M.Sc. Jan Heistermann

Psychologist, Psychotherapist, PhD student

My research is broadly-conceived, following an approach of combining conditioning studies to promote our understanding of emotional learning mechanisms with RCT studies that are capable of modifying and reshaping state-of-the-art treatments such as exposure therapyAs a crucial part of my role as researcher, psychologist & psychotherapist, I put exceptional emphasis on publically sharing my research & designing interactive seminars for students in B.Sc. Psychology & M.Sc. Psychotherapy tracks - sharing knowledge in engaging & novel waysAs leader of the working group "AI in psychological teaching", I actively contribute to change in university teaching to face modern challengesCurrently working @ Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience, Forschungs- und Behandlungszentrum (FBZ), Ruhr-University Bochum

Research Interests

- Anxiety Disorders
- One-Session Treatments
- Improvement and Modification of Exposure Therapy
- Exposure Therapy Generalization
- Extinction Learning, Extinction of Fear and Disgust
- Psychophysiology & Nonverbal Behavior in Psychopathology
- Artificial Intelligence at Universities and in Psychotherapy

News

09.-12.06.2026

I am attending the 5. German Psychotherapy Congress in Berlin. Four days full of interesting talks, symposiums, state-of-the-art talks and workshops, during which I was able to talk to countless interesting researchers and expand my knowledge on exposure therapy in the fields of exposure therapy, extinction learning, artificial intelligence in psychotherapy and so much more. Thankful for the chance to present my research here!

03.12.2025

I am one of two leaders of the working group "Künstliche Intelligenz in der psychologischen Lehre" (AI in psychological university teaching). Together with many active university teachers, the generous help of the centre for science didactics at Ruhr-University Bochum (https://zfw.rub.de) and university students, we designed and published guidelines on how AI can be incorporated in teaching, essays and theses at the FBZ Bochum. Read more:

Publications

Language disorganization shapes social judgement and relates to autistic traits

Plank, L., Heistermann, J., Groer, G. & Zlomuzica, A. (Preprint)

August 2025: We just published a preprint on PsyArXiv / OSF. We've invited 100 participants who were organized in 50 dyads of two. The dyads were asked to "get to know each other". Using natural language processing models, our results indicate that participants felt closer to conversation partners that employed more predictable language and that had an increased sensitivity to the context of the conversation. For further results, see the preprint below.

Generalization of exposure therapy: Systematic review and recommendations for future research

Kodzaga, I., Heistermann, J. & Zlomuzica, A. (2025)
Journal: Behavior Research and Therapy

July 2025: Our latest review was published in Behavior Research and Therapy. We discuss the current state of research on the generalization of exposure therapy effects and advise future research. Take a look and feel free to reach out!

Publicity & Appearances

Studies in Media

Conference Talks

I've presented our current work at the "5. Deutscher Psychotherapiekongress" in Berlin. It was a pleasure to talk to so many amazing scientists, psychologists & psychotherapists all throughout four interesting days!

Working Group "AI in Psychological Teaching"

My Work at an Art Exhibition @ Dortmunder U

Science needs to be available to the general public. Research is and has always been a process of discussing, exchanging and evaluating ideas. In my latest effort to make our work available to the public, I presented parts of our research at the art exhibition "Wahrnehmen & verstehen – die Welt, sich selbst und andere“ at the Dortmunder U. A collective effort of the University of Bochum, the University of Duisburg-Essen and the TU Dortmund.

Interactive Presentation on PTSD - Available Online

We've created an interactive presentation on neuropsychological changes in posttraumatic stress disorder patients. It is published in "Neuropsychologischer Ratgeber" (german language). Feel free to take a look! (Tessa Wirtz, Lena Bode & Jan Heistermann)

Impressions

About me & Links

I was born in 2001 and raised in Essen, Germany. I am currently employed at the University of Bochum as a PhD student and researcher at the lab of Prof. Dr. Armin Zlomuzica. I am primarily interested in improving mental health care (exposure therapy) for individuals suffering from anxiety disorders. My research focusses includes both advances in extinction learning mechanisms and their translation to a therapeutic context in standardized RCT studies on exposure therapy.Since 2025: PhD student at Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience, University of Bochum
2025: Approbation as Psychotherapist (PsychThApprO)
2024: Master of Science Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bochum
2022: Bachelor of Science Psychology, University of Bochum

Thank you!

I'm sincerely grateful for the time you have invested to get to know me and my work. Feel free to reach out!