Welcome to the homepage of the Center for Psychotherapy Research (FOST)

The Center for Psychotherapy Research (FOST) is an independent research group at the Institute for Psychosocial Prevention and focuses on psychotherapy and health care research as well as E-Mental Health. In recent years, numerous digital interventions have been developed at the FOST with the aim of optimizing psychosocial care and evaluated with regard to their practicability, acceptance, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. A central goal is to link these technology-based interventions and standard care in order to contribute to improving the continuity of care before (prevention, early intervention, treatment preparation) or after (aftercare, relapse prevention, disease management) a conventional therapeutic or psychosocial intervention. Further focuses are network and psycholinguistic analyses as well as cooperations with various clinics in the context of quality assurance processes in health care.

HISTORY

The FOST was founded in 1967 in Stuttgart, Germany, where it was run under the auspices of the Psychotherapeutic Center e.V. and supported by the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture. Under the leadership of Prof. H. Enke (1967-1988) and Prof. H. Kächele (1988-2004), the FOST has had a significant impact on psychotherapy research in Germany. At the beginning of 2005, the FOST became part of the Center for Psychosocial Medicine at the University Hospital Heidelberg. There, the FOST was first led by Dr. Hans Kordy, who had previously served as co-director of the FOST in Stuttgart since 1997. In 2013, Prof. Dr. Stephanie Bauer then took over as head of the FOST.