HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY:

Lightner Witmer (1867–1956), a past student of Wundt and head of the psychology department
at the University of Pennsylvania, agreed to treat a young boy who had trouble with spelling.
His successful treatment was soon to lead to Witmer's opening of the first psychological clinic
at Pennsylvania in 1896, dedicated to helping children with learning disabilities. Ten years later
in 1907, Witmer found the first journal of this new field, The Psychological Clinic, where he
coined the term "clinical psychology", defined as "the study of individuals, by observation or
experimentation, with the intention of promoting change" . This event is considered as the birth
of Clinical Psychology. But one can identify predecessor to the field dating back many centuries.
Unlike the roots of a tree, it is difficult to trace an unbroken connection from ancient roots of
clinical psychology to its budding new developments. That is why we are trying to understand
History of Clinical Psychology under following headings:

Ancient Western Roots:

First, as the clinical psychology is a discipline involved in studying and treating mental disorder,
it is worth noting that awareness of mental illness, as distinct from physical illness, can be dated
as far back as 2100 B.C to the ancient Babylonians. Typically, mental illness was viewed from a
religious perspective, and treatments such as prayer, wearing of amulets, or religious rituals
were used. It is interesting to note, however, that despite the religious lens through which
psychological disorders were viewed, some ancient thinkers and scholars in Greek like that of
Hippocrates( Humorism Theory), Plato, Aristotle, Galen emphasized biological explanation of
emotional and behavioral disorders. During the middle ages there was high belief on spiritual
and religious cause of mental disorders, even then some scholars like Saint Thomas Aquinas,
Nicholas Ores-me (Mental illness is due to melancholy) and Paracelsus (planetary movements
influence mood and behavior) gave their own explanations of mental disorders. During the
period of Renaissance, which is the Golden age in the field of science and technology
overshadowed the previously supernatural and religious viewpoints regarding mental
illness.One of the intellectuals of this time Rene' Descartes argued that the mind and body were
separate. This dualism of mind and body then became the basis for Western medicine until
recently. As biological explanations for psychological problems emerged, medical professionals
became involved in the identification and treatment of such disorders. Unfortunately, from the
1500s through 1800s, medical treatment for psychological problems developed and the
individuals were put in psychiatric hospitals and asylums. Patients were held as prisoners in
horrible conditions where little care or treatment was available, and even humane treatment
was often lacking.

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Ancient Eastern Roots:

Eastern philosophy in clinical psychology refers to the influence of Eastern philosophies on the

practice of clinical psychology based on the idea that East and West are false dichotomies.
Travel and trade along the Silk Road brought ancient texts and mind practices deep into the
West. Vedic psychology dates back 5000 years and forms the core of mental health counselling
in the Ayurvedic medical tradition. The knowledge that enlightened Siddhartha Gautama was
the self-management of mental suffering through mindfulness awareness practices. Humane
interpersonal care of the mentally disturbed was practiced in the Middle East in the Middle
Ages, and later in the West. Many of the founders of clinical psychology were influenced by
these ancient texts as translations began to reach Europe during the 19th century.

The Psychometric and Psycho-Dynamic Tradition:

Clinical Psychology has its roots in both the psychometric and dynamic traditions of psychology.
The psychometric tradition, emphasizing measurement and individual differences mainly in
intellectual processes, was of greater prominence in the earlier history of the field, when
emphasis was largely on mental testing.

Not many years after Weber, Fechner, and the mid-nineteenth-century founders of the science
of psychology had developed laboratory techniques for measuring psychological processes, Sir
Francis Galton’s studies of differences among people were laying the groundwork of differential
psychology. By 1890, James McKeen Cattell coined the term “mental tests”. Shortly afterwards,
statistical procedures were being applied to tests in many realms and considerable effort was
being put into developing test norms and standardized procedures. An event of great moment
occurred in 1904 when the Minister of Public Instruction of Paris sought the help of the French
psychologist Alfred Binet in order to distinguish mentally defective children who could better be
taught in special rather than regular classes. To develop an objective means of examining
intelligence, Binet and his collaborator developed the famous Binet-Simon scale. Binet’s
procedure yielded “mental-age” scores. Years later in Germany, William Stern suggested that
these be evaluated in terms of actual or chronological age to yield a stable “intelligence
quotient”(IQ). Through successive revisions, notably by Lewis Terman in America, the original
procedure evolved into the present Standford-Binet test. For many years, establishing the IQ of
children by administering the Stanford-Binet was a major task of clinical psychologists.

On the other hand the Dynamic tradition, with concern focussed on motivation, adaptation,
and personality change, had its greatest impact at a later date and is represented in the
concern of clinicians with personality dynamics, development, and psychotherapy. The French
psychopathologists, notably Charcot and Janet, were studying hypnosis, hysteria, and the
phenomena of dissociation, and laying the groundwork for the investigation of conflict in the

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unconscious as well as conscious mind. Influenced by them, Freud moved forward to what still
remains the most extensive and coherent theory of human motivation and personality
disturbance. Freud’s thoroughgoing “psychic determinism,” attention to early childhood, and
his conceptualization of the unconscious and repression were keystones of a way of visualizing
human behavior which profoundly altered psychology, general as well as clinical.

However, the two trends coexisted over the short history of psychology and intertwine in the
development of clinical psychology. Both traditions are rooted in 19 th century European
psychology, but they moved readily and flourished in the intellectual climate of America of the
1890’s.

Period of World War I:

World War I spurred the growth of clinical psychology. The military services faced the problem
of differentiating among men of differing abilities. A number of psychologists, mainly
distinguished experimentalists, took on the challenge and developed group intelligence tests.
The Army Alpha was a verbal test, which sampled such abilities as arithmetic, following
directions, judgement and vocabulary. Paralleling it was the Army Beta, which was nonverbal
and intended for illiterate or non-English speaking recruits. Woodworth’s Psycho-neurotic
Inventory (labelled “Personal Data Sheet” out of respect for the sensibilities of those taking it)
was developed to diagnose and screen soldiers with emotional problems. It is the prototype of
the numerous paper-and pencil inventories which have proliferated since 1917. By the end of
the war, it was estimated that 1,726,000 men were group-tested and 83,000 individually
examined. Published findings which showed racial differences, a high order of illiteracy, and an
average “mental age” of the American soldier to be 13.5 years led to widespread and
understandable public and professional reaction.

Period of World War II:

When World WarII broke out, the military once again called upon clinical psychologists. As
soldiers began to return from combat, psychologists started to notice symptoms of
psychological trauma labeled "shell shock" (eventually to be termed posttraumatic stress
disorder) that were best treated as soon as possible. Because physicians (including
psychiatrists) were over-extended in treating bodily injuries, psychologists were called to help
treat this condition. At the same time, female psychologists (who were excluded from the war
effort) formed the National Council of Women Psychologists with the purpose of helping
communities deal with the stresses of war and giving young mothers advice on child rearing.
After the war, the Veterans Administration in the U.S. made an enormous investment to set up
programs to train doctoral-level clinical psychologists to help treat the thousands of veterans
needing care. As a consequence, the U.S. went from having no formal university programs in

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clinical psychology in 1946 to over half of all Ph.D.s in psychology in 1950 being awarded in
clinical psychology.[11]

WWII helped bring dramatic changes to clinical psychology, not just in America but
internationally as well. Graduate education in psychology began adding psychotherapy to the
science and research focus based on the 1947 scientist-practitioner model, known today as
the Boulder Model, for Ph.D. programs in clinical psychology. Clinical psychology in Britain
developed much like in the U.S. after WWII, specifically within the context of the National
Health Service with qualifications, standards, and salaries managed by the British Psychological
Society.

Role of APA:

Shortly after the war, the American Psychological Association(APA) set up a committee, under
the chairmanship of David Shakow, which laid down the philosophy and a proposed model of
clinical training time (APA, Committee on Training in Clinical Psychology, 1947). In 1949, at a
conference at Boulder, Colorado, leaders of American psychological, from universities, clinical
centers, and federal agencies (Veterans Administration and National Institute of Mental
Health), and members of allied professions considered the broad issues of clinical training and
largely affirmed the position of the Shakow Committee.