Susanne Lunn

Susanne Lunn is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, where she also serves as Coordinator of the Master Program in Clinical Psychology. She has been affiliated with the university since 1985, first as an Assistant Professor and then as Associate Professor since 1993. Her academic journey includes leadership roles such as Head of the University Clinic (1999-2007, 2009-2013) and President of the Danish Psychoanalytical Society (2010-2017).

Her educational background includes:

• MSc in psychology (Cand. Psych.), University of Copenhagen (1978)
• Specialist in Psychotherapy and Supervision (1990)
• Certified group analytic psychotherapist (1985)
• Certified psychoanalyst (IPA) (1996)
• Certified training analyst (2002)

Susanne Lunn's research focuses primarily on eating disorders and psychotherapy research. Her work on eating disorders encompasses theoretical, clinical, and empirical approaches, with special attention to personality characteristics, psychopathology, and the development of eating disorders. Her psychotherapy research centers on both effect and process: examining how different psychotherapies contribute to recovery from eating disorders, investigating non-specific factors like therapist and client characteristics (e.g., motivation and attachment patterns), and studying therapy relational patterns such as therapeutic alliance and therapist countertransference. Her research supports the hypothesis that one specific therapy does not suit all patients, indicating that the question 'which method is best' must be supplemented by 'what works for whom.' Her methodological approach combines both nomothetic and ideographic methods, exploring how quantitative and qualitative approaches contribute different kinds of knowledge.

Her recent publications demonstrate continued focus on eating disorders, particularly bulimia nervosa, and psychotherapy process and outcome research. She frequently collaborates with Stig Poulsen and other colleagues in the Center for Psychotherapy Research. Her work spans clinical trials comparing different therapeutic approaches, investigations into attachment patterns and their impact on treatment, and explorations of mentalization in eating disorder treatment. The articles show a consistent trajectory of rigorous empirical work grounded in both psychoanalytic and cognitive-behavioral frameworks, with increasing methodological sophistication over time.

Her scientific contributions have been recognized through research grants from prestigious organizations including:

• KU 2016, Governing obesity (DKK 750,000, 2014)
• The Egmont Fund (DKK 1,000,000, 2002)
• Danish Research Council for the Humanities (DKK 2,138,000, 2001)
• Multiple other grants totaling over DKK 3 million

As an educator and mentor, Professor Lunn has supervised numerous PhD students including Louise Tækker, Sofie Folke, Karin Riber, Hannah Katznelson, Sarah I.F. Daniel, and Charlotte Sandros. She has coordinated external practicum programs and organized internal praxis teaching in clinical psychology for master students and postgraduate trainees. Her leadership extends to editorial roles, having served as Chief-editor of The Scandinavian Psychoanalytic Review (2002-2008) and Co-editor of Nordic Journal of Psychotherapy (1998-).

Professor Lunn is actively involved in several research groups including the Center for Psychotherapy Research, the Bulimia Trial Research Group, and the Center of Psychoanalysis at the University of Copenhagen. She has organized numerous international conferences, including the Society for Psychotherapy Research international meeting in Copenhagen (2014) and the XXIII Nordic Psychoanalytic Congress (2012). Her current research projects include the Copenhagen Bulimia trial, identification of psychosocial factors affecting weight loss after surgery, historical studies of eating disorder diagnoses, and research on therapist responsiveness to clients.