- Studied sociology, psychology and educational sciences at the University of Tübingen
- PhD in Social Pedagogy, Institute of Education, University of Tübingen with Hans Thiersch and Ludwig Liegle
- Senior assistant to the Chair of Social Work, University of Fribourg
- Head of R & D, Social Affairs, FH Solothurn, member of the Management Board
- Head of the Institute for the Study and Development of Social Work as a Profession, FHNW School of Social Work, member of the Management Board
- Professor for Social Work at the Institute for Social Work and Health at the FHNW School of Social Work
- Theories of social work, in particular system theories
- Social work as a profession and action science
- Social work and psychiatry
- Social work in health care
- Research-based social work
- Theory-practice interfaces
- Case-based reasoning
- Diagnostics in social work