Psychological problems continue to be a taboo topic in our society, and those who suffer from such problems often face prejudice and are socially ostracized. Studies have demonstrated that at least one third of the population will develop a psychological condition during their lifetime. This means that one in every three people you know will be in need of psychological help at some point. Some mental illnesses are well understood and effective treatments for them are available; for others, however, the work has just begun. The main goal of our research program in Hamburg is the development of low-threshold intervention strategies, the majority of which are available for free in the form of self-help materials (books and online programs; please click the menu buttons above for more information).

In addition, we have created metacognitive training programs for specific disorders (e.g., psychosis/schizophrenia, depression, borderline personality disorder), which we offer largely for free to our colleagues (for more information, see here). We are proud that some of our intervention programs have already been included in national treatment guidelines and that their effectiveness has been confirmed by independent researchers. However, the international distribution of these materials is an enormous task, for which we need your help.

The main support for our research comes from federal funds. yet, this funding is often not sufficient to cover all our research costs. Support from private donors is thus essential to keeping us at the forefront of psychological research and helping those in need. The expenses for conducting a clinical study range from rather minor items like obtaining ethics committee approval to employing research assistants to perform assessments and to carry out the treatments. We keep our expenses as low as possible. For example, international experts volunteer their time to translate our manuals and other materials into many languages (e.g., www.uke.de/mymct).

All donations (see our banking and PayPal information below) made to our research group go directly to our research, primarily to the translation of our findings from “bench to bedside”: from basic research (i.e., experimental evidence) to treatment programs (i.e., real-world application). To implement our programs, controlled trials must be conducted. These require vast amounts of monetary and personnel resources.

The final and in our view most important step is dissemination of our work. Our research findings and new developments are communicated, critically reviewed, and discussed with colleagues at conferences to ensure the credibility of our findings, which in turn improves our treatment programs.

Your donation—of any size—will help our work to improve the lives of many individuals suffering from mental illness. We give credit to all our donors by name unless you wish to remain anonymous. If you make a large donation, we are open to acknowledging you in our materials (e.g., on the title page or in the foreword). You may also “adopt” one of our programs, and we will name it after you or anyone you wish to acknowledge.

To learn more about our work, visit our pages or contact me directly by email (Steffen Moritz: moritz@uke.de). Please let us know if you have any questions or would like to receive more information.

You can also make a donation through this donations portal (e.g., PayPal): www.betterplace.org.

We are happy about every donation. Even small donations help us to make progress. Of course, you will receive an official donation receipt from us for the tax office.