Timeline: The History of Counseling

Counseling in the 19th Century The most basic form of counseling — talking as a form of treatment for emotional problems — was practiced in the form of advice and information in the 19th century. Early counseling professionals called themselves teachers and social advocates. Their areas of focus involved child welfare, education, employment guidance, and legal reform.

Sigmund Freud In 1896, neurologist Sigmund Freud finished the development of “psychoanalysis” as a form of therapy for those with serious internal, emotional conflicts. Psychotherapy focuses on a person’s unconscious and the belief that mental illness is the result of repressed memories and emotions. Treatment uses interpretations to bring such memories to the forefront.

Early Counseling Pioneers In the early 1900s, three pioneers stood out in the advancement of counseling. Frank Parsons, regarded as the father of the vocational guidance movement, founded Boston’s Vocational Bureau in 1908, which was a major step in the institutionalization of guidance. Jesse B. Davis created the first systematized guidance programs in public schools and paved the way for school guidance counseling. Clifford Beers’ own battle with mental illness and depression exposed the poor conditions of mental institutions in his book A Mind That Found Itself in 1908.

Setting the Counseling Groundwork As the development of vocational guidance began to take root in the early 1900s, two important benchmarks helped spread its practice and legitimacy. First, in 1913, the National Vocational Guidance Association (NVGA), the forerunner of today’s American Counseling Association, was founded. Second, in 1917, the Smith-Hughes Act was passed to provide public schools funding for vocational education. Also, after WWI, several of the Army’s psychological screening devices for personnel were introduced in civilian populations leading to a raised awareness of psychometrics (or psychological testing).

Vocational Counseling Evolves with the Great Depression

In 1929, Abraham and Hannah Stone established the first marriage and family counseling center in New York City. This marked the beginning of a broader approach to counseling during the 1930s while the Great Depression sparked a change in the counseling methods related to employment. E.G. Williamson developed the first theory of counseling to work with students and the unemployed by emphasizing a direct, counselor-centered approach known as trait-factor counseling. In 1939, the U.S. government established the U.S. Employment Service, which published the first edition of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) as a source of career information for vocational guidance specialists

Guidance and Counseling In 1942, Carl Rogers gained notoriety after publishing his book Counseling and Psychotherapy, which emphasized a focus on the “personhood” of the client and a nondirective approach to counseling. His theory was controversial and was based on the belief that clients were responsible for their own growth and would know themselves better if they felt accepted and heard. This theory shed light on the importance of building a relationship with the client in counseling and brought about a clear delineation to the difference between guidance and counseling: guidance focuses on helping individuals choose what they value most, whereas counseling helps them make those changes.

WWII Increases Government Involvement With the country’s involvement in WWII, the U.S. government identified and filled a need for counselors and psychologists to train specialists to work with the military. In 1946, the George-Barden Act further promoted counseling by providing funding for vocational education for counseling training institutes. The Veterans Administration (VA) also funded counselor and psychologist training while coining the term “counseling psychologist.”

1950s: A Profound Decade The American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA) was founded in 1952 to formally organize groups interested in guidance, counseling, and personnel matters. The Division of Counseling Psychology was also created in 1952 out of interest in expanding the client base of clinical psychologists. In 1953, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) was chartered and the National Defense Education Act of 1958 increased funding to upgrade school counseling programs and train counselors. By 1958, funding efforts increased the total number of school counselors to 12,000.

The Emergence of New Counseling Theories

Before the 1950s, four main theories were practiced: psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud), trait-factor and directive theories (E.G. Williamson), humanistic and client-centered theories (Carl Rogers), and behavioral theories (B.F. Skinner). After the 1950s, new theories began to emerge such as systematic desensitization (Joseph Wolpe), rational-emotive therapy (Albert Ellis), transactional analysis (Eric Berne), and cognitive theory (Aaron Beck).

Counseling as a Developmental Profession Gilbert Wrenn and his influential book The Counselor in a Changing World, which focused on working together to resolve developmental needs, set the tone for the 1960s. In 1963, the Community Mental Health Centers Act authorized the establishment of mental health centers and paved the way for counseling careers in addiction and alcohol abuse counseling. The Education Resource Information Center Clearinghouse on Counseling and Personnel Services was founded in 1966, and it would become one of the largest, most used resources on counseling trends and activities throughout the world.

Diversification in Counseling Starting with Title IX and the affirmative action and anti-discrimination legislation that would follow in the 1970s, a need for specialized training developed for counselors to properly address the population’s different needs. Mental health clinics, hospices, employee assistance programs, psychiatric hospitals, and rehabilitation centers began to employ counselors. In 1973, the Association of Counselor Educators and Supervisors (ACES) established standards to acquire a master’s degree in counseling, with Virginia becoming the first state to adopt a professional counselor licensure law in 1976

1980s: Standardization of Training, Certification, and Human Development

In 1982, the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) was formed and started to certify counselors on a national level. During this decade, standardized tests were developed that counselors had to pass in order to become a National Certified Counselor. Counseling theory also progressed with developmental counseling over the course of the lifespan receiving more attention in correlation with Erik Erikson’s first five stages of life. In addition, gender issues, sexual preferences, moral development, and the considerations that come along with working with different cultural groups received more attention.

Counseling in the 1990s In 1992, counseling was included for the first time in the health care human resource statistics as a primary mental health profession by the Center for Mental Health Services and the National Institute of Mental Health. This gave counseling the same credibility as psychology, social work, and psychiatry. That same year the multicultural counseling competencies and standards outlined by Derald Wing Sue, Patricia Arredondo, and Roderick J. McDavis set the stage for a larger debate about the nature of counseling. Counselors during this decade gave more consideration to the social factors that contribute to the development and continuance of mental illness such as interactions, spirituality, family environment, socioeconomic considerations, impact of groups, and overall prevention.

Trends of the 2000s and Today In the aftermath of events like Columbine, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the September 11 attacks, counselors began to focus on conflict and safety from the perspective of prevention and treatment. This emphasis on trauma and tragedies continued following Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and the Virginia Tech shootings. The counseling community created crisis plans for working with different ages to provide psychological treatment and how to properly facilitate grieving and healing with a renewed emphasis on acute stress disorder (ASD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Looking to the future, the idea of wellness is gaining traction as a way for counselors to promote a “positive state of well-being.” In addition, technology is always evolving and helps facilitate community outreach, public policy making, and interactions between counselors and clients.