Where psychology meets the working world.
ABOUT KELLY KIM
Kelly Kim · NIP® Psychologist
I came to psychology from inside the corporate world. Before I trained, I spent thirteen years in global HR, and I have lived as an international professional in the Netherlands myself. So I understand the professional side of what my clients face, not only the emotional side.
MY BACKGROUND
Both sides of the desk.
For thirteen years I worked as a regional HR leader for global companies including Analog Devices, Stryker and Grundfos, running people functions across the Netherlands, the UK, several ASEAN countries and Korea. Then I trained as a psychologist at VU Amsterdam.
That career means I do not approach workplace mental health from one side of the desk. I have sat with business leaders making hard reintegration decisions, with managers trying to do right by a struggling team member, and with the employee on the other end of those conversations.
I know what an organisation carries when someone is unwell: the legal exposure, the pressure on the rest of the team, the cost of a long absence. I also know what the employee carries. Performing while quietly struggling is draining on its own. Add an unfamiliar Dutch sick leave system and the awkwardness of asking for help, and the strain compounds.
I bring two things to this work. One is the practitioner side: I am a psychologist registered with the Nederlands Instituut van Psychologen (NIP), trained at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The other is the operational side: I have led HR inside the same constraints my clients are now navigating.
“For years I built reintegration plans from the HR side. Now I sit with the employees living through them. Very few people in this field have seen it from both chairs.”
Kelly Kim, NIP-registered psychologist
Credentials at a glance
REGISTRATION
NIP-registered psychologist (246553)
LANGUAGES
English and Korean
EDUCATION
MSc Psychology, VU Amsterdam
METHODS
CBT, solution-focused and mindfulness
INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
13 years in global HR, 7 countries
COMPLIANCE
AVG and GDPR compliant
HOW I WORK
My practice is built for corporate realities. The work is structured, time-bounded and focused on measurable change rather than open-ended processing. That suits the individual and the organisation alike, because both are working towards the same result: the person healthy and steady at work.
A structured, time-bounded practice
My methods are evidence-based. The one I draw on most is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles, among the most extensively validated approaches for anxiety, burnout and mood-related difficulties. I combine it with mindfulness-based methods for emotional regulation under sustained pressure, and solution-focused work where a client needs practical movement rather than long analysis.
Evidence-based methods
The specialist layer on top of your existing setup
Your EAP and arbodienst handle breadth. This practice handles depth: bilingual support for Korean and international staff, sick leave reintegration under the Wet verbetering poortwachter, cross-cultural burnout, and the senior cases a generic platform is not built to reach. Running the two together lowers the cost of long absences, shortens reintegration timelines, and gets specialist attention to the cases that quietly drive your largest exposure.
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I tell employers and individuals alike when this practice is not the right support for the situation. A partnership that is genuinely useful starts with that clarity, not with an attempt to fit every case.
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Every engagement, whether with an individual or an organisation, is built to produce something usable. Sessions produce tools. Partnerships produce reduced absence, smoother reintegration, and better-prepared managers. The work is judged by what changes, not by what is discussed.
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My role is to help people and organisations navigate their situation, not to take it over. Recommendations are made, decisions stay with you.
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A specialist who is genuinely good at their work makes the client need them less over time, not more. The same logic applies at the organisational level: a partnership that strengthens your internal capability is a partnership doing its job.
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Individual session content is fully confidential and never shared with employers. Where useful, anonymised organisational insights can be reported to HR at agreed intervals, so the partnership stays measurable without compromising trust.
What guides how I work