Universität Basel

Fakultät für
Psychologie

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2023

2023: In good company

It is hardly a novel insight, but doing science is no walk in the park (except when it is) and often enough a true test of character and stamina. But all the shadow of this strive withers in the warm light of the support, empathy, gratitude and friendship found in a good team and with trusting and trustworthy colleagues. While it is not out of the ordinary that the division again attracted quite a number of students while keeping up the excellent track record in publications (imagine...) and grants, we experienced a very rewarding sequence of sucessful eight dissertations and two habilitiations of previous team members and close collaborators. This also marked the transition of some from science into something new, while others embarked on the journey, so hello and goodbye to you all. Changes were also seen in our psychotherapy trainings, which saw the sunset of the MAS PCA, while giving rise to its successor MAS HPT, as well as in our Center for Psychotherapy, which underwent a thorough reorganization as well as a relocation. This all wasn't easy from time to time, but we were alyways in good company. JG/December 2023

Members of the division 2023

Antje Frey Nascimento, Nadja Heimgartner, Bojana Degen, Emil Nissen, Magdalena Ridder, Juliana Forster, Albiona Kiska, Julia Wichmann, Dilan Sezer, Judith Alder, Berfin Bakis, Sarah Bürgler, Yoon Phaik Ooi, Sara Hotz, Jana Hochreuter, Rainer Bürki, Lena Glaser, Yannick Schulz, Marc Inderbinen, Oliva Andereggen, Emma Marchal-Jones, Marnie Reed, Otto Schmid, Oleksandr Tokhtamysh, Ronan Zimmermann, Clara Bruhin, and Jens Gaab

Research

Publications 2023 (total impact factor: 61.5)
  1. Steppan M, Zimmermann R, Fürer L, Southward M, Koenig J, Kaess M, Kleinbub JR, Roth V, Schmeck K. Machine Learning Facial Emotion Classifiers in Psychotherapy Research: A Proof-of-Concept Study. Psychopathology. 2023 Nov 27:1-10. doi: 10.1159/000534811. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38011846. IF: 3.8
  2. Zimmermann R, Konjufca J, Sakejo P, Kilonzo M, Quevedo Y, Blum K, Biba E, Mosha T, Cottin M, Hernández C, Kaaya S, Arenliu A, Behn A. Mental Health Information Reporting Assistant (MHIRA)-an open-source software facilitating evidence-based assessment for clinical services. BMC Psychiatry. 2023 Oct 2;23(1):706. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-05201-0. PMID: 37784115; PMCID: PMC10544613. IF: 4.4
  3. Jauch M, Stumpp L,, Sezer D, Gaab J, Greifeneder R (2023). Effects of an Open-label Placebo Intervention on Reactions to Social Exclusion in Healthy Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Scientific Reports, 2023 Sep 16;13(1):15369. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42547-7. PMID: 37717121; PMCID: PMC10505215. IF: 4.4
  4. Buergler S,  Sezer D, Busch A, Enzmann M, Bakis B, Locher C, Bagge N, Kirsch I, Carvalho C, Gaab J (2023). A qualitative study of imaginary pills and open-label placebos in test anxiety. PLoS One. 2023 Sep 1;18(9):e0291004. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291004. PMID: 37656757; PMCID: PMC10473493. IF: 3.7
  5. Künsch C, Fürer L, Steppan M, Schenk N, Blum K, Kaess M, Koenig J, Schmeck K, Zimmermann R. Withdrawal ruptures in adolescents with borderline personality disorder psychotherapy are marked by increased speech pauses-can minimal responses be automatically detected? PLoS One. 2023 Jan 17;18(1):e0280329. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280329. PMID: 36649265; PMCID: PMC9844899. IF: 3.7
  6. Gross S, Becker C, Beck K, Memma V, Gaab J, Schütz P, Leuppi JD, Schaefert R, Langewitz W, Trendelenburg M, Breidthardt T, Eckstein J, Osthoff M, Bassetti S, Hunziker S. Occurrence of sensitive topics during ward round: an ancillary analysis of the BEDSIDE-OUTSIDE trial. BMJ Open. 2023 Sep 21;13(9):e073584. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-073584. PMID: 37734895; PMCID: PMC10514661. IF: 3.0
  7. Buergler S, Sezer D, Gaab J & Locher C (2023). The role of population, expectation, modality and comparator on open-label placebo effects: A network meta-analysis. Scientific Reports 13, 11827 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-39123-4  IF: 4.4
  8. Jones EE*, Reed M, Meyer AH, Gaab J, Ooi YP (2023). Stress, mental health and sociocultural adjustment in third culture kids: exploring the mediating roles of resilience and family functioning. Front. Psychol., Volume 14 - 2023  14:1093046. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1093046. IF 3.8
  9. Seaward H, Dieffenbacher S, Gaab J, Graf M, Elger B, Wangmo T (2023). Stigma management during reintegration of older incarcerated adults with mental health issues: a qualitative analysis. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 89 (2023) 101905. IF: 2.5
  10. Caci, L., Zander-Schellenberg, T., & Gerger, H. (2023). Effectiveness of hospital clowning on pediatric anxiety and pain: Network meta-analysis. Health Psychology, 42(4), 257–269. IF: 5.6
  11. Gerger, H., Munder, T., Kreuzer N., Locher, C., Blease, C. (2023). Lay Perspectives on Empathy in Patient-Physician Communication: An online experimental Study. Health Commun. 2023 May 23:1-10.  doi: 10.1080/10410236.2023.2210380.. IF: 3.5
  12. Locher, C., Petignat, M., Wagner, C., Hediger, K., Roth, B., Gaab, J., & Koechlin, H. (2023). Animal-assisted psychotherapy for pediatric chronic pain: Case series of an open pilot study to test initial feasibility and potential efficacy. Journal of Pain Research 2023:16, 1799-1811. IF: 2.8
  13. Reed M, Jones E, Gaab J, Ooi YP (2023). Exploring resilience as a mediator and moderator in the relationship between cultural intelligence and sociocultural adjustment: A study of expatriates in Switzerland. International Journal of Intercultural Relation, Volume 94, May 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2023.101783. IF: 2.9
  14. Buergler S, Sezer D, Bagge N, Kirsch I, Locher C, Carvalho C, Gaab J. Imaginary pills and open-label placebos can reduce test anxiety by means of placebo mechanisms. Sci Rep. 2023 Feb 14;13(1):2624. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-29624-7. PMID: 36788309; PMCID: PMC9926426, IF: 4.4
  15. Wagner C, Gaab J, Hediger K. The Importance of the Treatment Rationale for Pain in Animal-Assisted Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Participants. J Pain. 2023 Jan 11:S1526-5900(23)00012-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2023.01.004. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36641027, IF: 5.4
  16. Künsch C, Fürer L, Steppan M, Schenk N, Blum K, Kaess M, Koenig J, Schmeck K, Zimmermann R. Withdrawal ruptures in adolescents with borderline personality disorder psychotherapy are marked by increased speech pauses-can minimal responses be automatically detected? PLoS One. 2023 Jan 17;18(1):e0280329. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280329. PMID: 36649265; PMCID: PMC9844899. IF: 3.2
  17. Gaab J (2023). Why psychotherapy is an open-label placebo and open-label placebo is psychotherapy. In Colloca L, Seneviratne C, Noel J, Franklin PD, eds. Placebo Effects Through the Lens of Translational Research. 1st ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2023.
Grants
  1. Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Schweiz, NRP (2022-2025). 3R-sTrategies and Harm-benefIt analysis: uNnderstanding decision-maKing and improving consistency and accountability in animal experiment evaluations in Switzerland [THINK-3R]. Gaab Jens, Würbel Hanno, Blattner Charlotte, Lüscher Christian, Elger Bernice, CHF 444'494.
  2. Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Schweiz, NRP (2022-2025). Implementing 3Rs in Switzerland: an interdisciplinary in-depth exploration of barriers and facilitators [Implement-3R].  Bernice Elger, Markus Affolter, Charlotte Blattner, Brenda Renata Kwak, Hanno Würbel, CHF 546'531, (Jens Gaab Projektpartner).
  3. Fondation Botnar (2019-2023). Using Technology to Facilitate International Research on Diagnosis and Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescence including Low- and Middle-lncome Countries - A Strategy based on Direct Clinical Benefit. Principal investigator and grant recipient: Dr. phil. Ronan Zimmermann (University of Basel), CHF 748’751).

Qualifications in 2023

Habilitations
  1. Helen Koechlin
  2. Corinne Urech
Dissertations
  1. Alessia Vincent: “I wish I had better news”: Psychological distress, risk factors and professional physician-patient communication in hospitalized patients and their relatives
  2. Dilan Sezer: Exploring the ethical use of placebo effects in affective states: current evidence and next steps
  3. Emma Jones: Towards a Developmental, Psychological, and Contextual understanding of the Process of Third-Culture Kids Adjustment
  4. Leo Druart: Bridging placebo studies with physiotherapy: An exploratory thesis
  5. Rahel Marti: Fostering participation: Including animals in therapy for patients in a minimally conscious state
  6. Marnie Reed: The Impact of Cultural, Psychological and Family Factors on Expatriate Family Adjustment
  7. Sarah Bürgler: The Therapeutic Oxymoron: Exploring the Mechanisms of Open-Label Placebo
  8. Sebastian Severin Gross: Talking about communication: challenges and chances in medical communication from the patients’ and healthcare professionals’ perspective
Master theses
  1. Anja Aebli: Parent’s emotional and psychological well- being and child’s emotional and psychological well-being: The mediating role of parent-child relationship from a study on mobile families
  2. Deborah Laverde: Pain expectancy as a predictive factor for pain intensity in an open-label placebo study of postoperative pain
  3. Cara Dopke: The Relationship between Family Functioning, Child’s Well-Being, and Parent’s Emotional Stability in Sojourning Families
  4. Beata Gergely: The comparison of topiramate and placebo in the treatment of alcohol dependence: A meta- analysis
  5. Simon Janz: Effects of mindsets on the perseverance of taking cold showers and the associated physical well-being
  6. Jennifer Lopez: Open-label Placebo in klinischen Studien: Eine Meta-Analyse
  7. Luana Palermo : Does a Nasal Placebo Lead to Analgesia for Experimentally Induced Pain Among Healthy Individuals? A Randomized Controlled Cross- Over Trial
  8. Juan Camilo Meindl : Parent-Child Discrepancy in Agreeableness to Relocation in a Third Culture Kids Community and its Impact on Well-Being and Stress
  9. Mustafa Göçmen : Der Placebo-Effekt bei der medikamentösen Behandlung von Alkoholverlangen bei alkoholabhängigen Personen
  10. Emil Kane Nissen: Effects of mindsets on the perseverance of taking cold showers and effects of cold showers on sleep quality and mental well-being
  11. Moritz Pischel: Psychotherapists’ experience of psychotherapy while walking in nature
  12. Moira Rathgeb: Efficacy of different treatment options for patients with juvenile fibromyalgia – a network meta-analysis" von
  13. Haxhere Sallahi: Examing the Level of Internalized Stigma in Individuals with Schizophrenia in Turkey: A Systematic Review and Meta- Analysis
  14. Yannick Schönenberger: The power and determinants of ethical placebos: Open-label placebos and imaginary pills in test anxiety
  15. Yannick Schulz: Effects of Placebo Analgesia on Pain Threshold, Pain Tolerance, and Cardiac Activity in Healthy Subjects: Findings from a Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial
  16. Hannah Seebauer: Associations between clinical status, personality pathology, and attendance in psychiatric inpatient treatment
  17. Nicola Elias Stamm: Bekannte Traumserien unter der Lupe: Strukturale Traumanalyse fünf psychoanalytischer Fälle
  18. Fabian Stolp: Veränderungsprozesse von Trauminhalten im Verlauf einer Psychotherapie
  19. Joanna Wierzcholski: Exploring the Level of Internalized Stigma in Individuals with Schizophrenia in China - a Systematic Review and Meta- Analysis
  20. Lena Zwahlen: Preoperative Anxiety as a Predictor of Postoperative Pain in an Open-Label Placebo Study
  21. Anja Blaser: Long-term Effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Psychological Distress in Neurorehabilitation
  22. Clara Bruhin: Efficacy and acceptability of different treatment options for pediatric patients suffering from chronic primary visceral pain – A network meta-analysis
  23. Sophie Dierbach: Titel: Das Erleben und Verarbeiten von persönlichen Problemen während verkürzter und nicht- verkürzter LSD-Wirkung
  24. Boris Dietschi: Die Rolle von Beratungsstellen in der psychotherapeutischen Versorgung von vulnerablen Kindern, Jugendlichen und Familien
  25. Astrid Enke: Psychische Störungen, deren Diagnostik und Therapieansätze bei Menschen im nonverbalen Autismus-Spektrum: Erfahrungen aus der klinischen Praxis
  26. Elham Darejati Güler: Investigating the Therapist-Patient Trust: A Controlled Randomised Trial of the Oxytocin and Placebo on the Presence or Absence of the Dogs
  27. Viviane Kira Victoria Kahlweiss: Effects on treatment motivation of adolescents and therapists when including a dog in psychotherapy: A randomized, controlled pilot study.
  28. Kiara Bodonyi: Motivational Factors on the Likelihood of taking Cold Showers and the Effects of Cold Showering on Physical and Mental Well-being
  29. Marianne Cappelletti: Nebenwirkungen des Morphinkonsums bei offen verabreichtem Placebo sowie die Rolle präoperativer Angst bei Patient:innen mit akuten postoperativen Schmerzen
  30. Lena Rudolph: Do It Now Instead of Tomorrow: How to Help Students Overcome Academic Procrastination – A randomized controlled trial comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy and the use of imaginary pills in the treatment of academic procrastination
  31. Jakob Schautt: Die Entwicklung von Trauminhalten im Verlauf einer Psychotherapie und ihre Verbindung zum Wachleben: Eine Fallstudie
  32. Sofie van Lawick: Effekte von Kalt-Duschen auf das psychische und körperliche Wohlbefinden sowie auf das Bewegungsverhalten in Abhängigkeit von unterschiedlichen Mindsets
  33. Larissa Witsch: Die Kunst des Zögerns - Effekte Kognitiver Verhaltenstherapie (KVT) und Imaginärer Pille (IP) bei akademischer Prokrastination auf Wohlbefinden und subjektives Stressempfinden: Eine randomisierte kontrollierte Studie.

Advanced Studies in Psychotherapy

The division hosted four postgraduate psychotherapy trainings, which complement our contextual, processual and humanistic understanding of psychological interventions. In 2023, all our trainings (CAS in Motivational Interviewing, CAS in Animal-Assisted Therapy, Master of Advanced Studies in Person-centered Psychotherapy and the Master of Advanced Studies in Process-based Psychotherapy) were running on full steam and in several cohorts, summing up to over 120 students. Also, our new MAS in Humanistic Psychotherapy set sail, taking over the baton from the MAS in Person-centered Psychotherapy. So, farewell, all the best and hello, nice to see you!

Admin

Oliva Andereggen, Magdalena Ridder, Juliana Forster, Albiona Kiska, und Julia Wichmann

Course director/Chair of the program committee:

 

Center for Psychotherapy

The Center for Psychotherapy underwent some major reorganization and relocation necessitated by the increasing numbers in both clients as well as therapists as well as to adapt to the increased regulatory processes. This clearly left an anticipated dent in our numbers, but which set us up for the future to come. The mean numbers of appointments per month for 2023 and since the start of the Center for Psychotherapy are shown in the graph below.

Members of the Center for Psychotherapy 2023
  • Directorate: Jens Gaab, Karin Hediger, Oliva Andereggen
  • Head of Operatins and Administration: Oliva Andereggen
  • Administration: Sara Hotz, Jana Hochreuter
  • Psychotherapists: Jens Gaab, Karin Hediger, Nadja Heimgartner, Lena Glaser, Mayte Parada, Cora Wagner, Milena Petignat, Cosima Locher, Carmina Grob, Debora Neyer, Marc Inderbinen, Marnie Reed, Bojana Degen, Emma Jones, Judith Leisibach, Elena Pauli, Salvatore Corbisiero, Johanna Hersberger, Rahel Marti, Dilan Sezer, Sarah Bürgler, Süheyla Seker, Sarah Müller, Wanda Arnskötter, Marc Bohny
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