Timeline of psychotherapy

This is a timeline of psychotherapy.

See psychotherapy for a description of the nature and development of the subject.

Also see timeline of psychology.

Antiquity

 * ca. 1550 BCE - Ancient Egyptians codified their knowledge of psychiatry, medicine, and surgery in the Ebers Papyrus and the Edwin Smith Papyrus. The former mentioned dementia and depression, while the latter gave detailed instructions for various neurosurgical procedures. The power of magic (suggestion) was recognized as complementary to medicine.
 * ca. 500 BCE - Siddhartha Gautama founded the psychotherapeutic practices of Buddhism on the principle that the origin of mental suffering is ignorance, that the symptoms of ignorance are attachment and craving, and that attachment and craving can be ended by following the Eightfold Path.
 * ca. 400 BCE - Hippocrates taught that melancholia (depression) is caused by an excess of black bile, one of the four humours. Ancient Greek therapy for disorders of mood involved adjustment of the humours, to bring them into balance.
 * ca. 300 BCE - Composition of the Huangdi Neijing began in China. This medical work emphasized the relationship between organs and emotions, and formalized the theory of Qi (life-force) and the balancing of the primal forces of Yin and Yang.

Middle Ages

 * ca. 900 - Psychotherapy was first developed in the Middle East by al-Razi (Rhazes), who was at one time the chief physician of the Baghdad hospital.

1770s

 * 1770 - Johann Joseph Gassner initiated a therapeutic practice using a precursor of hypnotherapy and exorcism.
 * 1774 - Franz Mesmer described the therapeutic properties of "animal magnetism" (hypnotherapy), and began a clinical practice.

1780s

 * 1785 - Marquis de Puységur founded the Société Harmonique des Amis Réunis to train specialists in Mesmerism (hypnotherapy).

1790s

 * 1793 - Jean-Baptiste Pussin, working with Philippe Pinel, began releasing incarcerated mental patients from chains and iron shackles in the first movement for the humane treatment of the mentally ill.

1800s

 * 1801 - Philippe Pinel published the first psychological approach to the treatment of the insane. The work appeared in English translation in 1806, as Treatise on Insanity.

1810s

 * 1813 - Abbé Faria identified the central role of suggestion in "animal magnetism" (hypnotherapy).

1820s

 * 1826 - Justinus Kerner began treatment of patients with a combination of "animal magnetism" (hypnotherapy) and exorcism.

1870s

 * 1870 - Jean-Martin Charcot began clinical research into hysteria (conversion disorder) at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris.

1880s

 * 1884 - Jean-Martin Charcot explained demonic possession as a form of hysteria (conversion disorder), to be treated with hypnotherapy.
 * 1885 - Pierre Janet began therapeutic practice and research in Le Havre.
 * 1886 - Sigmund Freud began therapeutic practice and research in Vienna.

1890s

 * 1892 - Foundation of the American Psychological Association (APA), headed by G. Stanley Hall.
 * 1896 - Development of the first psychological clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, marking the birth of clinical psychology.

1900s

 * 1900 - Sigmund Freud published Interpretation of Dreams, marking the beginning of Psychoanalytic Thought.
 * 1906 - The Journal of Abnormal Psychology founded by Morton Prince.

1910s

 * 1911 - Alfred Adler left Freud's Psychoanalytic Group to form his own school of thought, Individual Psychology, accusing Freud of overemphasizing sexuality and basing his theory on his own childhood.
 * 1913 - Carl Jung departed from Freudian views and developed his own theories citing Freud's inability to acknowledge religion and spirituality.  His new school of thought became known as Analytical Psychology.
 * 1913 - Jacob L. Moreno applied Group Psychotherapy methods in Vienna. His methods, which emphasized spontaneity and interaction, later became known as Psychodrama and Sociometry.

1920s

 * 1921 - Jacob L. Moreno conducted the first large scale public Psychodrama session at the Komoedienhaus, Vienna. He moved to New York in 1925.

1930s

 * 1933 - Wilhelm Reich published his influential book Character Analysis.
 * 1936 - Karen Horney began her critique of Freudian psychoanalytic theory with the publication of Feminine Psychology.

1940s

 * 1942 - Carl Rogers published Counseling and Psychotherapy, suggesting that respect and a non-judgmental approach to therapy is the foundation for effective treatment of mental health issues.
 * 1943 - Albert Hofmann writes his first report about the hallucinogenic properties of LSD, which he first synthesized in 1938. LSD was practiced as a therapeutic drug throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
 * 1945 - The Journal of Clinical Psychology founded.
 * 1949 - Boulder Conference outlined the scientist-practitioner model of clinical psychology, looking at the M.D. versus Ph.D. used by medical providers and researchers, respectively.

1950s

 * 1951 - Carl Rogers published his major work, Client-Centered Therapy.
 * 1951 The seminal work of "Gestalt Therapy: Excitement and Growth in the Human Personality" is published, co-authored by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman, and Ralph Hefferline.
 * 1952 - The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was published by The American Psychiatric Association marking the beginning of modern mental illness classification.
 * 1953 - B.F. Skinner outlined behavioral therapy, lending support for behavioral psychology via research in the literature.
 * 1953 - Code of Ethics for Psychologists developed by the American Psychological Association.
 * 1954 - Abraham Maslow helped to found Humanistic psychology and later developed his famous Hierarchy of Needs.
 * 1957 - Albert Ellis began teaching the methods of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.

1960s

 * 1960 - Thomas Szasz inaugurated the anti-psychiatry movement with the publication of his book, The Myth of Mental Illness.
 * 1960 - R. D. Laing published The Divided Self  which saw mental illness as an expression or communication of the individual and so represented valid descriptions of lived experience or reality rather than as symptoms of some separate or underlying disorder.
 * 1962 - The Esalen Institute founded at Big Sur California, acting as a focus for the development of many branches of Humanistic psychology.
 * 1967 - Aaron Beck published a psychological model of depression, suggesting that thoughts play a significant role in the development and maintenance of depression.
 * 1968 - DSM II published by the American Psychiatric Association.
 * 1968 - First Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) professional degree program in Clinical Psychology established in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
 * 1969 - California School of Professional Psychology established as first freestanding school of professional psychology.
 * 1969 - Joseph Wolpe published The Practice of Behavior Therapy.

1970s

 * 1970 - Arthur Janov published his book The Primal Scream, which outlined his theory of the trauma-based Primal therapy.
 * 1971 - Vladimir Bukovsky documented the psychiatric imprisonment of sane political prisoners in the USSR.

1980s

 * 1980 - DSM III published by the American Psychiatric Association.

1990s

 * 1994 - DSM IV (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) published by the American Psychiatric Association.

2000s

 * 2000 - The DSM-IV-TR, was published in May 2000 in order to correct several errors in DSM-IV, and to update and change diagnostic codes to reflect the ICD-9-CM coding system.