The History of Clinical

Psychology
Zoltan Kovary PhD
ELTE PPK
Department of Clinical Psychology and Addictology
2015/16 Autumn Semester

Sketch of this lecture

Historical roots & reform

movements in the 18th
& 19th century
History of assessments
and diagnosis
History of interventions
History of research in CP
History of CP as a
profession

Historical Roots

The age of enlightment (18th cent.)

The power of knowledge, reason,
intelligence and insights
The philosophy of J. J. Rousseau
(1712-1778)
Human nature is good, society is
the source of problems
The importance of emotions
The importance of nurturing
The nature-nurture debate
The 19th century
The development of societies,
science and human thinking

Reform movements

Philippe Pinel

(1745-1826)

France
The brutality of mental
hospitalities
The head of Bicetre then
Salpetriere
Dramatic changes in patient
care
Humane attitudes
Moral therapy
(understanding and
individual approach)

Reform movements

William Tuke (1732-1822)

England
the establishment of what
might be called a model
hospital for the humane
treatment of the sick and
troubled
Eli Todd (1769-1833)
USA
emphasized the role of civilized
care respect, and morality.
Through his efforts, it became
less fashionable to regard
mental patients as incurable

Reform movements

Dorothea Dix

(1802-1887)

USA
Traveled from state to state for
40 years campaigning for more
humane treatment and better
facilities for the insane and the
mentally retarded
In 1848, New Jersey responded
by building a hospital for the
insanethe first in a
procession of more than 30
states to do so

The history of diagnosis and

assessment

The beginnings (1850-1900)

Francis Galton (1822-1911), GB

J. M. Cattel (1860-1944), USA

Quantitative methods
Anthropometric laboratory, 1882
Mental tests: a battery of 10
tests to measure intelligence
Selection, training and
diagnosing

E. Kraepelin (1856-1926), G

Distinguish between exogenous

and endogenous mental illnesses
The classification of mental
disorders (PMD & Dementia
Praecox)

The beginnings of Modern Era

(1900-1920)- intelligence

The rise of mental measurement or

diagnostic/psychological testing
Alfred Binet (1957-1911)
Norms and the deviations from
norms
1908: Binet-Simon Scale the
mesurement of Intelligence
Charles Spearman (1863-1945)
1904: General Intelligence g (
separate abilities, Thorndike)
World War I, USA
Medical Department of the Army
delegated Robert Yerkes & APA to
create a system for classifying men
according to their ability levels

Army Alpha (verbal) and Army Beta

(nonverbal)

The coming of Modern Era (1900-1920)

personality & clinical issues

C. G. Jung

Word Association Test (1905)

To explore unconscious complexes

100 words as stimuli
Reaction time
Word associations
Reproduction
Typical mistakes
Inadequate responses
Prolonged reaction time
Mistakes in reproduction
R. Woodworth (18691962)
Psychoneurotic Inventory, 1917
The first questionnaire designed to assess
abnormal behavior

(1875-1961)

Between the Wars (1920-1939)

Substantial progress in
diagnostic psychological testing
Intelligence

1939: Wechsler- Bellevue Test by

D. Wechsler

IQ= VQ + PQ
Structure of Intelligence

Personality

Projective tests (K. Frank, 1939)

Rorschach test, Hermann
Rorschach, 1921
Thematic Apperception Test, Henry
Murray & Christiana Morgan, 1930s
Picture Frustration Test, Saul
Rosenzweig, 1938

Examples from the classic

projective tests

Rorschach

TAT

PFT

After World War 2

Clinical psychologist: the expert of

psychodiagnostics
Measurable constructs
EPQ: Neuroticism, psychoticism
MMPI 1 & 2
Objective self-report
No theoretical interpretation of scores or
responses are necessary
From the 1950s
Radical behaviorism as a challenge
Behavior diagnostics
A resurgence of interest in the 1980s and 1990s
DSM s
Neuropsychological assessment

The scales of EPQ and MMPI 1

EPQ

MMPI 1

The history of Interventions

Historical antecedents of
interventions

Socrates

The first reported

psychoherapy

Maimonides (1135 - 1204)

Clinical explorations &

therapeutic experiences

Avicenna (979 - 1037)

The philosopher, as the

midwife of the soul
(appropriate knowledge)

Hippocrates (5th cent. BC)

(470/469 399 BC)

Moral therapy

Paracelsus (1493 - 1541)

Sexual origins of hysteria

A 19th century: triumphal of

hypnosis

Mesmer (1733 - 1815)

J. Braid (1795 - 1860)

Hysteria and hypnosis

Liebeault (1823 - 1904) &

Bernheim (1837 - 1919)

Hypnoanesthesia

Charcot (1825-1893)

Animal magnetism

The Nancy school of hypnosis

Breuer (1842-1925) & Freud

(1856 - 1939)

Talking cure & cathartic

method (from 1895)

Early decades: 1900-1920

Psychoanalysis

Free associations
The analyses of neurotic symptoms,
dreams and parapraxes to unfold
unconscious conflicts
Transference
The rules of analytic treatment

Dissident schools

Alfred Adlers Individualpsychology

C. G. Jungs Analytic/complex
psychology

Between the wars (1920-1939)

The development of
psychoanalysis

Medical training required

USA ego psychology
Child analysis
Mentalhygiene A. Adler

Group therapies

J. Moreno psychodrama
Group analysis

W. Bion
Foulkes

After world war 2

The success of PA in the US

New forms of therapies

Client-centered therapy (Rogers, 1951)

Gestalt therapy (Perls, 1951)

Bahavior therapies (Dollard & Miller,
1950; Wolpe, 1958)
Transaction analysis (Berne, 1961)
Rational-emotional therapy (Ellis, 1962)

Cognitive revolution

Beck & al, 1979

Current trends

Short-term therapies
Handbooks

The history of research in

clinical psychology

The Beginnings (1850-1900)

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

1879, Leipzig: The first
formal psychological
laboratory
William James (1842-1910)
1880: The first american
psychological laboratory
Principles of Psychology

Influenced Gestaltpsychology
and Behaviorism

The coming of Modern Era

(1900-1920)

I. P. Pavlov

S. Freud

The phenomena of
experimental neurosis in
dogs
Investigating neurosis in a
clinical context (case studies)

Binet & Simon

Intelligence research with

tests

Between the wars (19201939)

Clinical research was

still in its infancy
Test development

Wechsler-test
Projective tests

Academic scene

Behaviorism
Gestalt psychology

After World War 2

Mid-1960s: diagnosis and

assessment had become less
important
Clinical psychologists began
conducting research aimed at
identifying the etiological factors
of doisorders (after DSM III)
Studies on the process and
effectiveness of psychotherapy
emerged
Rogers, 1951
Research on psychological
inventories, interviews, and rating
scales increased
Increasing interest among clinical
psychologists in the field of
behavioral genetics

The history of clinical

psychology as a profession

The beginning of a new

profession

Lightner Witmer

(1867-1956)

In 1896, he established the

first psychological clinic.
In 1907, he proposed a
new profession, clinical
psychology.
He served as founder and
editor of the first journal in
the field, The Psychological
Clinic.
He developed the first
training program in clinical
psychology

Clinical psychology in Europe

Scientist-practioner
modell

Hans Eysenck, 1960s

British, scandinavian,
dutch training programs

1970s

Growing independence
from psychodiagnostics
Therapautic activities

Clinical Psychology in Hungary

1963: ELTE psychologist training

Ferenc Mreis laboratory, 1960s
at OIEI
1973: Post gradual training
Ferenc Szakcs
1980: Clinical psychology as
a profession
1994: Department of Clinical
Psychology, HIETE
Emke Bagdy
2002: Semmelweis University
Pcs, Debrecen
Hungarian Psychological
Association
Clinical Psychology
Professional College

Thank you for your

attention!