Institute for Qualitative Psychotherapy Research

• Mag.^a Birgitta Schiller: Work & Health, Individual Psychology, Type Formation (Head, CV Schiller Birgitta_en)
• Eva Wimmer MA: Sociology, Gender Studies, Hermeneutic Text Analysis (Head, CV Wimmer Eva)
• Mathias Grüner MA: Educational Sciences, Migration, Social Inequality, Qualitative Methods (CV Mathias Grüner)

You find us in the research room 4002 on the 4th floor of SFU Vienna at Freudplatz 1, 1020 Vienna.

Former members: Lea Bernik, Ivana Dragic, Himanshu Giri, Dominik Mihalits, Kathrin Mörtl, Katharina Steinicke, Elitsa Tilkidzhieva, Isabella Wagner, Markus Wrbouschek, Manfred Reisinger

Austria is home to people from diverse cultural, religious, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds, contributing to the country’s rich social fabric. Despite this diversity, individuals with a migration background may still encounter disadvantages and structural inequalities in various areas of life. To ensure equitable and migration-sensitive care, particularly in the psychosocial health sector, in-depth research is essential.

This is why our research project focuses on the dynamics of psychotherapeutic first sessions involving clients with a migration background. Using video recordings of selected initial interview demonstrations, we explore how interactions between clients and therapists unfold from a transcultural perspective. What challenges might arise for both clients and therapists? What shared approaches emerge in navigating these situations? And what potential lies within this therapeutic relationship?

The interdisciplinary research project is conducted in cooperation with the Institute for Qualitative Psychotherapy Research at Sigmund Freud Private University (Faculty of Psychotherapy Science), the Department of Sociology at the University of Vienna (https://inmi.univie.ac.at), and the Psychotherapeutic University Outpatient Clinic at Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna (https://ambulanz.sfu.ac.at/en/adults) as a research partner.

The findings of the project are intended to inform the training and education of psychotherapists, with the goal of improving psychotherapeutic care for individuals with a migration background and reducing existing inequalities.

• Further Information on the Study and Data Protection

• The Burden on Medical Personnel During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Fit for Life – Literature Prize: “The Impact of Writing as Artistic Creation”
• Dis-Illusions in Psychotherapy – A qualitative study on disappointments experienced by psychotherapy trainees under supervision – Research project of the SFU University Outpatient Clinic
• Follow-Up – BodyLESS in Online Settings – A qualitative study on the role of the body in digital psychotherapeutic treatment in the International Department of the SFU University Outpatient Clinic – PTW-COOP SFU University Outpatient Clinic
• Master’s Thesis by Eva Wimmer in Gender Studies (University of Vienna): A qualitative research project on feminist psychotherapy in Austria: “I’m Not a Typical Feminist” – (Re)construction of the field and the individual (in) feminist psychotherapy in Austria
• Doctoral Thesis by Eva Wimmer: Discourses, Power, and (In)Equalities in the Field of Austrian Psychotherapy

Our team members regularly teach in our Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes. Below is a selection of courses where you can learn about our research methods and projects:

• Research Workshop I (B3)
• Qualitative psychotherapy research methods (M2)
• Workshop for psychotherapy research (M3) 
• Research Methods Workshops at the Salztorgasse Outpatient Clinic
• Seminar on Qualitative Interpretation
• Lecture Series in the Winter Semester 
• Skills Line of the Faculty of Medicine

Supervision of theses

If you are interested in qualitative research and have an intriguing research idea, feel free to get in touch with us.

Qualitative Research Working Group

The research team “Qualitative Psychotherapy Research” invites students to the working group for qualitative research. Prerequisite for participation are own qualitative research projects and theses, which can be brought in as material.

• Qualitative Research Working Group (Study Groups)

Depth Hermeneutic Interpretation Group – Online

Depth hermeneutics is a qualitative method that aims at the latent content of the material to be studied (texts, films, interviews…). These unconscious “scenes” merely shimmer through “between the lines”, but affectively speak to the interpreters involuntarily and can be developed through an analysis of these reactions. The aim of the working group is to make spontaneous feelings and associations usable for an interpretation of the material.

Groups are available as needed: if interested, please contact quali@sfu.ac.at.

• Wimmer, E., Schiller, B., Reisinger, M., Wagner, I., Fiegl, J., & Mörtl , K. (2021). Das Fehlen des Körpers in der psychotherapeutischen Ausbildung: Qualitative Analyse von Gruppendiskussionen mit Studierenden. Psychotherapie Forum, S. 1-6.
• Reisinger, M., Knasmüller, F., Aden, J., & Sindelar, B. (2021). Herausforderungen in der psychosozialen Versorgung am Beispiel der psychotherapeutischen Universitätzambulanz der Sigmund Freud PrivatUniversität-Eine Klientenanalyse. Psychotherapie Forum, S. 1-8.
• Wimmer, E., & Schiller, B. (2021). Qualitative Psychotherapieforschung in der Lehre – Herausforderung und Bereicherung für die psychotherapeutische Ausbildung und Praxis. Zeitschrift für Beratungswissenschaften und Managementwissenschaften.
• Mihalits, D. S., Schiller, B., Barrech, A., Riedel, N., Li, J., Angerer, P., Guendel, H. & Mörtl, K. (2021). The Flipside of Work Engagement: A Qualitative Evaluation of a Stress Management Intervention in the Workplace. Human Arenas, 1-15.
• Wimmer, E., Braunschmied, N., Eichenberg, C., Weihs, V., Pogran, E., Fiegl, J., & Huber, K. (2021). Tako-Tsubo-Syndrom: Stress, Ressourcen und Chancen. PiD-Psychotherapie im Dialog, 22(2), S. 68-71.
• Wimmer, E., Braunschmied, N., Fiegl, J., Eichenberg, C., Weihs, V., Piackova, E., & Huber, K. (2020). Psychotherapie in der Behandlung und Prävention des Tako-Tsubo-Syndroms: Empfehlungen für die klinische Praxis aus einer qualitativen Pilot-Studie//Psychotherapy in treatment of the Tako-Tsubo syndrome. Journal für Kardiologie-Austrian Journal of Cardiology, 27(3), S. 84-89.
• Schiller, B., Posselt, W., Polz, J., & Salamon, G. (2019). Erfahrungen von tiefenpsychologisch fundierten Therapeutinnen und Therapeuten in Auseinandersetzung mit dem eigenen Körper. Psychoanalyse & Körper, 35(2), S. 39-52.

Mag.^a Birgitta Schiller
birgitta.schiller@sfu.ac.at

Eva Wimmer MA
eva.wimmer@sfu.ac.at

Mathias Grüner MA
mathias.gruener@sfu.ac.at

Institute for Qualitative Psychotherapy Research
Faculty of Psychotherapy Science
Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna 
Research room 4002, 4th floor
Freudplatz 1, 1020 Vienna
quali@sfu.ac.at