[The identity of medical psychology: a historical quest]

The starting point of this study is the current uncertainty in German-speaking medical psychology about its actual and very own natural area of expertise. The current study ventures to advance the hypothesis that part of this uncertainty is due to the fact that during the scientific area in its history (approx. 1850-1960) medical psychology abandoned its historical core competence as it emerged and developed during the age of enlightenment (end of 17(th)-18(th) centuries). To make this change clear, different examples of the 2 opposing conceptualisations of medical psychology are discussed, of course in a selected and maybe even provocative way. The change in concept also led to the fact that the interrelationships with and differentiation from its neighbouring disciplines are not clear and sharp either, since at times 2 or more disciplines declare themselves competent for one and the same thing. This is exemplified on the manifold overlappings with clinical psychology. Given the lack of resources now and in the future, this lack of a clear definition of competence might lead to continued uncertainty as well as to conflicts over distribution. On the other hand though, the look into the history of the subject reveals that at all times it has been a matter of individual approach or attitude as to what was regarded as core area of interest and competence of medical psychology and how far it overlapped with neighbouring disciplines. From the point of view of the history of psychiatry and on the basis of carefully selected historic material, this paper presents the core of 2 different concepts of medical psychology to elaborate this hypothesis.