Ueli Kramer, PhD

Kramer is currently a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Lausanne, where he directs the University Institute of Psychotherapy.

Tell us a bit about your background. What is your area of research?

I obtained my PhD at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, in 2008. Over the years, I have worked at several Swiss universities, accepted two invited professorships (at the University of Windsor and the University of Lisbon), and engaged in a scientific visit at McLean Hospital of Harvard Medical School. I have received five international and national awards for my research in the domain of psychotherapy, including the Society for Psychotherapy Research’s (SPR’s) Outstanding Early Career Achievement Award (2016) and the Marvin R. Goldfried Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) New Researcher Award (2018). I have been president of the European chapter of SPR, I am currently (2024) the president of the European Society for the Study of Personality Disorders, and I hosted the in-person portion of the SEPI conference in Lausanne in 2022.

I believe that a deep and differentiated understanding of how psychotherapy works will eventually serve psychotherapy integration. Therefore, my research focuses on mechanisms of change in different forms of psychotherapy and on case formulation in psychotherapy. Over the past 15 years, I have conducted four randomized controlled trials on psychotherapy for personality disorders, in addition to numerous naturalistic studies using a variety of therapy approaches for an array of psychological disorders. I am ultimately interested in understanding the step-by-step process that moves the client out of the disorder and to lasting change. My conviction is that a multimethod approach will pave the way to such an understanding. For example, neurobiological, physiological, and meaning-construction markers of emotional changes are at the core of what makes psychotherapy work.

Briefly, what are your main priorities? For example, how will you grow readership, what type of scholarship would you like to see in the journal, and what kind of content are you hoping to attract?

Journal of Psychotherapy Integration (JPI) is committed to publishing the best psychotherapy research that considers any of the established routes to psychotherapy integration. In 2024, specific psychotherapy schools thrive, therapy manuals for three-letter-acronym approaches are bestsellers on the market, and simple solutions seduce clinicians into applying them at the next turn. JPI provides the academic outlet for scientists who wish to adopt a healthy and differentiated stance on these evolutions. In other words, JPI invites the field to take a step back and reflect. As such, JPI seeks submissions on the highest level of methodological rigor, which pushes forward the evidence-based understanding of psychotherapy.

For all these reasons, students of psychotherapy research should read JPI and consider submitting their best work. I and the other editors of JPI cherish diversity of backgrounds and methods, and we will establish an international expert group, with members from various contexts, to advise the journal staff on issues related to diversity, inclusiveness, and balance in the publication process. For APA and JPI in particular, listening to the voices of the consumers of psychotherapy is important. We at JPI will install a mechanism to ensure that these voices are heard in the publication process even more in the future.

JPI may become the go-to scientific journal for clinicians. The journal already has a solidly anchored academic mission, but I also want to publish research that readily translates into practice. The collaboration between JPI and SEPI will help to strengthen all of the above.

Why is this journal important to the field? What is its relevance to society/public health?

JPI is essential to the field of psychotherapy because it is the only outlet that captures the full spectrum of psychotherapy integration. Currently, when clinicians are expected to deliver psychotherapy always in “shorter, faster, and simpler” ways, the mental health of clients benefits from the type of dialogue that psychotherapy integration offers. Just as mental health is inconceivable without the individual’s social context, many conclusions from psychotherapy research are inconceivable without the context of peer scientist-practitioners providing alternative explanations and perspectives of the facts. As such, JPI is committed to publishing high-quality alternative perspectives that may contribute new insights to a dialectical process looking for new understandings and creative solutions to dilemmas the field currently faces.

Do you have plans for a special section or changes to the editorial process?

JPI’s first call for papers will be for a special section titled “Dimensional Constructs of Personality Disorders: Implications for Psychotherapy Integration.” New diagnostic classifications for personality disorders have been introduced, and they represent challenges and opportunities for psychotherapy integration. Identifying possible implications for psychotherapy from an integrative perspective is my aim for this special section. More information will follow soon. Other special sections on current hot topics in psychotherapy research, such as the person of the therapist beyond the therapeutic alliance and the neurobiology in psychotherapy integration, will be announced in due course.