Prof. Dr. phil. Lisa Malich

Lisa Malich is currently (co-)head/PI of four third-party funded research projects:

1. The DFG-project „The cognitive revolution in therapeutic practice: adapting scientific ideals and forming subjects in Aaron Beck’s cognitive therapy, 1950-1990“ is about the history of cognitive psychotherapy. Co-applicant and project manager is Dr. Iván Moya-Diez.
2. The project “Unwanted Knowledge: The Exclusion of Psychoanalysis from the Psy-Sciences in West Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, 1950-1990” deals with the specific history of the formation of psychodynamic knowledge, which largely took place outside of university institutionalization. Co-directors of the project are Prof. Tilman Reitz and Dr. Mariana Schütt from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena . It is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. During the research phase of the project, Dr. Verena Lehmbrock will take over the teaching responsibilities of the Lübeck professorship.
3. The DFG-funded project “The Diverse Psyche in Therapy: Sex/Gender Knowledge in West German Psychotherapy (1960-2020)” examines the historical development of sex/gender knowledge in the two fields of (1) hegemonic psychotherapies and clinical psychology and (2) the women's, gay and lesbian, and LGBT*IQ movements . The project is part of the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) “sexdiversity” at the University of Lübeck. Co-director of the project is Prof. Kerstin Palm from Humboldt University Berlin. The project staff members are Antonia Sieler and Janu Höreth.
4. The DFG-funded project on public relations and science communication of the SFB “sexdiversity” aims at the transfer of knowledge on sexdiversity. Prof. Christoph Rehmann-Sutter is co-director of the project. Dr. Juliane Scholz is coordinating the project.

In addition, Lisa Malich is working on two long-term research projects:

1) Psychological Humanities

The new approach of Psychological Humanities has been emerging as a distinct perspective in psychological research and teaching since 2017. The approach aims to bring analytical skills from the cultural studies and humanities into a fruitful dialogue with the science-oriented areas of psychology in order to promote reflective competence within psychology and to examine interactions between research and society . The approach of psychological humanities developed in Lübeck comprises two perspectives: the view from the outside on psychology as an object of study, which primarily includes aspects from science studies, history and ethics; and the view from the inside, which deals with epistemological debates, humanities approaches, theories and critical approaches within psychology.

The research project involves cooperation with various scholars, including Dr. David Keller, Dr. Verena Lehmbrock, Prof. Martin Wieser, Prof. Rehmann-Sutter and Prof. Cornelius Borck. In addition, there is an exchange with Prof. Thomas Teo and Dr. Wade Pickren, who have made important contributions to the Psychological Humanities.

Selected Publications:

Malich, L., & Keller, D. (2024). Reflecting on psychology through a double lens: The Psychological Humanities as an integrated approach. Rivista internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia, 15(1), 39-50. doi.org/10.4453/rifp.2024.0004

Malich, L., & Rehmann-Sutter, C. (2022). Metascience is Not Enough—A Plea for Psychological Humanities in the Wake of the Replication Crisis. Review of General Psychology, 26(2). doi.org/10.1177/10892680221083876

Malich, L., & Wieser, M. (2021). Wissenschaftliche Integrität durch Reflexion: Ein Plädoyer für Psychological Humanities als Teil eines multifaktoriellen Lösungsansatzes. DGPs: Diskussionsforum Integrität und Anreizsysteme in der Wissenschaft. https://www.dgps.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/Diskussionsforum/Malich_Wieser_Diskussionsbeitrag_20212809.pdf

Malich, L., & Keller, D. (2020). Die Psychological Humanities als reflexives Moment der Psychologie. In V. Balz & L. Malich (Eds.), Psychologie und Kritik - Formen der Psychologisierung nach 1945 (pp. 87-116). Wiesbaden: Springer.

2) Becoming a Natural Science: On the History of German Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy (1945 – 2015)

(Working title)

Psychology's approach to the field of mental illness has changed decisively in recent decades. In the post-war period, there was a growing orientation towards statistical methods, quantitative models and experimental-psychological approaches. This is accompanied by the increasing positioning of clinical psychological fields of knowledge as natural sciences. Parallel to this development, two further transformations can be observed in this field: On the one hand, the dominance of medicine and psychiatry in the treatment of mental disorders has been increasingly questioned by the emerging field of clinical psychology. In this context, behavioral therapy was the central psychological treatment approach. On the other hand, the proportion of gender in psychology and psychotherapy shifted during this period. While male psychologists were still in the majority in the middle of the century, the proportion of female psychology students rose to more than half by the end of the 1980s. Today, the discipline is considered a 'women's subject'. In the planned project, the formations and transformations of German-speaking psychotherapy and clinical psychology are to be analyzed. Special attention is paid to the orientation towards scientific approaches, gender concepts and the disciplinary relationship between medicine and psychology. The historical study is located on four levels: a history of science, a history of knowledge, a history of institutionalization and a history of practice.

Selected Publications:

Malich, L. (2024). Kontrollsucht: Zum Aufstieg der Verhaltenstherapie in Westdeutschland durch die Projektgruppe ‚Rauschmittelabhängigkeit‘ am Max-Planck-Institut für Psychiatrie (1970–1987). Medizinhistorisches Journal, in press.

Malich, L. (2021). Die Verhaltenstherapie als genuin psychologisch? Zum Verhältnis zwischen Psychologie und Medizin am Max-Planck-Institut für Psychiatrie in den 1960er und 1970er Jahren. Psychologische Rundschau, 72(3), 192-200. doi.org/10.1026/0033-3042/a000545

Malich, L. (2020). The History of Psychological Psychotherapy in Germany: The Rise of Psychology in Mental Health Care and the Emergence of Clinical Psychology during the 20th century. In W. Pickren (Ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.628