Yvonne Lankhaar, 39, from Oss, lived for years with severe chronic back pain that prevented her from working as a psychologist and limited her daily activities. The precise cause of her pain was never established, and treatments and rehabilitation did not help. She stopped working in 2015 and was declared unfit for work two years later.

Lankhaar now runs a psychology practice for people with chronic illnesses, including MS, rheumatism and long COVID, helping them adapt their lives when recovery or a return to the past is not possible. She draws on both her professional training and her own experience. An operation in Belgium reduced her pain about five years ago, although she is not pain-free. She has also published a book about redesigning life with chronic complaints and urges healthcare providers to pay more attention to their emotional and practical impact.