INTERCULTURAL KNOWLEDGE

“Swiss Nobel Prize” for Thomas Berger

Major acknowledgment for Thomas Berger of the University of Bern: This professor of psychology was presented with the Marcel Benoist Science Prize for his innovative contributions to the development of Internet-based psychotherapies. Researchers consider this prize to be “Switzerland’s Nobel Prize”.

Thomas Berger is a pioneer in the development, testing, and implementation of therapies to prevent and treat mental health problems and disorders through the use of digital tools such as apps and websites. As one of the leading international experts in psychotherapy research, he has investigated these types of online treatment methods, compared them against purely conventional forms of psychotherapy and found empirical proof of their effectiveness.

The award ceremony was held on November 4, 2021, at Bern’s city hall. Guy Parmelin, President of the Swiss Confederation, gave the ceremonial speech and congratulated Thomas Berger on being the latest winner of the Marcel Benoist Prize. He said that Berger has made it much easier to gain access to treatment for mental health problems. The Latsis Swiss Science Prize was also presented at the event.

Among other things, the web-based self-help programs developed by Berger can be used to treat depression and anxiety, the two most common mental disorders in Switzerland. Other online tools offer help for sleep disorders and the mental health problems that can arise after illnesses and separations. Berger also designed blended treatments that combine online treatments with offline therapy sessions.

Thomas Berger has high hopes for these blended treatments. “In a study on patients suffering from depression, we were able to demonstrate that psychotherapy can be more effective if an online program is used between therapy sessions.” 

The easy-to-access digital offers can greatly improve access to treatments for certain groups of patients, including those for whom making the trip to see a therapist constitutes an insurmountable obstacle. This often includes refugees, for example.

Demand for online tools is growing in general, but the importance of Internet-based treatments has grown even further as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

One offering for treating pandemic-related psychological distress already went online early in the summer of 2020: The “ROCO” self-help program – Resilience and Optimism during COVID-19 – was developed by two PhD students at the Institute of Psychology. Thomas Berger and Hansjörg Znoj served as advisors on the research project.

As a leader – he heads up the Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy – Thomas Berger feels that his main job is to provide his employees with the right framework for them to be satisfied, do good work and advance their own careers. 

Sometimes he misses being the first to see and analyze the results of a study. “My goals was never to win a certain prize or become a professor. I was always driven by the desire to make new discoveries and conduct research,” says Berger.