Last Thursday, November 13, 2025, University Day took place at four different universities in Münster, and we from the “Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy of Children and Adolescents” working group and the “Psychotherapy Outpatient Clinic for Children and Adolescents” at the University of Münster also took part to give interested students a little insight into our research, therapy, and teaching.

During the lecture “Focus on the Mind and Body of Children and Adolescents,” the more than 200 prospective students in attendance learned about mental health and mental illness. Using water glasses filled to different levels, we explained how mental illness develops. We also had two examples of tools used in therapy with children and adolescents to make it as age-appropriate as possible: “Freddy” and the “fear monster.” Finally, we shared specific tips and contact points with the prospective students in case they or their friends were affected by mental illness.

In addition to our presentation, we also offered two smaller groups of students an interactive lab tour entitled “Seeing Your Own Heart Beat” in our new lab facilities. Here, we explained to the 18 students in attendance what the term “interoception” means and why this ability to perceive one's own bodily signals could be important for our mental health. In addition to a short perception experiment in which everyone participated, individual students also had the opportunity to slip into the role of test subject and experimenter and observe the heartbeat of the wired test subject using an ECG curve.

We really enjoyed helping to organize the university open house and seeing the students' keen interest, so we'll be happy to participate again next year!
 

In the systematic review and meta-analysis, we examined the effectiveness of the Unified Protocol for Adolescents (UP-C/A), a transdiagnostic therapy manual for the psychotherapeutic treatment of adolescents with internalizing disorders.
An adapted German-language version of the UP-A is also used in teaching therapies (KliPPt-Master) and the TradiKi project at our outpatient psychotherapy clinic for children and adolescents (PTA KiJu).
 

Two weeks ago, Sophia and Leonie had the opportunity to present their master's theses at the 18th Conference of the Differential Psychology, Personality Psychology, and Psychological Assessment Section (DPPD).
 
🎤 Sophia Bhatti gave a presentation at the symposium on the topic:
“Self-concept and behavioral expression of psychotherapeutic social skills in real-world simulations.”
 
📌 Leonie Burghoff presented her poster on the topic:
“Development of a feedback tool for simulation persons for the behavior-based assessment of students' psychotherapeutic social skills after real-world psychotherapeutic simulations.”
 
In addition to exciting presentations and discussions, we had the opportunity to make many new contacts and exchange ideas in a relaxed atmosphere at the social evening. For us, it was a great way to conclude our studies, providing valuable insights into science communication and the current state of research.
 
Many thanks to AE Hechler, AE Back, and especially Dr. Simon Breil for their helpful support.
 

We are delighted that our research unit Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy of Childhood and Adolescence, Department 07, University of Münster, has won the “Best Research Environment” award from the Junge Akademie for young scientists! The award, endowed with €10,000, was presented jointly by the Junge Akademie and the Volkswagen Foundation for the first time in 2024 to recognize a supportive and innovative research environment in the scientific community.
This award recognizes an aspect that often remains in the background: the research environment - the breeding ground on which innovation and commitment are created. Scientific excellence is the result of a climate of open communication, mutual appreciation and committed collaboration. It is a special recognition for our team that our conscious shaping of cooperation is now being honored in this way.

After being selected from 278 applications and nominated on the shortlist of 24 teams, we were one of the ten winning teams at the final on June 7, 2025 in Berlin. Our research environment is based on transparent structures, clearly defined roles, regular exchanges and the integration of all team members in decision-making processes. Innovative formats such as joint retreats, doc-postdoc tandems and international collaborations promote personal and professional development.

We want to use the prize money to implement targeted measures for team well-being and team development - for example through regular team sports activities and cooperation with a team-building coach. Because we are convinced that sustainable research and further development can only be achieved where people enjoy working together and supporting each other.
We would like to thank the Junge Akademie, the Volkswagen Foundation and all our companions for their support. This award sends out an important signal: a high-quality research environment is the central prerequisite for strong science.

Contact persons:
Sven Optenhövel, Prof. Dr. Tanja Hechler (Head of the research group)

On Saturday (10.05.2025) the time had come: after five weeks of preparation, 56 students on the Master's degree course in Psychology with a focus on Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy completed the “Limette”.

Interdisciplinary cooperation between the Learning Centre for Individualized Medical Activity Training and Development (Limette) of the Institute for Student Affairs of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Münster and AE Hechler from the Institute of Psychology made this possible for the second time: students met actors in three real-world simulations in the Limette to train their social and professional skills in the field of outpatient child and adolescent psychotherapy. In line with the science-practitioner approach, practical application and research went hand in hand!

We are pleased to present our newly developed tool for the assessment of biopsychological pain concepts and the results of our current paper. Here, we identify different pain concepts in healthy adults and investigate how these might be related to individual pain experience. Click here for the full paper https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1155/prm/5706849/.

“For better times!” - Our Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy of Childhood and Adolescence Unit, Department 07, University of Münster, has been nominated for the Young Academy's Best Research Environment Award for Young Scientists. The €10,000 prize for team and further training measures was announced for the first time in 2024 by the Junge Akademie together with the Volkswagen Foundation. Out of 278 applications, 24 teams were nominated, of which we are one. We have been invited to Berlin on June 7, 2025, where the award ceremony will take place. Ten winning teams from the longlist will be drawn at random - so now it's time to keep your fingers crossed!

Since October 2022, the chair has been established under the direction of Prof. Dr. Tanja Hechler and the associated psychotherapy outpatient clinic for children and adolescents. Our aim is to address the complex and socially relevant challenge of mental disorders in children and adolescents. Central to this is the triad of innovative research, teaching and psychotherapy. In the “scientist-practitioner model”, we implement our research projects with national and international collaborators in interdisciplinary networks and together with affected children and adolescents. As young scientists, we have the opportunity to actively shape our projects based on our interests and to acquire knowledge and skills through targeted further training - on a professional, methodological and personal level. In particular, we would like to emphasize the appreciative communication at eye level within the entire team and the excellent work-life balance.

In the coming months and years, the team will continue to grow, further research projects will be implemented in our mobile and stationary laboratory unit, third-party funded projects will be applied for, articles will be submitted and deadlines will come our way. To ensure that we as a team can work passionately “for better times” despite these challenges inherent to the scientific system, we have planned measures such as bi-weekly team sports activities and the invitation of a team-building coach, for which we would like to use the prize money.

The complete shortlist can be viewed here: https://www.diejungeakademie.de/en/projekte/preis-bestes-forschungsumfeld/shortlist-2024 

Contact persons:
Sven Optenhövel, Prof. Dr. Tanja Hechler (Head of the research group)

Publication of the 4th Children and Youth Report of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate with a presentation by Prof Dr Tanja Hechler on the topic of „Psychisch gesund? – Forschungsergebnisse zu den Effekten der
Corona-Pandemie auf die psychische Gesundheit von (Vorschul-)Kindern“.
Read here: https://jugendberichtrlp.de/

In this paper we present first results on the BiPS Matrix (Biopsychosoziale Schmerzkonzept Matrix), a new tool to capture biopsychosocial pain concepts. Within cognitive interviews with children and adolescents, some comprehension problems regarding specific words (including "chronic") appear, which indicate an optimization of the items. In an online-based study, expectation-compliant correlations between the score in the BiPS matrix and the age, chronic pain, and pain level in the family environment of the participating children and adolescents are revealed.

Wickering, L., Lautwein, C., Nitsche, H., Schneider, M. & Hechler, T. (2023). Know Pain, No Pain? Preliminary Testing and Application of a New Tool to Assess Biopsychosocial Pain Concepts in Children. Children (Basel), 10(5), 814. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10050814
 

In March 2023, five new members have joined our team: Dr. Luka Debbeler, Jasmin Kirchherr, Judith Silkenbeumer, Dr. Maximilian Monninger and Dr. Anja Feneberg. In addition, Dr. Johanna Schulte has started her position as coordinator of the patient-oriented courses (berufsqualifizierende Tätigkeit; BQT) in the new master program: Master of Psychology: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. We are looking forward to working together and building up the work unit and the university outpatient psychotherapy clinic for children and adolescents together!