Alexander Rozental

Short biography

After graduating from the Psychology Program in 2011 with a MSc, I worked as a clinical psychologist at an outpatient psychiatric care unit and as a lecturer at the Centre for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet. I became a Licensed Psychologist in Sweden in 2012 and have continued doing part-time clinical work in different settings ever since. I completed my PhD at the Department of Psychology at Stockholm University in 2017 with a doctoral thesis on the negative effects of Internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy, supervised by Professors Per Carlbring, Gerhard Andersson, and Johanna Boettcher. After my dissertation I spent two years as a researcher with Professor Roz Shafran at the Great Ormond Street Hospital Institute of Child Health at University College London. I then completed a postdoctoral position with Associate Professor Tobias Lundgren at the Centre for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet in 2021, where I am presently an affiliated researcher, doctoral supervisor, and principal investigator for the implementation of patient-controlled admissions to inpatient care in Region Stockholm. Between 2021-2024, I worked as an Associate Professor and Study Director at the Department of Psychology at Uppsala University. Since 2024 I have been a Professor in psychology at the Department of Health, Education and Technology at Luleå University of Technology. I am also the Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.

Research

My research concerns the study of psychiatric disorders, both in terms of their assessment and treatment, by using qualitative and quantitative methods. This involves validating self-report measures in different languages via classical and modern test theory approaches, as well as the development and evaluation of psychological treatments. I am particularly interested in:

• Transdiagnostic issues and behavioural problems that underlie or affect different types of mental distress, such as perfectionism and procrastination.
• Conceptualizations, methodologies, and prevention of negative effects and malpractice issues related to psychological treatments.
• Internet-based psychological treatments.
• Psychiatric inpatient care, such as the implementation of patient-controlled admissions.
• Preventative interventions for stress-related disorders (e.g., exhaustion disorder [utmattningssyndrom]).

I currently have over 100 publications in scientific journals (for a complete overview, see my ORCID), with an h-index of 28 (Scopus).

Editor-in-Chief

Since 2022 I am the Editor-in-Chief for the scientific journal Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, impact factor 3.2 (2024).

The Negative Effects Questionnaire

More information about our self-report measure the Negative Effects Questionnaire can be found at OSF (previously www.neqscale.com). The Negative Effects Questionnaire is free to use by clinicians and researchers and is currently available in 17 languagues.

Funding

During the last five years I have received research grants from the following funders:

• Vetenskapsrådet, 2025 (co-applicant)
• Forte, 2025 (co-applicant).
• Forte, 2025 (co-applicant).
• Region Stockholm (ALF), 2024 (main applicant).
• AFA Försäkring, 2024 (co-applicant).
• Region Stockholm (ALF), 2023 (co-applicant).
• Fonden för psykisk hälsa, 2022 (main applicant).
• Vetenskapsrådet, 2021 (main applicant).
• Vetenskapsrådet, 2021 (co-applicant).
• Region Stockholm (SU), 2021 (co-applicant).
• AFA Försäkring, 2021 (main applicant).
• Region Stockholm (ALF), 2021 (main applicant).
• Fredrik och Ingrid Thurings stiftelse, 2021 (main applicant).
  

Doctoral supervision

Ongoing:

• Catharina Nordberg at the Department of Health, Education and Technology at Luleå University of Technology (Under the Northern lights: Expanding access to evidence-based psychological treatment in rural Sweden), 2025- (main supervisor).
• Promise Ekezie at the Department of Health, Education and Technology at Luleå University of Technology (Recovery-oriented post-incident conversations in psychiatric compulsory care), 2024- (co-supervisor).
• Sanna Forslund at the Department of Psychology at Uppsala University (A guided long-term self-help program to prevent relapse in exhaustion disorder), 2022- (co-supervisor).
• Filip Jovicic at the Department of Psychology at Uppsala University (Psychological treatment of post-covid), 2022- (co-supervisor).
  

Passed half-time control:

• Martin Oscarsson at the Department of Psychology at Stockholm University (Preventing perceived stress and work-related mental illness among professionals with ADHD), 2022- (co-supervisor).
• Astrid Moell at the Centre for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet (Compulsory psychiatric care of children and youth: Risk factors, coercion, and outcome), 2022- (co-supervisor).
• Emelie Allenius at the Centre for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet (Patient-controlled admissions for patients with severe psychiatric disorders), 2021- (co-supervisor).
• Maria Smitmanis Lyle at the Centre for Psychiatry Research at Karolinska Institutet (Patient-controlled admissions for patients with severe mental health disorders - Understanding the factors behind a successful implementation), 2021- (main supervisor).

Graduated:

• Matilda Berg at the Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning at Linköping University (Learning and knowledge in cognitive behaviour therapy), 2017-2021 (co-supervisor).

Post doctoral supervision

• Katharina Derblom at the Department of Health, Education and Technology at Luleå University of Technology (Specialist psychiatric care teams – Good and close psychiatric home care?), 2025-
  

Mentorship

• Johanna Stjernberg at the Internet Psychiatry Unit at Karolinska Institutet (Management of insomnia disorder in health care. An investigation into insomnia management, patient needs, and development and evaluation of treatments), 2023-
  

Books

I have published three self-help books in Swedish: Dansa på deadline, Tio i tolv, and Bättre än perfekt, and authored chapters in Oxford Guide to Low-Intensity Evidence-Based Interventions for Children and Young People, and Erfassung von risiken und nebenwirkungen von psychotherapie. In 2026 I will also release a self-help book in English: Overcoming Procrastination - A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques.

Scientific distinctions

I was nominated twice for the annual award to an outstanding young researcher in psychology, by the Swedish National Committee for Psychological Sciences in 2018 and 2019. I was also granted the annual award for disseminating knowledge on cognitive behaviour therapy by the Swedish Association of Behaviour Therapy in 2020.

Teaching

At Luleå University of Technology, I currently teach and supervise Bachelor's-level courses in clinical psychology, psychiatry, and health psychology for students in psychology, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy. I am also the course coordinator for the course Health Psychology (P0010H and P0019H). Furthermore, I teach PhD courses at other universitetes, such as Karolinska Institutet.

Committees

I am on the advisory committe for Precise - Innovative Precision Health at Luleå University of Technology. I am also a former member of the board of the Swedish Association of Behaviour Therapy [Beteendeterapeutiska föreningen].

Reviews

I am regularly appointed to serve on dissertation examination committees in the fields of clinical and health psychology. I also review applications for academic positions, such as Associate Professorships, at Swedish universities, and act as a reviewer for research funding applications submitted to the Finnish Research Council (2023-) and Region Norrbotten (2025-). Moreover, I am a member of the National Board of Health and Welfare’s [Socialstyrelsen] expert group responsible for developing national guidelines for psychiatric conditions.

Media

I frequently give interviews in media on topics related to clinical psychology and health psychology. A few of my latest contributions:

• Sverige Radio – P4 Norrbotten
• Svenska Dagbladet
• Sveriges Radio – P4 Norrbotten
• Norrbottenskuriren
• Sveriges Radio – I hjärnan på Louise Epstein
  

Leisure

Apart from work I enjoy skiing (downhill and randonneé), running (marathon), hiking, weight-lifting, hunting (moose), reading novels, cooking, and music.