righes S, Lewis F, Waroquier P, Delevallez F, Merckaert I
Year : 2022
Journal : Curr Opin Oncol
Volume : 34
Pages : 256-264