Kristin Berre Ørjasæter

Kristin Ørjasæter is an Associate Professor in Health and Social Sciences at the Health and Community division and the head of Mental Health research group at the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences. She holds a master`s degree in social work and a PhD in health sciences.

Ørjasæter is an active researcher, currently involved in several externally funded projects:

• NEON Young Norway Study (NFR) –The Neon Young Norway Study (nord.no) – Principal Investigator
• MedSafe-Old (NFR) -MedSafe-Old: Ensuring medication safety for older recipients of municipal home care services - Senter for omsorgsforskning, sør (omsorgsor.no) – Project participant and PhD supervisor
• PrepChild forskningssenter for barn og unge og sosial beredskap (NFR) – The Centre for Children & Youth, Vulnerability, and Social Preparedness - Prosjektbanken (forskningsradet.no) – WP leader
• Young in Namdalen (Partnerskapet Namdalen og Trøndelag Municipality) – Principal Investigator
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Additionally, Ørjasæter is engaged in the following ongoing research projects:

• REACTIVATE: Art-based vocational rehabilitation in the Norwegian labour and welfare Administration – Principal Investigator
• Why smash bus shelters? An action research project on being young – Project participant
• Where did I go? The performers and audiences’ experiences with musical theater to create understanding, openness and changes in attitudes related to mental health problems – Principal Investigator
• FACT: An appropriate collaborative treatment model in rural areas? – Principal Investigator
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During 2024-2028, she will also be a member of the Management Committee (MC) in the European Cost Action Network CA23153 – Digital Mental Health for Young People (Action CA23153 - COST).

Over the past ten years, Ørjasæter has extensively researched the field of recovery; Understandings of recovery and recovery-oriented practices, challenging shifting focus to recovery-oriented practices in mental health care, and experiences with psychosocial recovery-oriented practices related to experiences with music and theater as arenas for recovery processes for people facing complex mental health problems in mental health care.

Before joining HINT University College and later Nord University full-time, Ørjasæter worked as a clinician (milieu therapist, therapist, and professional coordinator) in secondary mental health care. She has 15 years of experience from mental health outpatient clinics, acute, and intermediate wards, and has been particularly focused on developing good treatment for people with eating disorders and personality disorders. Continuous professional development has been important in her career, resulting in several therapy educations; further education in family therapy, schema therapy (ST), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), EMDR, and a 1,5-year competence program on eating disorders.