Current research projects

Transdiagnostic and innovative psychotherapy research

  • TatoGo: Bringing the lifeworlds of adolescents into psychotherapy with the help of a “diary to go”

    Project duration: 2023 - 2026
    Promotion: Lighthouse project funded by the Universitätsgesellschaft e.V
    Project status: Ongoing
    Contact: Dr. Anja C. Feneberg & Prof. Dr. Tanja Hechler
    Cooperation partners: Prof. Mitja Back (Psychological Diagnostics and Personality Psychology, University of Münster), Prof. Lars Linsen (Computer Science, University of Münster), Dr. Maximilian Monninger (University Hospital Münster), Dr. Sebastian Ertl (Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg), Prof. David Kolar (Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg), Prof. Philip S. Santangelo (Behavioral Health Technology Interventions, University of Luxembourg), Prof. Aleksandra Kaurin (Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Wuppertal)


    Mental disorders in childhood and adolescence are an urgent social problem. Rising prevalence, frequent comorbidities and inadequate care structures increase the risk of chronification into adulthood - with considerable individual and social costs. Although psychotherapy is the treatment of choice, its effectiveness is often limited and relapses occur frequently. Innovative methods are therefore urgently needed to reform the diagnostics and psychotherapy in the field  of children and adolescents with mental health problems and to secure their mental health in the long term.

    An innovative approach to improving diagnostics and treatment is the Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA). This method uses app-based short surveys over several days to record symptoms, their interactions and contextual influences in the daily lives of those affected in real time. However, to date there is no tool, either at national or international level, that uses the EMA method to systematically map the experience and behavior of adolescents with mental health problems across disorders (transdiagnostically) as part of routine psychological diagnostics and psychotherapy.

    Together with international EMA experts, we have developed a digital tool that records cross-disorder psychological stress and symptoms in the natural living environment of adolescents. It was designed according to current scientific standards in a multi-stage process and comprises several modules (morning, day and evening module). In the long term, this digital “diary to go” will be integrated into the diagnostics and treatment of the Psychotherapy Outpatient Clinic for Children and Adolescents (PTA-KiJu) at the University of Münster.

    The project has two main objectives:

    1. Optimization of the tool in terms of comprehensibility and completeness based on feedback from adolescents and professionals in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy
    2. Testing the EMA tool on an initial sample of mentally distressed adolescents in order to research individual symptom profiles and analyze the changeability of these profiles through therapy

    The project lays an important foundation for the further development of data-supported, everyday psychotherapy for children and adolescents.

    Preregistration:
    Feneberg, A. C., Wikenza, A., Starp, S., Monninger, M., Kolar, D., Ertl, S., Santangelo, P. S., Kaurin, A., Back, M. & Hechler, T. (2024, May, 4th). Development of a transdiagnostic ecological momentary assessment tool for adolescents with mental disorders: a multi-informant mixed methods study [Registration]. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/X6WEK

    Conference contributions:
    Feneberg, A. C., Back, M., Ertl, S., Kaurin, A., Kolar, D., Monninger, M., Santangelo, P. S., & Hechler, T. (2025). Eine transdiagnostische Experience Sampling-Batterie für die Kinder- und Jugendlichenpsychotherapie(forschung): Entwicklung und erste Anwendungen. Vortrag anlässlich des 4. Deutschen Psychotherapie-Kongress, Berlin

    Feneberg, A. C., Kolar, D., Santangelo, P., Hechler, T. (2023).Transdiagnostisches Ambulantes Assessment im Kindes- und Jugendalter: Research protocol einer systematischen Übersichtsarbeit und Meta-Analyse. Posterpräsentation anlässlich des 2. Deutschen Psychotherapie-Kongress, Berlin

  • Transdiagnostic short-term interventions (TradiKi)

    Project duration: Ongoing
    Promotion: Internal
    Project status: Ongoing
    Contact: Anna Jesussek & Prof. Dr. Tanja Hechler
    Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Tina In-Albon (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents, University of Mannheim), Dr. Marie Salditt (Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents, University of Osnabrück), Prof. Dr. Steffen Nestler (Statistics and Psychological Methods, University of Münster)


    The aim of the project is to learn more about the treatment of adolescents with various disorders. The PTA KiJu offers so-called transdiagnostic short-term interventions (TradiKi) as psychotherapeutic procedures. Transdiagnostic means that they can help adolescents with very different disorders, as they are designed to address cross-disorder mechanisms during therapy.

    There is a specific transdiagnostic short-term intervention (the so-called Unified Protocol for Children and Adolescents, UP-C/A) that has already proven effective in meta-analyses. The UP-C/A focuses on improving emotion regulation in internalizing disorders, i.e. those whose symptoms are directed inwards (e.g. negative thoughts and feelings about oneself, as in depression or anxiety disorders).

    The current focus of the project is to scientifically monitor the implementation of the UP-A in the PTA KiJu and to evaluate it with regard to individual processes and effects.


    Participation information:
    Children and adolescents who need psychotherapy can contact the psychotherapy outpatient clinic for children and adolescents.

    Preregistration:
    Pilot study on the UP-A in the PTA KiJu
    Jesussek, A.-L., Feneberg, A. C., Silkenbeumer, J., Salditt, M., Nestler, S., In-Albon, T., & Hechler, T. (2025, January, 17th). Feasibility study of an adapted version of the German Unified Protocol for Adolescents (UP-A) in a university psychotherapy outpatient clinic for children and adolescents [Application]. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/9C7AJ

    Systematic review and meta-analysis of the UP-C/A
    Kirchherr, J., Monninger, M., Schäpermeier, M., Jesussek, A.-L., Grumbach-Wendt, M., Silkenbeumer, J., Feneberg, A. C., & Hechler, T. (2023, December, 25th). Efficacy, contextual effects, and mechanisms of change of the Unified Protocol for Emotional Disorders in Children and Adolescents - a systematic review and meta-analysis [Registration]. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42023474832


    Conference contributions:
    Adaptation of the UP-A
    Grumbach-Wendt, M., Jesussek, A.-L., Kirchherr, J., Jaich, P., Silkenbeumer, J., Feneberg, A. C., & Hechler, T. (June 07-11, 2025). Adaptation of the German Unified Protocol for Adolescents for Transdiagnostic Brief Therapy in the context of BQT IIIa [Poster presentation]. German Psychotherapy Congress 2025, Berlin, Germany.

    Pilot study on the UP-A in the PTA KiJu
    Jesussek, A.-L., Feneberg, A. C., Silkenbeumer, J., Salditt, M., Nestler, S., In-Albon, T., & Hechler, T. (June 07-11, 2025). Transdiagnostic intensive outpatient psychotherapy treatment for adolescents: A feasibility trial and clinical case series of the adapted version of the German Unified Protocol for Adolescents (UP-A) [Poster presentation]. German Psychotherapy Congress 2025, Berlin, Germany.  

    Systematic review and meta-analysis of the UP-C/A
    Schäpermeier, M., Kirchherr, J., Monninger, M., Feneberg, A. C., Silkenbeumer, J., Grumbach-Wendt, M., Jesussek, A.-L., & Hechler, T. (June 11-16, 2024). The unified protocol for emotional disorders in children and adolescents - a systematic review and meta-analysis [Poster presentation]. German Psychotherapy Congress 2024, Berlin, Germany. https://osf.io/e89uc

    Publications:
    Systematic review and meta-analysis of the UP-C/A preprint
    Schäpermeier, M. T., Jesussek, A., Kirchherr, J., Monninger, M., Feneberg, A. C., & Hechler, T. (2025, March 26th). The effectiveness of the Unified Protocol for emotional disorders in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis. OSF Preprints. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/fhwe7_v1

    OSF Project Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    OSF project TradiKi in the PTA KiJu

Assessment and training of psychotherapeutic social skills

  • PsychsozKomp: Psychotherapeutic social skills

    Project duration: since 2023, ongoing
    Promotion: Internal (start-up funding from the Institute of Psychology 2023-2025)
    Project status: Ongoing
    Contact: Lisa Hahn & Prof. Dr. Tanja Hechler
    Cooperation partners: Prof. Mitja Back (Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics, University of Münster), Dr. Simon M. Breil (Center for Social Skills (CeSoS), University of Münster), Prof. Bernhard Marschall (Director of the Institute for Education and Student Affairs of the Faculty of Medicine (IfAS), University of Münster), Dr. Helmut Ahrens (IfAS, University of Münster)


    The aim is to record, train and provide digital feedback on the psychotherapeutic (social) skills of prospective psychotherapists. The assessment is systematic and multi-methodological: psychotherapeutic social skills are assessed both questionnaire-based and behavior-based. The behavior-based assessment takes place as part of practical exercises in the Learning Centre for Individualized Medical Activity Training and Development (Limette), in which students on the M.Sc. Psychology with specialisation in clinical psychology and psychotherapy interact with acting patients (SP) in psychotherapeutically relevant settings. The individual behavior of the students in the real-world simulations is assessed both by trained raters with regard to the social skills demonstrated and by the respective students themselves. The effects of the feedback on skills development will be investigated.


    Preregistration:
    Feedback design on PsychsozKomp in teaching
    Jurga, S., Möllers, C., Hahn, L., Hechler, T. (2025, March, 13th). Feedback on psychotherapeutic social skills in the education and training of prospective psychotherapists: a scoping review [Registration]. https://osf.io/5e8z6

    Intellectual abilities of prospective psychotherapists
    Jurga, S., Rohlmann, S., Breil, S., Hahn, L., Hechler, T. (2025, February, 7th). Self-reported intellectual abilities in prospective psychotherapists. AsPredicted. https://aspredicted.org/8xct-k6kq.pdf

    Assessment of PsychsozKomp
    Weusthoff, S., Sauer, H., Hahn, L., Hechler, T. (2024, March, 30th). Assessment of psychotherapeutic social skills - A systematic review [Registration]. Prospero. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=524698

    BESSI-Pt: Self-assessment of PsychsozKomp
    Weusthoff, S., Schnickmann, A., Hahn, L., Feneberg, A., Hechler, T. (2024, January, 15th). Assessment of self-reported psychotherapeutic social skills: BESSI-Pt [Registration]. AsPredicted. https://aspredicted.org/5s627.pdf


    Conference contributions:
         Assessment of PsychsozKomp
    Jurga, S., Hahn, L., Breil, S. M., Barth, L., Ahrens, H. Back, M. D., Hechler, T. (2025, April 7-11). Behavior-based assessment of psychotherapeutic social skills [Abstract for individual contribution, symposium]. 4th German Psychotherapy Congress 2025, Berlin, Germany.


    Final theses:
    Self- and peer-assessment of PsychsozKomp in real-world simulations
    Barth, L. (2025). Behavior-based self- and peer-assessment of psychotherapeutic social skills in simulated therapy scenarios: A study of M. Sc. Psychology students specializing in clinical psychology and psychotherapy [Unpublished master's thesis]. University of Münster.

    Assessment of PsychsozKomp
    Sauer, H. (2024). Assessment of psychotherapeutic social skills - A systematic review [Unpublished master's thesis]. University of Münster.

    BESSI-Pt: Self-assessment of PsychsozKomp
    Schnickmann, A. (2024). Assessment of social competencies of psychotherapists: Development and initial validation of a self-assessment instrument (BESSI-Pt). [Unpublished master's thesis]. University of Münster.

Interoception and mental health across the lifespan

  • KöKiE: Body feelings and child emotion recognition

    Project duration: 2024 - 2025
    Promotion: Internal
    Project status: Ongoing
    Contact: Dr. Anja C. Feneberg, Verena S. Schätzle & Prof. Dr. Tanja Hechler
    Cooperation partners: Prof. Dr. Joscha Kärtner (Developmental Psychology, University of Münster)


    Due to increasing contact with peers and adults, the acquisition of socio-emotional skills is a key developmental task for children of primary school age. Among other things, this includes the ability to recognize emotions. Children learn to recognize and interpret emotions not only in themselves but also in others in early childhood. Previous research in this area has shown that parents have a major influence on the development of their children's socio-emotional skills through their own emotion-related beliefs, behaviors and abilities. However, one factor that has so far been largely ignored is parental interoception.

    Interoception is generally understood to be the perception of one's own body signals, such as heartbeat, hunger or satiety. In addition to such physiological stimuli, interoception also includes the perception and processing of emotional states. Contrary to the original assumption that interoception is limited to one's own body signals, imaging studies have now shown that interoception can also be used to perceive physiological and emotional stimuli in other people. Parental interoception could therefore also support the responsiveness of parents (i.e. supportive behavior) to (negative) emotional expressions in children.

    The overall aim of this research project is to investigate how parental interoception and responsiveness to children's emotional expressions as well as parental and children's ability to recognize emotions are related. For this purpose, 150 parent-child pairs (parents at least 18 years old, children between 5-11 years old) will take part in a 35-minute online study consisting of various questionnaires on demographic variables, parental interoception, mental health and responsiveness as well as a standardized emotion recognition task. The questionnaires are answered by the parents alone, while the emotion recognition task is completed by both the parents and the children in turn. The data collection is expected to be completed in May 2025.

    We hope that this project will provide us with new insights into the role of parental interoception in children's emotional development.


    Participation information:
    Parents (min. 18 years) can take part in the online study together with their child of primary school age (5-11 years).
    Further information on participation can be found here: “My feelings, your feelings.”
    Flyer Koeki Online

    Preregistration:
    Feneberg, A. C., & Hechler, T. (2024, February, 16). My feelings, your feelings? Relationships between parental interoception and emotion recognition in parent-child dyads [Application]. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/YDWBP

    Conference papers:
    Schätzle, V. S., Kärtner, J., Silkenbeumer, J. R., Hechler, T., & Feneberg, A. C. (2025). My feelings, your feelings? - Relationships between interoception and emotion recognition in parent-child dyads. Presentation at the symposium “Interoception in development: the importance of endogenous signals for children, parents and the psyche” at the 26th Division Conference of Developmental Psychology, Gießen.

  • EMA-Intero: The bidirectional relationship between interoception and stress in everyday life: an Ecological Momentary Assessment study

    Project duration: 2024 - 2025
    Promotion: Internal
    Project status: Ongoing
    Contact: Dr. Anja C. Feneberg &  Prof. Dr. Tanja Hechler


    Stress and interoception - i.e. the perception of internal bodily processes such as heartbeat, breathing or stomach sensations - are closely linked. This connection works in both directions: acute stress can increase awareness of physical signals. This means that people who are stressed are often more aware of palpitations or breathing. However, body awareness can be disturbed by very severe or prolonged stress - internal signals are paid less attention to or misinterpreted. Conversely, good body awareness appears to help with stress management - both in the short and long term. Previous studies have been able to partially confirm this reciprocal relationship. However, previous studies often took place in the laboratory - with limited significance for everyday life.

    The aim of this Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) study is therefore to investigate whether stress experience and interoception (interoceptive sensitivity, defined here as the self-reported ability to perceive and regulate bodily sensations) are bidirectionally linked across different time scales in everyday life in a sample of young adults. The participants use their smartphones several times a day to indicate how stressed they feel and how strongly they pay attention to their body signals. Various temporal dynamics are examined (momentary connections as well as carry-over effects from one moment to the next, within individual days and connections between days). The results will contribute to a better understanding of the reciprocal relationship between stress experience and interoception in everyday life. Building on this, researchers can develop new approaches to stress management that focus on the individual's perception of their own body.


    Preregistration:
    https://osf.io/qtx6p