a brief history of counseling and therapy

8/18/2019 A Brief History of Counseling and Therapy

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A Brief History of Counseling and Therapy

Disciplines > Counselling > A Brief History of Counseling and Therapy

Family and religion | The industrial revolution | The rise of psychotherapy | Behaviorism and humanism | Secular

society | Twentieth century epansion | See also

Counseling has not had a long history in its current form! yet it has happened for centuries

and longer"

Family and religion

There has #een a long need for counseling in helping individuals with transitions and other

difficulties in their lives" The long tradition of counseling is first of family mem#ers helping

with advice" $arents counsel their children" %randparents and other family elders offer the

wisdom of the years"

&n a close community! there may also #e tri#al elders or others with a concern for mental

well'#eing" This role for many years was (and still is) ta*en on #y the priest or religious

person" For the individual! the priest offers confidentiality that ena#les discussion of family

matters or things that are secret from the family" The priest meanwhile gets to steadily

inculcate religious values! ma*ing it a valued relationship on #oth sides" The church tended

to view mental illness as some form of possession and treatment! including eorcism! wasof the soul rather than the #ody"

Those with more incura#le issues were generally tolerated" The village idiot was found a

place in the fields and others were cared for or handled within the community"

The industrial revolution

+ith the age of the enlightenment and the rise of the industrial revolution through the

eighteenth and nineteenth centuries! populations #ecame mo#ile as they sought employment

in towns and cities that were often far from their original homes" This separated them from

their natural counselors! although the religious support was still availa#le" ,et with the rise

of science! the power of the church declined and it was not always a#le to give the help that

was needed"

Capitalism and science also had su#tle effects on #eliefs! values and general cognition"

-verything had to #e eplained" The wor* ethic was dominant and hedonism was an option

for only a few"

Along with the concentration of towns and cities came the need to protect its citi.ens and

civic organi.ations such as police forces were developed" &n small communities the power

of shame and the threat of #anishment is enough to sustain social control" &n town!

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anonymity is an option which #rings its own pro#lems" $articularly in America! social

mo#ility was very much a norm"

As much to protect the populace as the individual concerned! somewhere #etween the

wor*house! hospital and prison sat the lunatic asylum" Here! the insane (as well as a few

unhappy individuals who had em#arrassed their families) were incarcerated with little

treatment"

Science scoffed at the notion of possession #y demons #ut had little idea what to do #eyond

#asic approaches such as drugging and leeching" &n the cruel days of misfit sideshows! the

asylum was /ust another place to go and laugh at those less fortunate"

The rise of psychotherapy

Hypnotism had #een *nown a#out for some time (0esmer lived around the turn of the

eighteenth century)! and was popular through the ninteenth century and was used as aninformal therapeutic method" 1evertheless it perpleed scientists who were suspicious of its

shamanistic roots"

+ith the continued development and dominance of scientific medicine! esta#lishment

attention was eventually turned to matters of the mind (something that empiricists had

largely ignored as impenetra#le)" 0edical science too* over as the careta*ers of the

mentally distur#ed and a new age of and discipline of psychiatry arose towards the end of

the nineteenth century"

Sigmund Freud was perhaps the most significant pioneer in see*ing to understand and treat

mental pro#lems! at least in those who lived in normal society #ut who suffered from

emotional and #ehavioral difficulties" 2ather than try to treat mental pro#lems as a physical

issue! he chose to listen to them and try to wor* out what was happening from what they

said! and then apply treatment in the opposite direction! again through words"

Despite massive leaps! Freud was still trapped #y notions of his day! such as the assumption

that mental pro#lems had an emotional #asis and the derivation of ideas such as li#ido came

from nineteenth century #iological theories"

$sychoanalysis thus developed and was evolved #y people such as 3a4ues

5acan and 0elanie 6lein into the approaches still used today" This was not without some

internal division of opinion and 6lein famously split with Sigmund Freud7s daughter! the

more traditionalist Anna"

Behaviorism and humanism

&n the way that a thing creates its opposite! the assumptions of psychoanalysis were

challenged in the scientific search for hard evidence!

and #ehaviorism and conditioning #ecame popular for the focus on the eternal! measura#le

#ehavior"

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&n the opposite direction! and particularly in the more li#eral America! a different view

arose amongst people such as Carl 2ogers! Al#ert -llis! -ric Berne and A#raham 0aslow"

These put the person and their eperience at the middle of attention! as opposed to the more

therapist and method focus of psychoanalysis" This may seem unfair #ut the humanist

approach is /ust that ' human" &t sees the client as a colla#orative partner! not as a patient to #e treated #y an epert" Humanism! even more than Behaviorism and 4uite unli*e

$sychoanalysis! has a focus on the present rather than the past"

Humanism was largely a practitioner philosophy and was largely ignored #y academe for a

long time" 1evertheless its warm message resonated with #oth therapists and clients and it

was widely used" Despite secular leanings! this approach was influenced #y $rotestant

values such as free choice #y the individual and the personal /ourney"

Secular society

+ith the decline of the church as a social institution that eists at the heart of the

community and the lives of its people! there arose a vacuum of meaning and care" +ithout

the comfort of promised salvation! many lost their sense of purpose in the meaningless

daily drudge" And without the sage and certain advice of the priest! the neuroses of

industrial living worsened"

Cities can #e lonely places" +ith family far away and fic*le friends who en/oy the fun #ut

step #ac* when emotional support is needed! a person can #e out and dancing yet feel

terri#ly alone"

&n such an environment there is a vacuum! a pent'up need for help towards the ma*ing of

meaning for individual lives" &t was this need! this pull! that created the new disciplines of

therapy and counseling" &t was the loss created #y sundered societies that drove some to

despair and other to consider what succor and treatment could #e provided to create a more

harmonious" Those who wanted /ust to do good and those who saw the social imperative

wor*ed to develop ways and means of putting people #ac* together and #ac* into society"

&n pursuit of happiness and the American Dream! self'development was a common focus"

-ven in the first world war! the 8S army employed psychologists and psychological testing

was widespread"

Twentieth century expansion

$sychotherapy first caught on in a significant way in the 8SA! helped #y a receptive culture

and #y -uropean analysts who moved there away from fascist oppression" These ideas were

then adopted into the American culture" Humanism in particular! as descri#ed a#ove! was a

particularly American approach" There is a notion of the 7empty self7 and an American

theme has #een the search for meaning and the focus on the individual7s story (the empty

self is also a possi#le cause in the rise of consumerism and advertising)"

&n the latter half of the twentieth century! counseling developed significantly as a distinct profession! differing from therapy at least in the contets of use and often in the types of


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issues faced" Counseling happens in the social community! in schools and colleges as well

as homes" Counseling is often paid for #y the community or is voluntarily offered (such as

the Samaritans)" Therapy is more li*ely to #e a private practice" Therapy is largely found in

the therapist7s wor* room" Counseling addresses issues from small to large" Therapy tends

to deal in the #igger issues" Counseling may #e limited" Therapy can continue as long as theclient is a#le to pay"

As with other new domains! there has #een division of viewpoint and evolution of schools

of thought" There have #een views of counseling and therapy as a means to social change"

The counselor'client relationship has #een 4uestioned" -ven the dynamics resulting from

the structure of epert'patient has #een 4uestioned"

Throughout the development of counseling and therapy! there has #een an evolution of though

a#out the way people are perceived and hence treated" &n the days of the lunatic asylum!

people were loc*ed up and treated li*e animals" Freud viewed the person as conflicted and

hidden" Behaviorists saw people as predicta#le machines" Humanists had a more #otanical

image! with ideas of feeding and growth" The perception of the client can significantly affect

the counselor7s view and hence how they interact with them"
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a brief history of counseling and therapy

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