Foundations & Early History of Clinical Psychology. A long time ago. Early Conceptions of Mental Illness 8/26/2009

Transcription

1 Foundations & Early History of Clinical Psychology A long time ago. Psychology has a long past, but a short history. The roots of psychology go very far back in time Clinical psychology as a specific field, however, is a relatively recent development Early Conceptions of Mental Illness Several Greek philosophers and physicians were pivotal to our understanding of MI Looked beyond supernatural explanations for illness, saw natural influences (bio/psycho/ social) as important Saw mind and body as interconnected, not separate 1

2 Greeks & Mental Illness Hippocrates ( BCE) Saw illness as a result of humor imbalance, heredity and health as determiners of mental well being Started a more naturalistic view of illness, dominant view until Middle Ages Greeks & Mental Illness Plato ( BCE) Saw soul as being in charge of the body Mental illness came from sickness in the logistikon (controlled reason) Poor personality, lack of internal harmony and selfknowledge all caused MI Greeks & Mental Illness Aristotle ( BCE) Kept naturalistic view and recognized emotional states impacted physical functioning Thought treatment should focus on using logic and reason to change the psyche HUGE influence on modern cognitive therapies 2

3 Greeks & Mental Illness Galen ( CE) Developed comprehensive system of medicine based on humor system Treatments such as bloodletting were used for centuries Middle Ages Saw a return to the more supernatural, pre Hippocratic conceptions of illness You were sick because you had sinned, been possessed by a demon, or cursed by a witch Treatments were thus spiritual, relying on priests and clergy, and often not humane Innocent VIII s witch hunts Middle Ages Persecution of mentally ill (and many others) led to an estimated 150,000 deaths During 16 th century, celestial influence became popular Paracelsus ( ) thought moon could influence behavior and mood (lunatics) 3

4 Renaissance Resurgence of interest in science, great discoveries in chemistry, biology, physics Swing back towards naturalistic explanations for illness, but The philosophy of Rene Descartes argued for mind body dualism, and this became widely accepted Renaissance Treatment of mental illness was still very poor Typically confined to asylums or hospitals, with either little care or painful treatments Bloodletting, hunger cures, hydrotherapy The word bedlam comes from a corruption of a notable asylum, St Mary s of Bethlehem 4

5 19 th Century Work by Virchow and Pasteur emphasized connection between biology and illness via germs Dualism was still prevalent, but began to have some strong opponents Benjamin Rush & Claude Bernard Franz Mesmer & Jean Martin Charcot 19 th Century Better understanding of illness in general led to great sensitivity in treatment Moral therapy movement began with Philippe Pinel in France, Eli Todd and Dorthea Dix in US, William Tuke in England 19 th Century Diagnosis and understanding of mental disorders began to increase as well Kraeplin s dementiapraecox and Bleuler s schizophrenia Led to the development of classification systems for mental disorders 5

6 Birth of Psychology In the mid to late 1800s, philosophy and natural science began to collide The methods of physiology and physics were adapted to answer questions about the mind Fechner s The Elements of Psychophysics Wundt s Principles of Physiological Psychology Birth of Psychology Wundt founded the first psych lab in Germany in 1879, establishing psych as an experimental science William James (Harvard), G Stanley Hall (Johns Hopkins), and James Cattell (Clark) established psych labs and departments in the US Birth of Psychology APA was founded in 1892 Most members were academics and experimentalists, few clinicians or applied researchers There was an interest in developing mental tests to examine aspects of thinking and cognition 6

7 Founding of Clinical Psychology Traced to Lightner Witmer at the U of Penn in 1896 Established first psychological clinic, worked withchildren with learning problems Not well received by other psychologists, who felt psych should study general (not abnormal) behavior Founding of Clinical Psychology Witmer began publishing The Psychological Clinic in 1907, proposing the term clinical psychology Has more in common with today s clinical psychologists than many of the other early clinicians Intelligence Testing Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon were commissioned by French government to develop intelligence tests Purpose was to ID students who needed special education Binet did not recommend it for use outside the classroom, stressed it s limitations Henry Goddard translated it into English for use at Vineland Training School in NJ 7

8 Intelligence Testing Lewis Terman further adapted and revised the scale, renamed it the Stanford Binet Spread very quickly, widely dl adopted IQ testing became a hallmark of early clinical psychologists work Mental Health & Child Guidance Movement Through the advocacy of Clifford Beers, a former mental patient, numerous child guidance clinics sprung up in early 1900s Supported by Adolph Meyers, a psychiatrist, and William James Focused on disruptive behaviors and delinquency Sigmund Freud Little influence until his lecture series at Clark University in 1909 Alsoincluded Carl Jung andotto Rank, stimulated Also included Carl Jung and Otto Rank, stimulated widespread acceptance of psychoanalytic theories 8

9 World War I US military sought out psychologists to develop IQ tests to classify recruits Alpha (verbal) and Beta (non verbal) could be givenin in groupformat Numerous problems and biases in the tests, but established psych testing as a major force Psych Testing post WWI Huge explosion of test development Rorschach, Miller Analogies, TAT, Wechsler Bellevue Cattell found Psychological Corporation to sell tests to various organizations and professionals Most occurred in large psych and/or child guidance clinics, but some CPs began to do private practice Psychotherapy Primarily conducted by psychiatrists until midcentury There were advances in using behavioral There were advances in using behavioral principles to treat fears, and consultation with teachers and parents used those principles 9

10 Training Most CPs by the early 1940s had only a BA, very few had Master s or doctoral degrees No standardized training or guidelines APA was still primarily academics and researchers, uncomfortable with applied psychology 10