Dr. Kai Härpfer
Postdoctoral Researcher
Address
Office
Office hours
- Do: 10 am - 11 am by appointment
Contact
Academic CV
| 04/2020 – 01/2025 | Doctorate in Psychology (Dr. rer. nat., PhD equivalent), Department of Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Hamburg |
| 10/2018 - 03/2020 | Study of Psychology (M.Sc.), Humboldt-University of Berlin |
| 10/2014 – 09/2018 | Study of Psychology (B.Sc.), University of Potsdam |
Professional Experience
| since 10/2020 | Postgraduate training as a psychotherapist (cognitive-behavioral therapy), PTA Hamburg |
| since 04/2020 | Research associate, Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience , University of Hamburg |
| 05/2024 – 04/2025 | Psychologist, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Asklepios West Clinic Hamburg |
| 02/2021 – 01/2022 | Psychologist, Psychotherapeutic Outpatient Clinic, University of Hamburg |
| 12/2018 - 03/2020 | Student assistant, Clinical Psychology, Humboldt-University of Berlin |
| 08/2016 – 10/2016 | Clinical internship, Department of Psychiatry, Schlosspark-Klinik Berlin |
Research Focus
- Anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders
- Neuroscientific basic and translational research
- Event-related potentials and time-frequency analysis in EEG
- Neural biomarkers of vulnerability and treatment response
- Development and adaptation of psychological interventions
Publications
Sobania, K. M., Härpfer, K., Carsten, H. P., Lincoln, T. M., Kausche, F. M., & Riesel, A. (2025, March 25). Are Fear Learning Processes Altered in Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? Insights from the Late Positive Potential, Fear-Potentiated Startle, and Ratings. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ethqc_v1
Härpfer, K., Carsten, H. P., Kausche, F. M., & Riesel, A. (2025). Enhanced performance monitoring as a transdiagnostic risk marker of the anxiety and obsessive–compulsive spectrum: The role of disorder category, clinical status, family risk, and anxiety dimensions. Depression and Anxiety, 2025(1), 9505414. https://doi.org/10.1155/da/9505414
Carsten, H. P., Härpfer, K., Malbec, M., Wieser, M. J., & Riesel, A. (2024). Are errors more aversive in an uncertain world? Testing the influence of uncertainty on the error-related negativity in a randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 112480. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2024.112480
Pillny, M., Härpfer, K., Carsten, H. P., Lincoln, T. M., & Riesel, A. (2024, July 11). With the power of the inner eyes: The Late Positive Potential during mental time travel through positive and negative experiences. An event-related potential study. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/6ncrm
Carsten, H. P., Härpfer, K., Nelson, B. D., Kathmann, N., & Riesel, A. (2023). Don’t worry, it won’t be fine. Contributions of worry and anxious arousal to startle responses and event-related potentials in threat anticipation. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-023-01094-4
Kausche, F.M., Härpfer, K., Carsten, H.P., Kathmann, N., & Riesel, A. (2022). Early hypervigilance and later avoidance: Event-related potentials track the processing of threatening stimuli in anxiety. Behaviour Research and Therapy.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104181.
Riesel, A., Härpfer, K., Thoma, L., Kathmann. N., Klawohn, J. (2022). Associations of neural error-processing with symptoms and traits in a dimensional sample recruited across the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. Psychophysiology.https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14164.
Carsten, H. P., Härpfer, K., & Riesel, A. (2022). A rare scare: The role of intolerance of uncertainty in startle responses and event-related potentials in anticipation of unpredictable threat. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 179, 56-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.06.018
Paul, K., Short, C.A., Beauducel, A., Carsten, H.P., Härpfer, K., Hennig, J., Hewig, J., Hildebrandt, A., Kührt, C., Mueller, E.M., Osinsky, R., Porth, E., Riesel, A., Rodrigues, J., Scheffel, C., Stahl, J., Strobel, A., Wacker, J. (2022). The Methodology and Dataset of the CoScience EEG-Personality Project - A Large-Scale, Multi-Laboratory Project Grounded in Cooperative Forking Paths Analysis. Personality Science. https://doi.org/10.5964/ps.7177
Härpfer, K., Carsten, H. P., Löwisch, K., Westermann, N., & Riesel, A. (2022). Disentangling the effects of trait and state worry on error‐related brain activity: Results from a randomized controlled trial using worry manipulations. Psychophysiology, e14055. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14055
Riesel, A., Härpfer, K., Kathmann, N., & Klawohn, J. (2021). In the Face of Potential Harm – The Predictive Validity of Neural Correlates of Performance Monitoring for Perceived Risk, Stress, and Internalizing Psychopathology During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsgos.2021.08.004
Härpfer, K., Spychalski, D., Kathmann, N., & Riesel, A. (2021). Diverging patterns of EEG alpha asymmetry in anxious apprehension and anxious arousal. Biological Psychology, 162, 108111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108111
Härpfer, K., Carsten, H. P., Spychalski, D., Kathmann, N., & Riesel, A. (2020). Were we erring? The impact of worry and arousal on error-related negativity in a non-clinical sample. Psychophysiology, e13661. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13661
Härpfer, K., & Bschor, T. (2017). Internetbasierte Psychotherapie-Interventionen [Internet-based psychotherapy interventions]. Nervenheilkunde, 36, 459-466. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0038-1627033