News from the work unit of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents

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/