Nathalie Huitema, Ph.D., ABS

Personal profile

Sexologist and psychogerontologist Ph.D. Trying to find depth in specific subjects. Working with targets. Always mixing analytic thinking with pragmatism. Takes initiative. Can work in groups and independent. Special interest in sexological problems in adults and elderly in long term care. Is passionate about sharing knowledge, guiding and teaching students and psychologists in training. Can think out of the box. Ability to work with diverse populations and communities.

Languages

English (professional proficiency), Dutch (native proficiency), German (elementary proficiency)

Work experience

August 2021 – December 2021 Research Assistant of Dr. P. Harvey within the Human sexuality program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. The main focus is on grant research and writing, and on assisting with research study.

August 2020 – June 2021 Teaching Assistance for several doctoral courses within the Human sexuality program at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

January 2019 – June 2019 Intern for the Alzheimer Association with the LGBT Dementia Care Project in San Francisco.

2018 Commercially developed E-learning for elderly care physicians for CME-online.

2016 – now Commercially developed E-learning on how to deal with sexuality issue in a nursing home setting for nurses (aids): Nathaliehuitema.com

2015 – 2019 Alzheimer Association Northern California & Northern Nevada, as an early stage support group facilitator and as a volunteer lecturer (workshops/presentations) and a helpline volunteer.

2002 – 2014 Senior psychologist and sexologist at academic nursing home ‘Archipel zorggroep’ in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Treatment center for adults and elderly clients with cognitive impairment, dementia. Supporting nursing teams from nursing home in handling ‘problematic’ behavior of the elderly, such as aggression, depression, claiming behavior. Diagnosing and developing a treatment plan for clients with special needs, such as Huntington disease, Parkinson’s disease, early onset dementia, MS, as well as clients that still live at home. I initiated a discussion group for clients and their caregivers, set up a cognitive training program for our day care therapy clients, setting up a special treatment team for sexuality, setting up a special treatment team for Parkinson’s disease, creating a training for nurses to deal with sexual issues. I have been educating and mentoring psychology students for several years from different universities with gerontology masters.

2012 – 2014 Consultanting psychologist at CCE (National Center for consulting and expertise). The CCE works for clients who need long term care and the treatment centers have been unable to tend to their specific needs, which usually consist of severe behavioral issues, in which the quality of life is at stake for those clients. As a consultant, I assess the situation, and advise on treatment plans, in which I combine my knowledge on behavioral issues, analytic thinking with pragmatism.

2007 – 2014 Leader and facilitator of the Alzheimer café, organized by Alzheimer Nederland. Together with volunteers, I facilitated and lead one evening each month, visited by 80-100 people. I interviewed caregivers on a stage and facilitated a discussion afterwards. Alzheimer café is intended to be fun, educational and supportive for caregivers and patients still living at home with Alzheimer’s disease.

2001 – 2002 Psychologist at nursing home ‘St. Jozefzorg’ in Tilburg, the Netherlands. 1999 – 2001 Psychologist at nursing home ‘De Riethoek’ in Gouda, the Netherlands.

1997 – 1999 Psychologist in nursing home ‘Interzorg’ te Assen, the Netherlands.

Education

2016 – 2022 PhD in “Human Sexuality” at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco. The title of my dissertation is: THE HIDDEN EXPIRATION DATE ON CONSENT: A DELPHI STUDY TO ESTABLISH DETERMINANTS OF SEXUAL CONSENT IN AGING PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA.

2007 – 2008 Sexology (Netherlands) An accredited post graduate program at RINO education Amsterdam.

1998 – 2002 Government licensed psychologist (Netherlands) An accredited BIG registration from the Dutch Government Department of Health, Wellbeing, and Sport.

1990 – 1996 Psychology, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Netherlands Master’s degree, with a major in gerontology. Awards UKON UNIEK AWARD; The UKON (University knowledge center for the elderly in Nijmegen) has presented an award in 2013 for the first time for the most innovative idea in elderly care. Nathalie Huitema has won this award with her sex-suitcase for educating nursing teams in nursing homes to deal with sexuality- issues.

Certifications

Certified sexologist ACS, Dutch certified psychologist (BIG 29062260625), PhD Human sexuality at CIIS. Publons ADH-3218-2022 ORCID 0000-003-2975-2575

Publications

2022 Chapter on sex service work in Dutch nursing homes, in Sex and Intimacy in later life (Eds). In process of publication.

2022 Publication in progress in Journal ‘Generations’ on the determinantion of consent in people with dementia. 2017 Co-author chapter ‘Sexuality’ in the Handboek ouderenpsychologie [Handbook for Gerontopsychology] in the Netherlands.

2013 Sexuality in a nursing home; zorgvisie;

October 4, 2013 2013 Sex-suitcase with stuff to talk about; Tijdschrift voor verzorgenden;

July 2013 2013 How do you talk about sex with a client? Link magazine Presentations: December 2021 ‘The intersection between aging, sexuality, and consent’, Harvard medical center.

2017 CALA (California assisted Living association) conference; ‘sex, love, and aging’. 2014 ‘sexuality and Huntington disease’ 2014 ‘Intimacy and sexuality within nursing home care’, Archipel zorggroep 2013 ‘Intimacy and sexuality within nursing home care’, Archipel zorggroep

2013 ‘Sexual health in the aging population’, Leyden academy

2011 ‘Sexuality and Dementia’, caregivers Eindhoven Workshops:

2017 Zen Hospice Project, San Francisco, USA

2017 On Lok senior care organization, San Francisco, USA

2013 Sexuality within the deaf and blind, Netherlands 2013 ‘Let’s talk about sex’, UKON symposium Nijmegen, Netherlands Peer review:

February 2022 Journal of Aging and Health November

2020 SAGE Open nursing September

2020 SAGE Open nursing

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