history of psychotherapy, personality theory

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I am interested in learning more about the development of psychotherapy before Freud. What suggestions do you have for readings on the history of psychology, psychotherapy, and/or personality theory before Freud. Readings may speak to how psychology, psychotherapy and/or theories of personality are addressed by various cultures in different times from around the world. Thank you for your help with this search. Leya Moore,1st year Master's Student in Counseling Psychology, UW Madison.

-- leya moore (llmoore@students.wisc.edu), January 06, 2002

Answers

You should first have a look at Henri F. Ellenberger's _The Discovery of the Unconscious: The History and Evolution of Dynamic Psychiatry_. (Basic Books, 1970). It is a classic. You might also look at any work on mesmerism or phrenology. There is a recent book by Alison Winter entitled _Mesmerized_. Most history of psychology texts will have some material on phrenology as well. You might also look at Michael Sokal's chapter on American antebellum itinerant phrenologists in _The Transformation of Psychology_ (APA, 2001).

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), January 06, 2002.

I would also recommend Gregory Zilboorg's A History of Medical Psychology (W. W. Norton, 1941, 1969), which is a definitive source and broader than Ellenberger's. Also George E. Gifford (Ed.), Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy, and the New England Medical Scene 1894- 1944. The term psychotherapy came into the literature around 1887, so previous healing efforts would have had different names. Personality in its early forms would have been a past of philosophical theology, for the most part. For early history of personality I recommend Gordon Allport's 1937 Personality, which has an excellent 'literature review.'

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@earthlink.net), January 07, 2002.

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