THE HISTORY OF HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

The History Of Health Psychology

The History Of Health Psychology

Many people date the inception of psychology to 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt founded the first experimental psychology lab in Germany. That makes the field a very young one indeed, particularly considering the importance of the psyche, or mind, to the human species. Biology, chemistry, and the more abstract disciplines of physics and mathematics have had considerably longer to mature into more exact sciences. Even then, most of the history and progress of all the sciences has occurred in the past century. (Reisner 2005)

The history of modern psychology beginning in 1879 has been the story of a radical struggle for the hearts and minds of humanity.  From its inception in the laboratory of Wilhelm Wundt, one school of psychology has continuously fought to negate and abolish every theory which came before it.  As this discipline developed throughout the last 130 years, the crusades which they have waged against one another have, in my opinion, put political orientation first and patients last.

The purpose of this excerpt is to help the average consumer navigate the complex maze which the schools and various systems of psychology have cultivated.  In fact, peering backwards into its short modern history, psychology appears to reinvent itself with every generation.  Each school evolving into a reactionary response against the one developed prior to it. (Reid 2007)The study of psychology is the study of human behavior i.e. intuitive, mental, emotional, physical and social.  In my approach as a therapist, I require of myself a thorough understanding of every aspect of our human constitution.  Each needs to be accounted for in clinical practice, if a holistic, therefore complete portrayal of an individual is to be accurately understood. 

Every dimension displays a different part of each person and thus, needs to be valued in its own right.  When the schools and systems of psychology insist on maintaining a bellicose relationship to one another, a reductionistic approach results, subjecting both therapist and client to a stunted, misleading worldview in which their philosophy becomes exalted to the exclusion of all other opinions. (Lerner 2002)The discipline of psychology is as old as humanity itself. Psychology was born, in my opinion, when the first shaman sought to commune with the gods and goddesses of prehistory in order to better understand his/her own nature and to direct the health and wellbeing of the tribe.  Our ancient ancestors understood the interconnectivity of the mind and the body.  Each being a reflection of the health or disease of the other. 

Ultimately, prehistoric mythology transformed into classical philosophy which further divided into the science and art of psychotherapeutic intervention. Therefore, as the history of psychology encompasses the entire breath of past, present and future human behavior, I would argue that every dimension of this discipline exists not to negate, but rather to elucidate and embellish all of its historical multifaceted innovations.  (Leichsenring 2003)The following is a brief description of each modern theory of psychology and its foremost ...