Institute for Qualitative Psychotherapy Research

• Mag. Dr.scient.pth. Birgitta Schiller: Work & Health, Individual Psychology, Type Formation (Head, CV Schiller Birgitta)
• Eva Wimmer MA: Sociology, gender research, hermeneutic text analysis (Head, CV Wimmer Eva)

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

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

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.

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.

• Heiss, E., Vatyan, E., Becher-Urbaniak, S., Winter, L., & Schiller, B. (2026). Blinder Fleck und Leiblichkeit: Bewusste und unbewusste Erfahrungen in der Online-Gruppentherapie aus psychoanalytischer Perspektive. Psychotherapie Forum. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00729-026-00313-w
• Becher-Urbaniak, S., Gatterer, J., Haslinger, A., Schwarzer, L., Rosic, L., Rach, P. J. M., Van de Rijdt, V., Vendler, A., Wimmer, E., Winter, L., Mörtl, K., & Schiller, B. (2026). Anamnese für Körper und Psyche (AKuP): Ein strukturierter Zugang zur Körperlichkeit in der psychotherapeutischen Praxis. Psychotherapie Forum. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00729-026-00310-z
• Schiller, B., Grüner, M., Wimmer, E., Reisinger, M., Wagner, I., Fiegl, J., Eichenberg, C., Huber, K., Brunner, M., & Mörtl, K. (2026). Functionality as defence: A deep-structure hermeneutic study of institutional coping and professional identity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health (United Kingdom), 13634593261437508. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634593261437508
• Schwegel, H., Becher-Urbaniak, S., Winter, L., & Schiller, B. (2026). Der Raum hinter der Linse: Patient:innen-Erleben des online-therapeutischen Raums und Körpers. . Psychotherapie Forum. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00729-026-00306-9
• Schiller, B., & Scheibelhofer, E. (2026). Psychotherapy in diverse migration societies: reflections from psychotherapy theory and sociological points of view. Journal of Psychosocial Studies. https://doi.org/10.1332/14786737Y2026D000000069
• Schwarz, E., Schiller, B., Wagner, I., Moertl, K., Papenfuß, F., Hoelzer, M., & Guendel, H. (2026). Understanding how managers deal with Mental Health at the Workplace: A Qualitative Approach. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000003683
• Grüner, M. (2025). Soziale Klasse als vernachlässigte Dimension der Psychotherapie: Zur Bedeutung sozialer Herkunft und sozioökonomischen Status in der psychotherapeutischen Versorgung. Psychotherapie Forum, 29, 139-144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00729-025-00296-0
• Schiller, B., Neuhold, K., David, H., & Mörtl, K. (2025). The “Fit for Life” Literary Award – Writing as an Addiction to Life. A Qualitative Study on Literary Creation in the Context of Substance Use Disorders. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347324.2025.2569877
• Becher-Urbaniak, S., Schiller, B., Winter, L., & Mörtl, K. (2025). Zwischen Evidenz und Erleben: Warum systematische psychotherapeutische Diagnostik mehr sein muss als ein Manual. Jahrbuch Psychotherapie, 69-81.
• Schiller, B., Becher-Urbaniak, S., Wimmer, E., Winter, L., & Mörtl, K. (2025). The digital extension of the psychotherapeutic field and the role of the body in online therapy: a grounded theory study with psychotherapists in training. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1413134. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1413134
• Ximenes Souza, F. L., Becher-Urbaniak, S., Winter, L., & Schiller, B. (2025). Safety or safeness in the therapeutic relationship? A qualitative study of preferences for online or in person psychotherapy. Revista Brasileira de Psicoterapia, 26(1), 41-56. https://doi.org/10.5935/2318-040420240005
• Schiller, B., Kuska, M., Becher-Urbaniak, S., Wimmer, E., Reisinger, M., & Mörtl, K. (2024). Online psychotherapy as a first clinical experience during the Covid-19 pandemic: A new generation of psychotherapists in the digital age. Heliyon, 10(8), e29464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29464
• Reisinger, M., Schiller, B., Kary, B., Ferchner, F., Krammer, E., & Pap, G. (2024). Träume im ersten Lockdown der COVID-19-Pandemie: Eine individualpsychologische Analyse. In A. Dietrich-Neunkirchner , & G. Pap (Eds.), Träume in Zeiten der Coronapandemie – Psychoanalytische und individualpsychologische Beiträge zur Traumforschung (pp. 81-102). Psychosozial-Verlag.
• 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.
• 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.

More publications are available in the SFU Research Portal.

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