Experimental Psychotherapy Science

Heads: Univ.-Prof. DDr. Kurt Greiner & Ass.-Prof. Dr. MMag. Martin Jandl
kurt.greiner@sfu.ac.at / martin.jandl@sfu.ac.at

Gallery-Office 4003, Freudplatz 1, Faculty of Psychotherapy Science (PTW) at Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna (SFU)

PTW research foci, under which all activities of the institute fall: Hermeneutic therapy school research, therapy school dialogue/therapy school interdisciplinary research, psychotherapy science theory and psychotherapy science philosophy. As this institute considers the subject of psychotherapy science (PTW) as a paradigm pluralistic psychoscience culture, all activities are in the service of therapy school diversity.

1) Experimental psychotherapy science aka psychotextology (synonym) is the teaching of text-scientific research into psychotherapeutic theories. At present, this basic research discipline, which began to crystallise at SFU Vienna in 2007, consists of the following four methodological programmes (A-D), within which basic knowledge about implicit conditional and presuppositional structures underlying the explicit teachings and concepts of individual psychotherapy modalities is created using diverse experimental and imaginative hermeneutic procedures:

Method programme A: Standardised therapy dialogue (procedure A.1).
Method programme B: Text-puzzle procedure (procedure B.1/B.2/B.3)
Method programme C: Psycho-picture methods (methods C.1/C.2/C.3/C.4/C.5)
Methods programme D: Media-play techniques (Procedures D.1.a-c/D.2.a-c)

2) Psychotherapy philosophy sees itself as an auxiliary science of psychotherapy science and comprises the following core areas:

Linking psychotherapy and philosophy of science to generate a genuine understanding of psychotherapy science.
Reflection on images of the human being from all schools of psychotherapy by reading psychotherapeutic texts not only in clinical terms, but also by relating them to philosophical anthropology
Critical reflection on the dominance of some schools of psychotherapy, the clinical focus and the increasing diagnostics, thus the psychologisation of PTW in the sense of a scientific variable-oriented psychology
Rejection of the equation of psychotherapy science with (quantitative or qualitative) psychotherapy research
Support of experimental psychotherapy science by reflecting and ordering insights gained through experimental and imaginative hermeneutics.
Philosophical reflection on central psychotherapeutic concepts (e.g. therapeutic alliance, dream, emotions, pathology, unconscious, non-discursive knowledge of self, etc.).
Discourse analysis and reflection of self-technologies and self-techniques
Strengthening the socio-critical potential of psychotherapy schools

Academic activities

Lectures & training

Our staff regularly teach in our BA, MA and PhD programmes. A selection of courses in which you can learn about our research methods and science projects:

Science and Research Methodology I (VO+UE, B2) Prof. Greiner & Ass.-Prof. Jandl
Science and Research Methodology II (VO, B4) Prof. Greiner & Ass.-Prof. Jandl
Methods of qualitative psychotherapy research (VO, M2) Prof. Greiner
Hermeneutic research (SE, DOK) Prof. Greiner
Philosophy of science (SE, DOK) Prof. Greiner
Privatissimum (Ao. LV) Prof. Greiner & Ass.-Prof. Jandl
Lecture series – Perspectives of Psychotherapy Science, Prof. Greiner
Research Lab “Philosophy, Hermeneutic and Dialogical Research in Psychotherapy” (Ao. LV) Ass.-Prof. Jandl & Prof. Greiner
Workshop Philosophy (Nietzsche, Hume, Ryle, Kant, Merleau-Ponty), (mixed undergraduate-graduate) Ass.-Prof. Jandl
Existential Philosophy (graduate) Ass.-Prof. Jandl
The better consciousness and the will – Schopenhauer (graduate) Ass.-Prof. Jandl

Supervision of theses

Within the framework of Experimental Psychotherapy Science (Psychotextology), there are now approximately seventy (70, as of 2022) completed and approved qualifying studies, distributed across all three graduation levels: Baccalaureate, Master’s, Doctorate. In these studies, research was conducted using the following methods of our Institute:

Programme Sector A: Standardised Therapy Schools Dialogue (TSD)
Method A.1: Experimental Trans-Contextualisation (ExTK)
Programme sector B: Text Puzzle Method
Method B.1: Classic psycho-text puzzle (P-T-P)
Method B.2: Intertherapeutic Text Puzzle (ITTP)
Programme sector C: Psycho-picture Methods
Method C.1: Classic Psycho-Picture Process (PBP)
Method C.2: Intertherapeutic Picture Process (ITBP)
Method C.3: Small Psycho-Building Game (PBS/k)
Method C.4: Large Psycho-Image Game (PBS/g)
Programme sector D: Media game techniques
Methods D.1.a-c: Classic Psycho-Media Games (PMS)
Methods D.2.a-c: Intertherapeutic Media Games (ITMS)

Research & publications

Book cover titled 'Lehrbuch Experimentelle Psychotherapiewissenschaft' by Kurt Greiner, edited by Tamara M. Trebes, violet-pink graphic of a person in suit and tie.

Textbook
Experimental Psychotherapy Science
Innovative therapy school research at the SFU Vienna since 2007

Author: Kurt Greiner / Editor: Tamara M. Trebes
SFU Press, Vienna 2024
ISBN: 978-3-902626-88-2

Experimental psychotherapy science – which is not related to experimental psychology – is an applied psychotextology, an explicitly text-scientific field of research in which theoretical texts of psychotherapy (object) are critically and reflectively analysed with the help of specially designed experimental and imaginative hermeneutic procedures (method).

As the first comprehensive overall compilation, this textbook offers a well-founded overview of this programme of innovative therapy school research, which began to take shape in 2007 and is now established as a basic research discipline at Sigmund Freud Private University (SFU) Vienna. Within the structural framework of three large sections, detailed insights are first offered into the philosophical foundations and the object specifics (Part I, Basic Theory), then the differentiated operational systems of the broadly developed spectrum of procedures are presented in terms of structure and processuality (Part II, Methodology) and finally their empirical testing in the context of psychotherapeutic application practice is sketchily presented (Part III, Research Documentation).

Project lead: Kurt Greiner (book author)
Project assistance: Tamara Trebes (book editor)
Project duration: 2021-2024

Available in the SFU shop
Review ASP Zurich (PDF, in German)
Review FQS Forum (PDF, in German)
Review European Psychotherapy (PDF, in German)
Review Franzen – Zeitschrift Musik, Tanz- & Kunsttherapie (PDF, in German)
Review Wallner – Jahrbuch Psychotherapie (PDF, in German)
Review Ihanus A – Original Psykoterapia & Review Ihanus B – Übersetzung DEUTSCH (PDF)
Review Böckle – ZfPFI (SFU) (PDF)

“ADVENTURE BIZARROSOPHY. Experimental and imaginative hermeneutic expeditions in the science of psychotherapy”

Anthology project in the Libri Nigri series published by Traugott Bautz, Nordhausen. Editors: Martin J. Jandl & Kurt Greiner

Overview Publications

Publications – Status 2022 (PDF, in German)

Conferences

First European Biblio/Poetry Therapy Conference in Budapest

From 4 to 5 October 2024, the first European Biblio/Poetry Therapy Conference took place in Budapest under the motto “Encounters, Paths and Challenges in Troubled Times”.

The conference was organised by Dr Judit Béres, President of the Hungarian Association for Biblio/Poetry Therapy, and her team and brought together participants from 25 countries and 40 universities. The aim of this first European conference for biblio/poetry therapy was to create a solid foundation for the growing community. Research findings were presented, lectures were given and interactive workshops were offered in which theoretical knowledge was directly tested in practice. The atmosphere was consistently inspiring and characterised by a deep passion for literature, poetry, therapy and research.

Our former colleague Tamara Trebes was also able to contribute to the conference and gave an exciting presentation on “The triad of triangulation mechanisms in poetry therapy”.