PEOPLE

The People Behind
Emotion Processing Research.

Our research brings together conceptual development, empirical investigation, and methodological rigor. Meet the people shaping and advancing the Eilert Institute’s research agenda.

OUR TEAM

Three Perspectives.
One Research Agenda.

Our team combines complementary expertise across theoretical development, empirical research, research methodology, and statistical analysis.

Dr. Dirk W. Eilert
Founder & Scientific Director

Dr. Dirk W. Eilert

Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology

Research Focus: C-FEP · Differential Emotion Processing · Emotion‑Focused Intervention Science

Dr. Dirk W. Eilert

Dirk W. Eilert is the founder and Scientific Director of the Eilert Institute for Emotion Science. His research focuses on the development of the Core Functions of Emotion Processing (C-FEP) as an integrative framework for investigating impathy, empathy, emotion regulation, and emotion expression.

He studies how these core functions are coordinated into differential patterns of emotion processing, how they relate to attachment, psychopathology, and adaptive functioning, and how they can be strengthened through targeted interventions. Further areas of his work include nonverbal behavior, social perception, and emotion processing in aesthetic medicine.

Alongside his role at the Eilert Institute, he is an External Researcher and Lecturer at the Institute of Psychology, University of Innsbruck.

Current Research Focus: C-FEP theory and measurement; differential emotion-processing profiles; attachment and psychopathology; regulatory flexibility; emotion-focused interventions; nonverbal behavior and social perception.

Philipp Mensah
Head of Research

Philipp Mensah, B.Sc.

B.Sc. in Psychology

Research Focus: Emotion Regulation · Intervention Development · AI‑Assisted Interventions

Philipp Mensah, B.Sc.

Philipp Mensah coordinates the institute’s empirical research activities and contributes to the development, implementation, and evaluation of its research projects.

His work focuses particularly on emotion regulation, emotion-focused interventions, and the question of how adaptive changes in emotion processing can be facilitated and measured. He is also involved in translating theoretical models into testable study designs and in developing digital and AI-assisted research and intervention formats.

Alongside his role at the Eilert Institute, he is a Research Assistant and Tutor in Clinical Psychology at the University of Potsdam.

Current Research Focus: emotion regulation; emotion-focused intervention science; intervention development and evaluation; digital and AI-assisted intervention formats.

Stephanie Wiegand
Research Associate – Methodology & Statistical Analysis

Stephanie Wiegand, M.A.

M.A. in Educational Science

Research Focus: Research Methodology · Statistical Analysis · Attachment and Intervention Research

Stephanie Wiegand, M.A.

Stephanie Wiegand contributes to the methodological planning and statistical evaluation of the institute’s research projects. Her work supports the development of rigorous study designs and the systematic analysis of complex patterns of emotion processing and psychological change.

As a doctoral researcher at the University of Innsbruck, she investigates how attachment representations can be changed through emotion-focused interventions. Her research thereby connects attachment research with emotion-focused intervention science and the empirical study of psychological change.

Current Research Focus: research methodology; statistical analysis; attachment representations; emotion-focused interventions; intervention-related psychological change.

SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION

Research Grows
Through Exchange.

Our team collaborates with researchers and institutions across disciplines to advance the science of emotion processing.