The Emergence of Clinical Psychology in Britain from 1943 to 1958 Part I: Core Tasks and the Professionalisation Process

Abstract

Clinical psychology in Britain separated from educational psychology, and included psychologists working with adults, in a process of professionalisation between 1943 and 1958, against the background of the Second World War and the emerging welfare state. Accounts of that history have tended to confound the rhetoric and the core tasks of professional psychologists. The professionalisation process itself is described as led by the Committee of Professional Psychologists (Mental Health) within the British Psychological Society, in the context of the new National Health Service, on the basis of the Minutes of the Committee. Internal tensions between the Committee, the Council, the Medical Section of the British Psychological Society, and individuals, are exposed, and the contribution of the pre-existing American experience to that process is challenged.