Keynote Speaker

Photographer: Ola Gamst Sæther

Dr. Helene Amundsen Nissen-Lie

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Helene Amundsen Nissen-Lie as the keynote speaker for the 2026 IEDTA International Conference.

Dr. Nissen-Lie is a Norwegian psychologist and professor of clinical psychology in the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo. She is recognized internationally for her research on therapeutic processes, therapist factors, and the development of psychotherapist expertise. She completed her Cand.psychol. degree (masters program in clinical psychology)  at the University of Oslo in 2002 and earned her Ph.D. there in 2011. After several years in clinical practice and postdoctoral research, she became an associate professor in 2014 and was promoted to full professor in 2020, while continuing to practice as a psychotherapist/clinician.

Her scholarly work focuses on psychotherapy process and outcome research, with a particular emphasis on therapist development, relational factors, and mechanisms of change across therapeutic methods, such as psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, emotion focused, MBT, and integrative psychotherapies. Among her recent contributions is a 2025 commentary in the Journal of Clinical Psychology on deliberate practice in psychotherapy supervision, where she discusses how targeted skill refinement can enhance therapist effectiveness, while maintaining a balanced view of the challenges in implementing such training models.

Dr. Nissen-Lie’s research combines empirical findings with the lived experience of both patient and therapist, integrates relational and reflective dimensions into psychotherapy competence, and considers diverse topics such as therapist’s self-care and the use of artificial intelligence in psychotherapy from a psychoanalytic and existential point of view.  She has also presented internationally on the personal and professional qualities that support therapeutic effectiveness, held clinical seminars, and delivered keynote talks on how to best develop our personal and professional qualities to facilitate both professional development and client change.

As the keynote speaker at the 2026 IEDTA International Conference, Dr. Nissen-Lie will bring her deep expertise in therapist factors, deliberate practice, and interpersonal capacities to illuminate how psychotherapists can cultivate personal presence and professional expertise to optimize client change processes.