Clinical Psychology prior to World War II

							Clinical Psychology prior to
World War II
   No real standards for training and
    licensure
   Psychologists had low status in
    hospitals and clinics
   Clinicians were not well respected
    within the APA
   1937: American Association for Applied
    Psychology formed
After World War II
   Shift in power, from academic
    psychology to clinical
   By 1962, psychologists working in
    nonacademic jobs outnumbered those
    in academic jobs
   Researchers became distressed about
    the new direction APA was taking
Modern clinical psychology
   40-45% of “casualties” of WWII were
    psychological breakdowns
   After war, more veterans suffered from
    psychological problems than were
    hospitalized for physical injuries
   Psychiatrists alone could not cope with
    the need--psychologists took on greater
    roles
The Boulder model
   1949: 15-day conference on clinical
    training at University of Colorado
   Emphasized three skills of clinician
       Diagnosis
       Psychotherapy
       Research
   Basis for “scientist-practitioner” model
But does psychotherapy
work?
   Eysenck study (1952)
       Combination of several studies evaluating
        therapy effectiveness
       Groups without treatment: 72% improved
       Psychoanaysis: 44% improved
       “Eclectic therapy”: 64% improved
   Prompted new approaches such as
    behavior therapy & humanistic therapy
Pioneers of behavior therapy
   Mary Cover Jones
   Hans Eysenck
   Joseph Wolpe: systematic
    desensitization
“Third Force” psychology
   What did the Third Force revolt
    against?
       Force 1: Psychoanalysis
           Emphasis on mentally disturbed people
       Force 2: Behaviorism
           Reduces humans to machines or
            animals
Characteristics of 3rd force:
   Does not assume determinism in
    explaining human behavior
   Believed cause of behavior was
    subjective reality (person’s own unique
    conscious experience)
   Basis in phenomenology (study of
    intact, meaningful experience), free of
    theories or preconceptions
Two branches of Third Force:
   Existential psychology (roots in Europe)

   Humanistic psychology (roots in
    America)
Existentialism: Martin
Heidegger
   Concept of dasein (“being in the world”):
    person and world cannot be separated
   Living an authentic life
       Accepting your mortality
       Exercising your freedom to create a meaningful
        life
       Freedom brings responsibility, which requires
        courage
Existentialism: Rollo May
   Brought existentialism to America
   Examined concept of anxiety in more
    detail
       Some anxiety is necessary for authentic
        life
       Neurotic anxiety comes from avoiding your
        freedom and not taking responsibility for
        your own choices
    Abraham Maslow: The “Father
    of Humanistic Psychology”
   Major beliefs:
       Studying animals CANNOT tell us anything
        of value about human beings
       Subjective reality should be the primary
        focus of psychology
       Rejection of the goal of predicting and
        controlling behavior
   Human motivation is based on
    satisfying a hierarchy of needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

              Self-
           Actualizing
             Esteem
        Belonging & Love

           Safety Needs

        Physiological Needs
Carl Rogers’ “Client-Centered
Therapy”
   Client and therapist seen as equals

   Therapist asks questions, does not
    provide answers

   Growth depends on receiving
    unconditional positive regard from
    others