European Roots of the First Psychology Clinic in North America

Abstract

Lightner Witmer (1867-1956) founded the first psychology clinic in Philadelphia 100 years ago, in March 1896. Even though he was an American, he readily acknowledged some European roots of his work. Witmer earned his Ph.D. at the University of Leipzig, Germany, under Wilhelm Wundt. He was encouraged by his Philadelphia mentor, James McKeen Cattell, to focus on individual differences in the tradition of Francis Galton of England. Witmer modeled his clinical interventions after the previous efforts of J.R. Pereira, J.M.G. Itard, and Edouard Seguin of France and Maria Montessori of Italy. The consequences for modern psychology of Witmer's idea that psychologists should use their knowledge to help people individually were noteworthy. Clinical psychology is today the most common psychology specialty in Europe and, indeed, in much of the world. However, Witmer's concept that clinical psychologists should be trained at the doctoral level is as yet far better accepted in North America than it is elsewhere.