General information on the field of work

The Clinical Psychology department (working group until 1978) has existed since 1970 and can therefore look back on a long tradition at MHH. The original plan to establish an independent Department of Clinical Psychology within the then Department of Neurological and Psychological Medicine could not be realized due to financial restrictions. The Department of Clinical Psychology was the precursor and nucleus of the Department of Medical Psychology, which was established in 1974, and up to this point had developed and conducted teaching in medical psychology. Since then, Clinical Psychology has been integrated into the range of tasks of the Department of Psychiatry, with independent emphases in research and teaching as well as special offers in patient care. In spring 2012, the Senate of the MHH decided to rename the department Clinical Psychology and Sexual Medicine.

When the department was founded, the following areas were defined as the core tasks of clinical psychology, which have dominated subsequent practical work with additions and modifications to this day: (a) teaching in medical and clinical psychology as well as psychiatry, (b) clinical-psychological diagnostics, (c) methodological counseling and (d) development of psychotherapeutic, especially behavioral therapeutic, treatment techniques. The department has also developed into an active research unit and serves the professional group-specific organization as well as the supervision and further training of psychologists working in the Clinical Department. The clinical and scientific focus has long been on sexual research and the treatment of sexual disorders, where there has also been close cooperation with the Urology Clinical Department and other MHH Departments since 1987. In addition to behavioral therapy treatments and further training in behavioral therapy, the development and application of concepts of inpatient group psychotherapy, the research methodological advice and supervision of research assistants and PhD students and an extensive range of courses in psychiatry teaching for medical students and in the psychotherapeutic training of assistant physicians were of decisive importance.

The department was headed by Prof. Dr. Dipl.-Psych. D. Langer from 1970 to 1994, by Prof. Dr. A. Kuhr from 1994 to 1997, by Prof. Dr. Dipl.-Psych. U. Hartmann from 1997 to 2017 and by Prof. Dr. Dr. T. Krüger since 2017.