Personen
 Portrait of Ph.D. Melanie Fischer
Ph.D. Melanie Fischer

Former colleague (Institute of Medical Psychology)

M.A.
Fellow, Margarete-von-Wrangell habilitation program for women (Baden-Württemberg)


+49 6221 56-7871

Medical/Professional background

since 2018

Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Medical Psychology

September 2016 – July 2018

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

August 2015 – July 2016

Predoctoral Intern, Medical University of South Carolina & Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

2012 – 2015

Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience (NIMH-funded project “UCAN2: Uniting Couples in the Treatment of Anorexia Nervosa,” Leitung Prof. Dr. Cynthia Bulik & Prof. Dr. Donald Baucom), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

2010 – 2012

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

Scientific background

since 2020

Habilitation candidate, Faculty of Behavioural and Cultural Studies, University of Heidelberg, „Dyadic mechanisms of mental disorders: Behavior, psychobiology and emotion regulation in romantic partnerships" (Supervisor: Prof. Beate Ditzen)

since 2016

Licensed Psychologist (LP) im Staat North Carolina, USA

2012 – 2016

Ph.D.,  Clinical Psychology Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

2009 – 2012

M.A. Clinical Psychology Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

2006 – 2009

B.Sc., Psychology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany

Grants

2020-2025: Margarete-von-Wrangell Habilitation Program for Women (State Baden-Württemberg)

2020-2021: Foundation Grant, Heidelberg University (Dres Majic/Majic-Schlez): Accommodation in OCD: Dyadic psychobiology and emotion regulation as prognostic factors

2018-2020: National Institute of Mental Health (USA) project grant (R03): Social processes in RDoC: Function and dysfunction of interpersonal emotion regulation in depression and anxiety.

2016: Robert L. Weiss Student Research Award (2. place), Couple Therapy and Research Special Interest Group, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies

2014: Dissertation Research Award, American Psychological Association (APA)

2014: Dashiell Dissertation Startup Award, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA

2009-2010: Fulbright Fellowship  

2009-2012: Fellowship of the German National Academic Foundation

2009-2010: Fulbright Stipendium der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Fulbright Kommission

2009-2012: Stipendium der Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes

Professional memberships

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie e.V., DGPs, Fachgruppe Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), Couples Research and Therapy Special Interest Group

Arbeits- und Forschungsschwerpunkte

Behavioral and emotion-related processes in dyadic interactions related to psychopathology

Emotion regulation, dysregulation, and coregulation in couples

Development and evaluation of cognitive-behavioral couple-based interventions (e.g., depression, OCD, eating disorders)

Dissemination of couple-based interventions in routine clinical care (Behavioral Couple Therapy for Depression, National Health Service England, Increasing Access to Psychological Treatments (IAPT) Initiative)

Aktuelle Projekte

Social Processes in RDoC: Function and Dysfunction of Interpersonal Emotion Regulation in Depression and Anxiety

Onlinestudie “Zwangsstörungen und Partnerschaft”; Validierung der deutschen Family Accommodation Scale

Pilotstudie: Partnerschaft und Zwangsstörung im Alltag (PaZ-Studie)  

Entwicklung einer psychometrisch validierten deutschen Version des Couple Satisfaction Index

Web@T: Entwicklung eines online Informations- und Beratungsangebotes für Familien  vor, während, oder nach einer Trennung

Stressregulation in Eltern-Kind Interaktionen und deren Zusammenhänge mit Behandlungsverläufen in der Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie

Editorial Board

Advisory Editor, Family Process