Frederick Muench, PhD

Frederick Muench, PhD, is the director of Digital Health Interventions at Northwell Health in Behavioral Health and Psychiatry. Fred is a clinical psychologist who focuses on digital health research and implementation to help understand self-regulation failures and how to intervene at the right moments with special emphasis on its application in the addictions.

He has been funded as a PI through NIDA, NIAAA and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Pioneer Portfolio. Fred has extensive experience building digital behavioral health interventions as the Founder of Mobile Health Interventions, Chairperson at Support Den Parenting Services, and as the former Director of Research at Helicor, the makers of the first HRV ambulatory quantified-self biofeedback device.

Dr. Muench is an adjunct assistant professor at NYU in the Interactive Telecommunications Program where he teaches a class on using technology to build mindfulness and meditation tools.

Dr. Muench studies how to use technology to help individuals self-regulate in the face of day to day temptations. With his colleagues at the Northwell Center on Addiction Services and Personalized Intervention Research, he focuses his research on ecological momentary assessment, passive mobile sensing, physiological sensing and just-in-time adaptive interventions.

Through NIH funding he developed the first continuing care text messaging system for individuals transitioning from substance abuse treatment. He has been the PI on NIH grants through NIDA and NIAAA developing and testing adaptive mobile interventions for the addictions. He is currently the PI of a Robert Wood Johnson Pioneer grant with Cornell Tech entitled, The Digital Marshmallow Test, which is designed to understand how people regulate their impulses through Research Kit and Research Stack applications.

Fordham University
Degree: PhD
2004
Field of Study: Clinical Psychology

Fordham University
Degree: MA
1999
Field of Study: Clinical Psychology

SUNY Stony Brook
Degree: BA
1993
Field of Study: Psychology and Family Studies

Babson College
1990

1. Muench, F., van Stolk-Cooke, K., Shao, S., Kuerbis, A., & Morgenstern, J. (In Press). “A randomized controlled trial of different mobile messaging interventions compared to drink tracking to reduce problem drinking”, PLOS ONE.
2. Baumel, A. & Muench, F. (2016). “Heuristic evaluation of eHealth interventions: Establishing standards that relate to the therapeutic process perspective.” Journal of Medical Internet Research: Mental Health, 3(1), E5.
3. Hayes, M., van Stolk-Cooke, K., & Muench, F. (2015). “Understanding Facebook use and the psychological effects of use across generations.” Computers in Human Behavior, 49(2), 507-11.
4. Muench, F., Hayes, M., van Stolk-Cooke, K., Shao, S., & Kuerbis, A. (2015). “The independent relationship between trouble controlling Facebook use, time spent on the site and distress.” Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 4(3), 163-69.
5. van Stolk-Cooke K, Hayes, M., Baumel, A., & Muench, F. (2015). “Understanding text-based persuasion and support tactics of concerned significant others.” PeerJ, 3(1), E1151.
6. Morgenstern, J., Kuebis, A., & Muench, F. (2014). “Using ecological momentary assessment to understand the mechanisms of effective alcohol treatments.” Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 36(1), 343-52.
7. Muench, F. (2014). “The promises and pitfalls of integrating digital health technologies into alcohol treatment.” Alcohol Research, Current Reviews, 36(1), 391-404.
8. Muench, F., van Stolk-Cooke, K., Kuerbis, A., Morgenstern, J., & Markle, K. (2014). “Understanding mobile messaging preferences to inform development of goal-directed behavioral health interventions.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(2), E14.
9. Brown, R. P., Gerbarg, P. L., & Muench, F. (2013). “Breathing practices for treatment of psychiatric and stress-related medical conditions.” Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 36(1), 121-40.
10. Muench, F., Weiss, B., Kuebis, A., & Morgenstern, J. (2013). “Developing a theory driven text messaging intervention for addiction care with user driven content.” Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 27(1), 315-21.

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