Clinical Psychology & Psychological Treatment @LMU Munich

Psychotherapy in Legal Contexts: New workshop at our department in November 2026, led by @lawolkenstein.bsky.social.

Explore how therapeutic processes affect memory, credibility, and suggestibility in criminal proceedings.
🔗 More info: www.lmu.de/psy/de/lehrs...

💡 3rd DZPG ECS Congress in Berlin: 100+ early career scientists, lively exchange, and eye-opening & encouraging keynotes from Daniel Leising & Christine Knaevelsrud – with @sabrinabenz.bsky.social joining from our team. Looking forward to the DZPG Annual Meeting in Sep in Munich! www.dzpg.org/en/

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📄 Full article: doi.org 10.1176/appi.ajp.20250189
Team: Charlotte Wittekind, Franziska Motka, Tobias Rüther

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Unlike findings in alcohol use disorder, ApBM effects may not generalize across substances. Smoking—especially in chronic users—may be driven more by habitual stimulus–response patterns than by cue-driven approach biases.

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👉 Result: Adding ApBM did not improve abstinence or other smoking outcomes compared to treatment as usual.

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Can targeting automatic approach biases improve smoking cessation?
In a large randomized, double-blind clinical trial (N=351), we tested whether Approach Bias Modification (ApBM) as an add-on to cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation improves long-term abstinence.

Impressions from the PSYNETS Winter School in partly snowy Amsterdam. Our PhD student @sabrinabenz.bsky.social joined a week on current developments in network modeling, with a strong focus on Bayesian approaches (featuring a full day for the first time). Excited to see this flow into our research.

🚨 New paper out!
Using EMA & actigraphy in depressed inpatients (N = 59; 7-week RCT), we found strong same-day associations in networks between mood, repetitive negative thinking, emotion regulation difficulties, and physical activity, with some carry-over across days.
rdcu.be/e0vRS

Great to present with @a-seewald.bsky.social our ideas on personalizing psychotherapy at the DFG network meeting at Universitätsklinikum Freiburg. Excited about the stimulating discussions - looking forward to continued collaboration and follow-up projects.

Ein inspirierender Austausch beim 1. Deutschen Lehrtherapeut:innenkongress in Bochum. Als Team der Berufsqualifizierenden Tätigkeit III nehmen wir neue Perspektiven, anregende Gespräche und wertvolle Kontakte aus dem bundesweiten Treffen mit in die Lehrtherapie an unseren Hochschulambulanzen.

Can Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) reduce binge-eating frequency and enhance emotional skills in adults with Binge-Eating Disorder (BED)?

@heidrunmutter.bsky.social, a doctoral researcher, will explore this in a randomized controlled trial with N=100.
Stay tuned for updates!

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For more information: www.lmu.de/psy/de/ambul...

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In our Outpatient Center for Psychological Treatment, we provide cognitive behavioral therapy for adults, with a focus on trauma-related disorders. We also combine clinical care with research on PTSD, treatment outcomes, and traumatic memories as well as teaching.

🎄 Before the Christmas break begins, we want to thank you for your support - we're looking forward to continuing to share our work in 2026.
Wishing you a restful winter break and a good start into the new year! ✨

We’re offering a 2-day workshop on SCID-5-AMPD in November 2026!
Designed for professionals who want to deepen their skills in dimensional personality diagnostics.
More info: www.lmu.de/psy/en/chair...

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Many thanks to the PI Sebastian Wolf as well as many colleagues who we (@eva-herzog.bsky.social, @miamgunak.bsky.social, Tristan Nakagawa, Keisuke Takano, and @thomasehring.bsky.social) had the pleasure to collaborate with in this project.

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The basis for this recommendation were the positive findings of the ImPuls project funded by the Innovation Fund. Results of the clinical trial can be found here: doi.org/10.1016/S221...

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We were thrilled to hear that the G-BA-Innovationsausschuss has recommended implementing the ImPuls intervention, a transdiagnostic group exercise program for mental disorders, in standard care (see innovationsfonds.g-ba.de/downloads/be...).

🤝 Team members involved in this line of research:
@julia-funk.bsky.social @celinalianemueller.bsky.social @thomasehring.bsky.social @joannahunsmann.bsky.social

💡 Future directions:
• Using EMA to assess negative thought spirals provides additional value for the prediction psychopathology.
• In future studies, we will explore in which situations people engage in RNT, analyze temporal patterns of RNT, and investigate how both relates to psychopathology.

🔍 What we found:
• EMA scores predicted depression and anxiety up to one year later.
• These effects held after accounting for baseline symptoms and retrospective trait RNT measures — and EMA turned out to be a more consistent predictor of psychopathology than trait measures at later follow-ups.

Measuring Negative Thought Spirals in Real Time 🧠📱
In two studies, we used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) via smartphones to track repetitive negative thinking in real time.

🔗 Read the studies:
doi.org/10.1371/jour... doi.org/10.1016/j.br...

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Read the publications here:

doi.org/10.1002/cpp....
doi.org/10.1037/ccp0...
doi.org/10.32872/cpe...
doi.org/10.1155/2024...

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What are clinical implications?
- Preventing dropout may require an adequate preparation for treatment.
- Modifying existing treatment approaches and offering adjuvant or second-line treatment options to specific subgroups of PTSD patients may hold promise for reducing non-response.

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What do we learn?
- Dropout in refugees and naturalistic PTSD treatment not higher as previously assumed; refugee-specific predictors must be considered.
- Treatment modifications for patients at high risk of non-response. Future research should focus on mechanisms and process variables.

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What did we find for non-response:
- About 40% did not respond to first-line guideline-recommended treatments for PTSD. We found higher non-response rates among men, older patients, refugees or veterans, and those with severe PTSD or comorbid depression.

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- 15% of patients discontinued trauma-focused treatment in a naturalistic setting. Dropout was linked to age and living situation.

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What did we find for dropout:
- An average dropout rate of 19% for the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers and a potential influence of refugee-specific variables.

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In her dissertation “The Complexity of Treatment Failure – Prevalence and Predictors of Dropout and Non-Response in Psychological Treatment for Traumatized Populations”, Verena examined the prevalence and predictors of dropout and non-response across four studies.

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A substantial number of traumatized patients discontinue psychological treatment early or do not benefit sufficiently. But what do we know about treatment failure in the treatment of traumatized patients?