Empower young people to better cope with stress and mental illness using the advantages of digital technology.
Contact:
Professor for Mental Health in Primary Care
Institute for General Practice and Family Medicine
Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Bavaria
johanna.loechner@med.uni-muenchen.de
Research Focus
AI, digital traces, and conversational technologies are transforming psychotherapy research and mental health care. My work focuses on how digital phenotyping, ecological momentary assessment, and large language models can help us understand psychological change as it unfolds in everyday life — and how these insights can be translated into safe, personalized, and scalable interventions. At the same time, I am interested in the methodological, clinical, and ethical challenges that arise when AI-based tools enter real-world care faster than evidence and regulation can follow. My research aims to move psychotherapy from static outcomes toward dynamic process science, shaping the next generation of digital and AI-supported mental health care.
Editorial Boards
Academic Editor
PEERJ
PLOS ONE
Editor
Guest editor
Saludari GmbH
Kindheit und Entwicklung
Guest Editor of the Special Issue (Research Topic) on “Advances in Computer Audition for Mental Health Applications”, Zhao Ren, Johanna Löchner, Kun Qian, Björn Wolfgang Schuller, Frontiers in Digital Health, Section Digital Mental Health, Frontiers, 2023.
Guest Editor of the Special Issue on “Audio-Inspired Methods for Healthcare”, Kun Qian, Zhao Ren, Kele Xu, Mengyue Wu, Johanna Löchner, Björn W. Schuller, Cyborg and Bionic Systems, AAAS, 2023.
Guest Editor of the Special Issue on “Artificial Intelligence for Mental Health: Advancements, Challenges, and Ethical Implications“, Johanna Löchner, Björn Schuller, PeerJ Life & Environment / PeerJ Computer Science, PeerJ, 2023. (IF: 3.06 / IF: 2.411 (2022)
Guest Advisor of the Collection on “Digital Healthcare”, Björn Schuller, Johanna Löchner, Kun Qian, F1000 Research, Taylor & Francis, 2022.
Co-founder: https://www.saludari.com
Memberships
ESRII
ISRII
BPtK
European Society for Research on Internet Interventions
International Society for Research on Internet Interventions
Bundespsychotherapeutenkammer (Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists)
GCPD
UNICEF
Global Consortium for the Prevention of Depression
Advisory Expert for Youth Mental Health UNICEF Programme "Kinderrechteschulen"
DGPs
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie (German Society of Psychology)
E-mental Health Special Interest Group - Spokeswoman
Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents, Special Interest Group
AVM
Kassenärztliche Vereinigung
& Psychotherapeutenkammer,
Bayern
Advisory Boards
Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Verhaltensmodifikation (Working group of Behavior Modification)
German Health Organisations of licensed Psychotherapist (Association of Statury Health, Chamber of Psychotherapists)
Mental Health Crowd
Nilo Health
Praevenio
Special Events
Workshop Chairing
Organisation and Chair of the 1st International Workshop on Data Mining for Mental Disorders (DMMD 2023) held at the 23rd IEEE International Conference on Data Mining (ICDM 2023), Björn Schuller, Johanna Löchner, Kun Qian, Zichao Nie, Bin Hu, Yoshiharu Yamamoto, IEEE, Shanghai, China, 01.-04.12.2023.
International Symposium
Organisation and General Chair of 2. International Munich Symposium on Parental Psychopathology and (eHealth) Prevention hosted at Ludwigs-Maximilians University, Belinda Platt, Gerd Schulte-Körne; 14.-15.09.2023
Organisation and General Chair of 1. International Munich Symposium on Parental Psychopathology and Prevention hosted at Ludwigs-Maximilians University, Belinda Platt, Gerd Schulte-Körne; 17.-18.09.2018
Open Science Statement
In my research I adhere to the following open science standards if ever practically possible:
studies are either pre-registered or studies / analyses are explicitly marked as exploratory, data and materials (and if possible also reproducible analysis scripts) are made publicly available at the time of publication, all manipulations and assessed variables are reported; I aim to report failed studies in a project, studies are planned to have sample sizes that allow achieving sufficient statistical power; power is a-priori determined where ever possible on the basis of power analyses, I support replication (see PRODO trial, e.g.) and also aim to make non-successful replications (of own and others’ findings) available.
Exceptions are possible, for example, if there are restrictions due to legal or contractual obligations (e.g., concerning data sharing or material sharing) or if quick set-ups are required to analyze current societal developments.