This chapter focuses on telling the stories of key events and people in the history of psychology. We center the narratives and theories of psychologists who are often rendered invisible in the canon of traditional psychology. We explore the contribution of Women, Black/African American, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian/Asian American, LGBTQIA+ clinicians, and those who sit at the intersections of multiple identities. We also provide additional information about some of the “founders” or well-known psychologists in intro books and explore the relationship between their theory development and their historical, geographical socio-political context.

Embodiment Practice: This workbook might bring up a variety of thoughts and feelings. We encourage you to use any strategies that help you manage them. To support you, we’ve included an embodiment practice that will help you feel grounded, stay present with the material, and gently handle any thoughts or feelings that might arise.

• Feel your body
• You can do this sitting or standing. Focus on how your body feels from head to toe, noticing each part. Consider:
  • your hair on your shoulders or forehead
  • the weight of your shirt on your shoulders
  • whether your arms feel loose or stiff at your sides
  • your heartbeat, and whether it’s rapid or steady
  • whether your stomach feels full or you feel hungry
  • whether your legs are crossed, or your feet are resting on the floor
• Curl your fingers and wiggle your toes. Are you barefoot or in shoes? How does the floor feel against your feet?

Using Your Perspective to Make Sense of Real-Life Situations

She enters the classroom to start her first day of graduate school in psychology. She is both proud and a little nervous as a first-generation graduate student. She knows that she has the support of her parents, family, and friends in her pursuit of a PsyD. She introduces herself to the other students and notices that she is the only visibly Brown skinned student in the class. Only one of her professors identifies as a Person of Color. She is in graduate school because she wants to engage in healing work with people of the Black diaspora who have experienced multiple levels of trauma: interpersonally, in community, and from systems. She takes multiple classes in her first semester: Research, History, and Trauma. None of the courses highlight theories from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color psychologists.

When she asks her professors about this lack, almost all look flustered. Some add the names of marginalized psychologists as an aside, while others inform her that there will be a special discussion about “diversity issues” at the end of the course. Others, however, tell her that her questions are not relevant to the course. However, she did not believe these answers were sufficient; she knew there was more to psychology and wanted to discover it. So, she reached out to her fellow students and others who felt similarly. They researched and discovered numerous stories, events, and theories previously unknown to them. And, in the end, they presented their findings to their professors at a faculty meeting, along with a petition calling for professors to tell the stories of all people in psychology. Her experiences are not unique. They used the following quote as their organizing mantra: “Who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”

As a reminder, Liberation psychology is an approach to understanding individuals, communities, culture, and society that centers those impacted by oppression and marginalization. It is an approach that resists oppression, engages in social action, and calls on the field of psychology to center justice. It argues that shifting the focus in the field of psychology (and in education) to root causes of problems, identifying the impact of oppression in psychology, and utilizing a strength-based focus in teaching, theorizing, and intervening will support transforming systems of injustice and oppression for justice and holistic well-being.^[1]

(2.1) Have you had any experiences that are similar to anything you read in the above story? If so, how did you feel? How did you respond? If not, what are your feelings after reading the above? How do you think you would respond?

(2.2)Do you see any principles of liberation psychology in this story? If so, which ones? If not, what could be added to reflect principles of liberation psychology?

The following sections of this workbook will examine the contributions of psychologists who are often overlooked in the field. Additionally, it will highlight significant events in the history of psychology, spanning from the 1850s to the 2000s, that are not frequently covered in textbooks or courses. It will “shed light on the embarrassment that was early psychology and its extraordinary dedication to racism”^[2].

I think I like the above timeline illustration more than the one below

Allwood & Berry (2006) reiterate how human behavior in general is directly influenced by the cultural context in which that behavior is developed. They go on to remind us that concepts, theories, methods, and interpretations were created in a specific cultural context; that is, a Western European-American one based on the Judeo-Christian religion and worldview. As they state, ”The outcome is the widespread presence of one indigenous psychology (that of Western societies), which has been exported to, and largely accepted by other societies”.^[3] Their statements reinforce the reality that US psychology does not produce or make known universal truths, but instead reinforces a specific psychology, a specific belief of being in the world, a belief that does not always reflect the realities of many groups of people.

For example, Guthrie (2004) points out that the history of Black psychology begins with African civilizations,^[4] including those of the Yoruba, Shona, Nubian, and Songhai kingdoms. Each of these kingdoms was noted for its culture, breadth, and artwork. And each had their philosophies and ways of understanding the world and the people in it. One of the oldest libraries in the world, the Library of Alexandria, was in Egypt, on the African continent. It “became the intellectual jewel of the ancient world… at its peak it may have included over 500,000 papyrus scrolls containing works of literature and texts on history, law, mathematics and science”.^[5] Yet, these empires and their intellectual contributions are not referenced in psychology courses as contributors to “American” psychology, even though African people were and continue to be part of American culture. Similarly, many current psychological interventions utilize “Eastern” beliefs and worldviews, such as mindfulness, which is an aspect of Buddhism. However, the cultures that give rise to these interventions are rarely given credit or cited for their contribution to the field. Additionally, the theories and interventions are divorced from the cultural context within which they developed, giving rise to cultural appropriation.

Kirmeyer (2015) writes, “Mindfulness meditation and other techniques drawn from Buddhism have become increasingly popular as therapeutic interventions in psychiatry. In much of this work, Buddhism is portrayed as a psychology closely akin to cognitive psychology. However, in the societies where it originated, Buddhism is a system of practice that has strong ethical and moral dimensions. Do extracting techniques like meditation from the social context in which they originate change the nature and effects of the practice? What is the relationship of these practices to everyday Buddhism as lived in Asian countries or by migrants to the West? How has the Westernization and psychologization of Buddhism and other contemplative traditions altered their meaning? What are the implications of a cultural and contextual view of mindfulness for continued dialogue between Buddhist thought and psychiatry?”.^[6]

(2.3) Do you think the cultural context of where a theory develops matters? Why or why not?

(2.4) Are you curious about how mental illness was treated throughout the world? Is there a specific country or region that you could look into, and ask questions such as: “How was mental illness treated in _____ during ____ time?” Hold on to this information before reading the following sections about psychology.

The United States, as a constitutional republic, is 248 years old, dating from the Declaration of Independence in 1776. While this makes it relatively young compared to many civilizations worldwide, it’s important to acknowledge that this refers specifically to the European-derived nation-state, not to the Indigenous peoples and nations who inhabited these lands for thousands of years before European colonization. Many Native American nations and civilizations have histories stretching back millennia on this continent, with rich and complex societies, governments, and cultural traditions that long predate the founding of the United States.
Before examining the development of psychology within the United States, it’s important to understand how mental health and illness were conceptualized in other cultures and civilizations throughout earlier historical periods. Keep in mind, this is not a comprehensive list, only a sampling.

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptian approaches to mental health included healing methods like dream interpretation and cathartic rituals. Many of these rituals are similar to methods used today. For example, a cathartic exercise was to write a letter to a deceased relative.^[7] Ancient Egyptians recognized that the brain was the source of mental abilities and acknowledged states of consciousness in a way that is consistent with today’s understanding of cognitive functions such as concentration and attention.^[8]

China

Early Chinese thought included a detailed psychological system, developed long ago, that shares notable similarities with early Greek thought. According to Fernberger, (1935), both systems relied on a foundation of cosmological elements and used psychological analyses to establish a basis for ethics and explain ethical reactions. The ancient Chinese system connected the Five Elements to human experiences like sensations, emotions, and virtues.^[9]

According to ancient Chinese, emotions like grief or anger were thought to disrupt the flow of Qi, which led to mental disturbances. Qi, which translates to “breath” or “air”, is the vital energy, or life force, that drives bodily functions and maintains life. According to Zhang, Chinese medicine was based on Yin and Yang principles, and the Seven Emotions were categorized with opposing effects on Qi and blood circulation. Emotions like happiness, anger, and fright, attributed to Yang, were believed to stimulate circulation. Conversely, emotions such as sorrow, sadness, and fear, linked to Yin, were thought to impede circulation.^[10]

South Africa

According to Shange and Ross (2022), African traditional healing practices for mental illness have been deeply rooted in spirituality, collectivism, and holistic care. Traditional healers, including diviners (Sangomas) and herbalists (Inyangas), diagnose mental illness through throwing bones, spiritual consultations, observations, and history-taking. Causes of mental illness can be attributed to ancestral callings, social transgressions, emotional trauma, and physical factors like substance abuse or head injuries. Treatments can involve cleansing rituals, herbal medicines, burning of protective herbs, and ceremonies to restore spiritual balance. Some healing methods emphasize understanding “why” illness occurs and restoring harmony between the individual, their ancestors, and the community. While these practices have been marginalized during colonial rule, they remain widely used today, often alongside biomedical approaches.^[11]

India

According to Nizamie and Goyal (2010), the treatment of mental illness in ancient India was deeply influenced by Ayurveda, with texts like the Charaka Samhita describing mental disorders as imbalances in the three doshas, Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, and recommending treatments such as herbal medicine, meditation, and purification rituals. Temples served as early healing centers where priests and healers provided spiritual and psychological care, often integrating religious practices with medical interventions. The physician Sushruta also contributed to early psychiatric understanding, recognizing hereditary and environmental factors in mental illness and advocating for holistic treatments.
During colonial rule, British authorities established mental asylums in India, prioritizing custodial care over indigenous healing traditions, which led to the marginalization of traditional Ayurvedic and spiritual approaches to mental health treatment.^[12]

Iraq and The First Hospital Dedicated to Mental Health

We have the history of modern psychology as it’s understood and taught in the United States. Separately, there’s the longer and globally diverse history of mental health treatment. For instance, the first hospital dedicated to mental illness is often cited as being in Baghdad, Iraq, in the 8th century. Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakariya Al-Razi is recognized for his revolutionary contributions to mental health treatment at the time. He challenged the prevailing belief that mental health issues stemmed from supernatural causes, arguing instead that they should be treated as medical conditions. Furthermore, he acknowledged the significant impact of early childhood relationships on an individual’s mental well-being and functioning.^[13]

Psychology in the United States was developed predominantly by White men during the pre- and post-Civil War period (approximately 1850-1900). These early psychologists supported the belief in White superiority through research on individual differences among racial groups. Programs, departments, degrees, societies and schools were created during a time of national debates on slavery, the continued attempted genocide of Indigenous people and removal of them from their traditional lands to reservations, the Chinese Exclusion Act which at the federal government level prohibited immigration from China, and the decision of “separate but equal”  in education by the Supreme Court in the Plessy v. Ferguson decision.^[14]

According to a comprehensive report by The Cummings Center for the History of Psychology (CCHP) at The University of Akron, “our historical review of psychology’s harms to people of color indicates that psychologists have, in both the past and present:

• Established and participated in scientific models and approaches rooted in scientific racism;
• Created, sustained, and promulgated ideas of human hierarchy through the construction, study, and interpretation of racial difference;
• Promoted the idea that racial difference is biologically based and fixed;
• Used psychological science and practice to support segregated and subpar education for people of color;
• Created and promoted widespread use of psychological tests and instruments that discriminated against people of color;
• Failed to take concerted action in response to calls for an end to testing and psychometric racism;
• Supported the widespread use of educational assessments and interventions that were lucrative for the field of psychology, but harmed people of color.
• Provided ideological support for and failed to speak out against the colonial framework of the boarding and day school systems for First Peoples of the Americas;
• Created, sustained, and promoted a view of people of color as deficient or damaged;
• Applied psychological science and practice to oppose “race-mixing” and to support segregation, sterilization, and anti-marriage laws, using the ideas of early 20th-century eugenics;
• Failed to represent the approaches, practices, voices, and concerns of people of color within the field of psychology and society;
• Failed to respond or responded too slowly in the face of clear social harms to people of color.”^[15]

Early psychiatrists/psychologists/anthropologists used religious, philosophical, and scientific views to uphold their beliefs in the inferiority of darker-skinned people. These views were used to justify colonialism and slavery. Benjamin Rush, a White physician who was later referred to as the “Father of American Psychiatry,” created the term drapetomania. Drapetomania was a diagnosis given to enslaved people, and its characteristic was enslaved people’s “uncontrollable desire for freedom,” which led them to escape slavery. Rush made the desire to leave the horrors of slavery into a psychiatric condition and recommended that slaveholders whip the desire out of them.^[16]

Both anthropologists and psychologists investigated differences in racial intelligence, personality characteristics, and physical features, and they joined under the term “Ethnical Psychology.” Ethnical psychology was created in 1871 in Germany and was the melding of psychology and ethnology (a subset of anthropology that focused on the study of race). However, psychology textbooks often start the story of psychology with Western philosophy and William Wundt’s first laboratory of experimental psychology in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879. Textbooks focus on how his work led to two schools of thought: structuralism and functionalism. However, what is often not named is the sociopolitical context that surrounded Wundt and his work and how that shaped his methods and conclusions.

Seeing what was happening in the world while the first “psychology laboratory” was created, are you beginning to see modern psychology within a historical context? Does this bring up any questions for you as you learn about historical figures or events within the field of psychology?

(2.5) Have you heard of the term Ethnic psychology? Did you know of the early relationship between anthropology and psychology? How do you feel about the use of psychology to justify racism, colonialism, and slavery? Feel free to respond to the extent that you choose to. We encourage you to avoid constraining yourself and your answers by focusing on making sure your feelings sound logical or clear. Feel free to express yourself as you want.

During this period, enslaved people and Indigenous people did not meekly accept racism and colonization. Slave revolts^[17] occurred with Nat Turner’s multiracial revolt in Virginia in 1931, being one of the most well-known. There were also the New York City Conspiracy of 1741, Gabriel’s Conspiracy of 1800, and the German Coast Uprising of 1811.^[18] Additionally, people from Sojourner Truth to Harriet Tubman to Frederick Douglass spoke vocally about the humanity of Black people and their abilities. Black people also taught each other literacy even when being able to read was illegal under the Black Codes, which made the education of enslaved people illegal,^[19] and supported one another’s escape on the Underground Railroad.

During this period, the US was involved in the First World War and large-scale immigration. The majority of the more than 15 million new immigrants came from southern and eastern Europe. In response, many Americans engaged in sometimes violent anti-immigrant sentiments.
Between 1900 and 1925, the eugenics movement was at its peak in the United States and Europe, shaping policies and attitudes toward disabilities, mental health, race, and immigration. Eugenics was the belief that the human race could be improved through selective breeding, leading to harmful policies that targeted people with disabilities, mental illnesses, and other marginalized groups. It justified forced sterilization, segregation, and discrimination, reinforcing negative stereotypes and systemic barriers that persisted for decades. Many sterilization laws remained in effect until the 1970s, and the stigma created by eugenics still impacts disability rights today. During this period, psychological research often focused on racial differences with a White supremacist bias, which helped justify eugenic policies. Many psychologists actively participated in and promoted eugenics, using their research to support ideas of genetic superiority and inferiority. Eugenics supporters in Congress used psychological research to argue that certain groups were “genetically inferior” and should be restricted from immigrating to the U.S. This contributed to the passage of the Johnson-Reed Act, which severely limited immigration from southern and eastern Europe while favoring immigrants from northern and western Europe, who were seen as more culturally and racially similar to White Americans. The Act also expanded the ban on Asian immigrants, reflecting broader anti-immigrant and racist sentiments.^[20]

First Annual Field Workers’ Conference, Eugenics Record Office, Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, New York, June 20 and 21, 1912

The American Psychological Association (APA) created a historical chronology that provides a retrospective review of the harm inflicted on people of color within the field of psychology. It is essential to differentiate between this historical analysis and the ongoing legacies that arise from that history and continue to shape contemporary policies and practices. While history is dynamic and its consequences often evolve, our focus here is specifically on examining past actions and their lasting effects that persist in the present. This historical chronology illustrates how research and practice have centered on White culture, using it as a global benchmark. This cultural focus, which has been apparent since the inception of the field, is deeply intertwined with the social and political context of the United States at the close of the 19th century. Organized psychology emerged within these conditions, contributed to their creation and maintenance, and still carries their lasting influence.^[21]

The APA historical chronology encourages deeper engagement, allowing users to examine the causes, effects, and lasting consequences of these pivotal actions, promoting critical thinking about psychology’s past and present.

The interactive timeline below highlights five key events from 1900-1925, based on the APA historical chronology mentioned above, illustrating psychology’s impact on people of color.

(2.6) What are your reactions to these key events? What surprised you? What did you already know about? What would you like to learn more about? What do you know about the history of US psychology that is not covered in the timeline?

(2.7) In your own words, describe how race and racism were involved in the early development of the field of psychology.

During this period, WWI ended, the US experienced the Great Depression, and entered WWII. The US government also interned in camps, 120,000 Americans who were of Japanese ancestry. Influenced by participation in war-fighting for rights that they did not have at home and continued educational attainment, People of Color continued to fight against the racist and colonialist aspects of the US.

• Many POC utilized the court systems, challenging segregation of Black and Latinx children, challenging government control of Indigenous lives, particularly land and education.
• Psychology expanded during WWII, with psychologists increasingly connected to the military via assessment, clinical work, and occupational classification, still based on harmful beliefs about hierarchical racial classification.^[22]

POC psychologists continued to push back against mainstream White Psychology.

• Francis Cecil Sumner helped found the psychology department at Howard University and continued his research on racial bias, inequality, and racism. He also published several articles, a major achievement considering the racism in research and publishing.
• In 1933, Inez Beverly Prosser became the first Black woman in the US to earn a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. Her work focused on how racism impacted children’s mental health. She also researched how Black children learn, finding that they perform better when they have Black teachers and classmates.^[23]

“Race, Psychology, and Testing: 1925–1950”

This interactive exercise highlights 8 key events from 1925-1950, based on the APA historical chronology, illustrating psychology’s impact on people of color. The selected events represent major themes: scientific racism, resistance by psychologists of color, the development of biased standardized testing, and institutional responses.

The Civil Rights Movement profoundly shaped both U.S. history and the field of psychology, challenging systemic racism and discrimination. Amid this fight for equality, communities of color also navigated the impact of the Vietnam War while demanding their legal rights nationwide.

Supreme Court decision: Brown v Board of Education (1954) desegregated schools with the first cited use of psychological research. In this Supreme Court case and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, people of color continued to challenge racism.

In the 1940s, psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Clark conducted the influential “doll tests” to examine the psychological effects of racism on African-American children, revealing internalized racism and the damaging impact of segregation. Despite such efforts, systemic oppression persisted throughout the mid-20th century. Indigenous communities continued to face forced displacement, Asian Americans experienced heightened discrimination during the McCarthy era, and mainstream psychology remained steeped in eugenics and ideologies of White superiority. Over time, challenges to these injustices grew stronger—driven largely by women and psychologists of color—ultimately pushing the American Psychological Association (APA) to confront the field’s entrenched racial and gender disparities.

During the Civil Rights Movement, POC psychologists formed associations to address their needs and those of their communities, responding to APA’s failure to do so.

• Efrain Sanchez-Hidalgo became the first Puerto Rican to earn a PhD in Psychology in the U.S. in 1951 at Columbia University, and he later founded the Puerto Rican Psychological Association in 1954.
• Martha Bernal was the first Latina to receive a PhD in Psychology in the U.S. in 1962 from Indiana University Bloomington; she researched ethnic identity’s impact on clinical training for marginalized groups, founded the National Hispanic Association (now the National Latina/o Psychological Association), and mentored many Latinx students.^[24]
• Arthur McDonald became the first American Indian man to earn a doctorate in psychology from the University of South Dakota in 1966, focusing on securing funds to recruit Indigenous students into undergraduate psychology programs. He also served as president of the Morning Star Memorial Fund, supporting youth, education, elder care, mental health, and the preservation of Indigenous languages.^[25]

Pushing back against mainstream psychology from within

In 1968, approximately 200 Black psychologists attended the APA Convention in San Francisco. They were dissatisfied with APA’s commitment and practices towards the development and training of Black psychologists and graduate students, promotion of White supremacist beliefs in theories, and exploitative research with Black communities. They created the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) to challenge racism and poverty.^[26]

• As an organization, they demanded:

(1) The APA must racially integrate its workforce;

(2) The APA should facilitate the entry of more Blacks into the nation’s graduate schools;

(3) The APA should monitor their journals so that racist themes would be eliminated; and

(4) The APA should establish a program within which minority concerns about psychology could be expressed.^[27]

In 1970, a newsletter entitled Network of Indian Psychologists was created and administered by Carolyn Attneave. She was a famous American Indian psychologist who was noted for her work on network therapy, which highlighted the role of people’s support networks (networks were not just family but neighbors and community members as well) as an alternative to mental health hospitalizations.

• While researching in a predominantly Black neighborhood, she recognized that mental health practitioners lacked an understanding of Black culture, so she moved to Philadelphia to gain insights into the cultural and familial contexts of Black clients and explore therapy networks.
• She co-authored Family Networks (1973) and expanded her research to include cross-cultural psychology, Native American mental health, and child development.
• She founded the Society of Indian Psychologists (SIP), creating a dedicated space for Native American and Alaska Native mental health advocacy that continues today.^[28][29]

Asian American brothers, Drs. Stanley Sue and Derald Sue founded the Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) in 1972.

• Dr. Stanley Sue’s work focuses on providing appropriate mental health services to marginalized groups.
• Dr. Derald Wing Sue is a well-known multicultural psychologist who popularized the term microaggressions and is a leader in the research on microaggressions that racially and ethnically marginalized groups experience.
• Both brothers worked to highlight the specific needs and experiences of Asian American communities and their mental health, calling for an understanding of the role culture played in Asian American mental health.
• The Asian American Psychological Association was created to address the mental health needs of Asian Americans, support the training of Asian American mental health professionals, and foster collaborations and community building amongst professionals. The brothers credit the creation of ABPsi as an impetus for the creation of AAPA.^[30][31]

LGBTQ psychologists were also vocal in their dissatisfaction with the field of psychology and the APA. In 1973, the Association of Gay Psychologists (AGP) was created.

• Founders stated that they created AGP after the 1972 Annual Convention of APA, where “only one scientific discussion of homosexuality was presented.” That panel discussion was focused on pathologizing the LGBTQ community and asking as part of their discussion focus if there were treatments that showed the most promise for “treating [ie, changing] homosexuals.”
• AGP charged panel members with having no knowledge of the community, having no gay psychologists on the panel, and using stigmatizing, pathologizing, and negative labels throughout the panel.
• People were challenging the placement of homosexuality as a diagnosis in the DSM.
• AGP organized and presented demands to APA, which included ending the conceptualization of “homosexuality” as a clinical issue or disease and instead encouraging people to conceptualize human sexuality as diverse.
• Through direct action, visibility, and organizing, members pushed for the removal of the diagnosis of “homosexuality” from the DSM-II. The DSM-II retained a diagnosis for individuals who were distressed by their homosexuality, termed “sexual orientation disturbance,” which was later renamed “ego-dystonic homosexuality” in the DSM-III (1980).
• AGP continued its advocacy and visibility work, changing its name to the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychologists in 1983.^[32]

Disabilities

Psychologists with disabilities have supported the social construction of disability, recognizing that disability is created by society^[33][34], as opposed to the dominant Western world medical model of disability. The medical model of disability understands disability as an individual problem, pathology, or abnormality that needs to be diagnosed and treated in the hopes of “curing” someone so they can assimilate and be more like “normal,” not currently disabled people.^[35]

• The social construction of the disability model posits that the environment is disabling. Psychologists have identified the stigma, barriers, discrimination, prejudices, and oppression people with disabilities have, and have drawn attention to the limited focus on disability in the field.^[36] Though approximately 25% of adults in the United States reported having a disability in 2016 (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/features/kf-adult-prevalence-disabilities.html), only approximately 2% of faculty members in APA-accredited programs report having a disability. Why is there such a discrepancy?
  • As stated by Bogart (2021), “As the field devoted to understanding human behavior, emotion, and cognition, it is surprising that the largest minority group is not well-represented among our professionals and in our research and teaching”.^[37]
  • Additionally, disability intersects with other social identities, leading people with disabilities to have multifaceted experiences.
• In response to experiences of ableism, Bogart and other disabled psychologists created the organization Disability Advocacy and Research Network (DARN) https://darndisability.org/.
• In Bogart (2021), Drs. Bogart and Aspinwall, as well as graduate student Afrooz Ghadimi, share their stories and how their experiences led them to create DARN.
  • The author identifies how the goal of the organization is to build a community of disabled scholars in the field of psychology.^[38]
  • This organization provides opportunities for publicizing research for disabled people by disabled people, as well as research on disabilities by allies.
  • Additionally, the organization is a space that can support disability pride, advocacy, collective action, and a sense of purpose and esteem.

These flashcards are designed to help you review key figures and concepts from 1951 – 1975 history of psychology.

How to Use:

1. Read the question or clue on each card.

   • It may ask about a historical figure, organization, or event.

2. Type your answer in the box provided.

   • Be sure to include both the first and last name where applicable (e.g., Martha Bernal).

   • Use capital letters for names (e.g., Carolyn Attneave)

3. Click “Check” to see if your answer is correct.

   • Spelling matters, so double-check if your answer is marked incorrectly.

4. The next card will be displayed automatically, or click “Next” to move to the next flashcard.

Many of the following events in this timeline were found in the American Psychological Association created historical chronology.

1952: Former APA president Henry E. Garrett testified in support of segregation in Davis v. County School Board, arguing that as long as school facilities were equal, segregation would not harm Black or White students—a view later endorsed by judges favoring segregation. Garrett’s writings promoted the idea of an innate racial hierarchy, and he maintained ties with extremist groups until he died in 1973.

1954: Brown v. Board of Education ended legal segregation in the United States. The ruling was supported by psychological testimony from Mamie Phipps Clark and Kenneth Clark, along with other social science research that helped make the desegregation case.

Minnijean Brown at the home of her host family, Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth Clark, of Hastings-On-Hudson, New York. Photograph showing Minnijean Brown, one of the Little Rock Nine, sitting in the Clark family living room with Kenneth and Mamie Clark and two children, where she lived after leaving Little Rock Central High School in February 1958.

Late 1950s: In 1958, psychologist Audrey Shuey published a work asserting that White people were inherently superior based on racial differences, while the same year saw the start of the Indian Adoption Project, which removed Indigenous children for adoption by White families. In 1959, a racist organization was founded to promote race science, challenge desegregation, and support segregation, with several prominent psychologists contributing to its leadership and publications. This group referenced academics and neo-Nazi activists.

Early 1960s: In the 1960s, psychology began addressing issues of racial and gender inequality. The APA Ad Hoc Committee on Equality of Opportunity in Psychology identified significant barriers for Black students in training programs, employment opportunities, and a lack of representation within the APA for Black psychologists. Meanwhile, Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) critiqued societal expectations that confined women to domestic roles, fueling the feminist movement and prompting psychology to reassess gender roles.

1966: Psychologist Kenneth Clark becomes the first Black president of APA.

1967: Psychologist Henry E. Garrett, who had been the president of APA, testified in opposition to the passage of the Civil Rights Act, arguing that equal rights would only confuse and frustrate the Black community.

1967: Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a powerful address titled “The Role of the Behavioral Scientist in the Civil Rights Movement” at the American Psychological Association (APA) annual convention in Washington, D.C.

1967: Arthur Jensen spoke at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting. Jensen advocated for eugenics as the only viable solution to issues within the Black community, claiming that their intelligence was insufficient for compensatory education programs to succeed. (https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/arthur-jensen/). His work is widely used by racist and neo-Nazi groups.

1968: The Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) is formed when 75 Black psychologists leave APA, claiming that the APA was not addressing social issues such as poverty and racism.

1969: The Black Student Psychology Association (BSPA) claimed that the APA had a lack of representation at all levels within the organization and the field. The  APA agreed to adopt a diversity strategy.

1970: The Association of Psychologists Por La Raza, now known as the National Latinx Psychological Association (NLPA), is founded at the annual APA convention.

1971: Psychologist Anderson J. Franklin reports that psychology education is inadequate in preparing students for understanding and working with Black clients.

1972: The Asian American Psychological Association is founded.

1974: APA announces a Minority Fellowship Program, funded with a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health Center for Minority Group Mental Health Programs.

1975: The Society of Indian Psychologists (SIP) is formed independently of APA.

(2.8) Do you think it is important to have identity-specific groups and associations in the field of psychology? Let’s go to the APA website. Look into the divisions that exist, along with who is currently in the leadership role. Are you left interested in any of these divisions? Do you see something that is missing from the existing divisions?

POC psychologists continue to call for change in the field of psychology. Many have argued that US psychology has not adequately addressed the continued exploitation and marginalization of POC psychologists and their communities. The centering of Whiteness, of heterosexuality, and middle and upper class experiences as normative has been used to discriminate and oppress, both within and outside of the field of psychology. Though several guidelines promoting multiculturalism in the field have been passed, criticism of the field has remained, and more associations and societies continue to be created by marginalized psychologists who do not see themselves fully represented in the field. During this time, psychologists with marginalized identities also created their theories and research, grounded in their cultural and sociopolitical histories and current-day realities.

Examples of culturally grounded psychologies and theories

The following are a small sampling of theories developed during this period. None of the theories attempt to provide universal truths but instead are grounded in the unique and intersectional experiences of different groups.

Mentacide – Dr. Bobby Wright, a Black Psychologist, created this theory, which refers to “The deliberate and systematic destruction of a group’s mind, with the ultimate objective being the extermination of that group”.^[39]

• Dr. Wright posited that the goal of the mental health field is to get Black people to adjust to their conditions in the US.
• He understood dominant mental health as a way to placate and pacify Black people so they would not protest and challenge their social and political conditions. He stated that it was necessary to avoid using White definitions to explain or analyze Black problems.

Womanist and Mujerista psychologies – though these frameworks focus on different groups, African American/Black women and Latinx women, respectively, they are often presented together due to overlapping constructs.

• Both developed in response to oppression, both within and outside the field of psychology.
• They do not only focus on mind and body, but instead identify three tasks that are central to people’s wholeness and well-being: self-determination, self-empowerment, and critical awareness.
• The aim of these psychologies is liberation and is inclusive of joy, spirituality, community support, and individual and societal transformation, as well as attending to the impacts of racism, colonization, poverty, unemployment, and domestic violence.^[40]
• “…womanist and mujerista psychology underscores the cultural strengths of Black women and Latinas and the ways that these strengths are taught, developed, and maintained.^[41]

Indigenous psychologies – These psychologies utilize their cultural resources as the starting point to develop theories and perspectives.^[42]

• In the US, the focus of indigenous psychologies is decolonization.
• These psychologies begin from the viewpoint that “Indigenous Peoples have the power, strength, and intelligence to develop culturally specific decolonization strategies to pursue our own strategies of liberation…[the hope is to help] identify useful concepts, terms, and intellectual frameworks that will assist…in our struggle toward meaningful change and self-determination.^[43]

Post-traumatic slave syndrome theory was developed by Black psychologist and researcher Joy DeGruy, PhD. It identifies, describes, and analyzes the multigenerational trauma, injustices, and oppressions experienced by African Americans from their enslavement in the US to recent deaths of Black people by the police.

• Dr. DeGruy describes how these experiences have impacted Black American culture without pathologizing Black people or their survival behaviors. Instead, she calls on people to understand the historical context for Black Americans and how pathologized behaviors are functional and adaptive.
• She identifies the ways that direct and indirect messages that Black children receive about their race and the racism they experience influence their racial socialization and development.
• She also highlights the strengths in Black culture and the need to engage with those strengths in clinical work and research. ^[44][45]

LGBTQIIA+  affirming psychology is defined as a psychological stance and practice that affirms people’s sexual orientation and identity and considers LGBTQIIA+ attractions, feelings, and behavior as part of the spectrum of human sexuality.

It was developed to address the unique psychological needs of LGBTQIA+ people and in response to the oppressive and heterosexist dynamics and biases in psychology. ^[46]This includes understanding the effects of oppression on people’s lives, prejudice, not attempting to change sexual orientation or identity, differentiating between issues and experiences related to gender identity and sexual orientation, and understanding the intersectional experiences and needs of the community.^[47]

(2.9) Pick one (or more) of the above psychologies or theories. Look up a little more about it. What do you think about this psychology or theory? Do you see it as applying to your life? Why or why not? Have you heard of this theory? If you have, where did you learn it? If not, how has the absence of this information affected the field of psychology or your understanding of psychology?

1978: The President’s Commission on Mental Health reported that people of color were overrepresented in mental health issues and faced significant barriers in accessing effective services, highlighting the need for policies tailored to each group’s experiences. In 1978, representatives from ethnic minority psychology groups pressed the APA to prioritize minority concerns, which eventually led to the creation of the Board of Ethnic Minority Affairs in 1980, and later replaced in 1990 by the Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs.

1979: Cognitive assessments continue to be critiqued and defended. Congressional hearings for the Truth in Testing Act are held. White psychologists supported ability-based scoring and the general use of standardized tests, while Black psychologists argued that these tests were discriminatory and flawed. In a landmark case, a federal court ruled in favor of five Black students placed in special education solely based on test performance, highlighting how such tests were used to limit educational and economic opportunities for Black youth.

Early 1980s: Ignacio Martín-Baró, a Spanish-Salvadoran psychologist, advanced Liberation Psychology, which focused on psychology’s role in resisting oppression, colonialism, and social injustice. Bulhan (1985), Bamgbose, et. al (1980), and others examined racial bias in diagnosing and treating people of color.^[48][49]

1981: Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) launched its flagship publication, The Journal of Black Psychology.

1981: The APA formally established Division 35: The Society for the Psychology of Women in 1981 to address gender bias in psychology.

1986: Logan Wright becomes the first American Indian to serve as president of APA.

1986: Division 45, the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues, was established

1987: The APA removed “Ego-Dystonic Homosexuality” from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R), a major step in depathologizing homosexuality.

Late 1980s: Expanded research on sexual violence, trauma, and PTSD, particularly concerning women and survivors of abuse. Feminist psychologists like Lenore Walker advanced research on Battered Women Syndrome, used in legal cases to defend victims of domestic violence. Research also increased on sexual harassment in the workplace, influenced by the Anita Hill case shortly afterward.

1990: Rhoda Unger writes that gender is a social construction that is created by norms, assumptions, and social situations.

Test Your Knowledge of the Events Listed Above

1990: Sue and Sue, who developed cultural identity theories, examined the high rate of minority group members who leave therapy early as compared to white people.

1992: Sue, Arredondo, and McDavis outlined the core principles of Multicultural Counseling Competencies (MCC), emphasizing awareness, knowledge, and skills for counselors working with diverse clients.

1997: Raymond Cattell was selected as the winner of the APA Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in Psychological Science, was protested because he promoted White supremacy and eugenics. The protests led to Cattell withdrawing his name from consideration.^[50]

1999: Psychologist Richard Suinn is elected the first Asian American president of APA.^[51]

2000: APA published guidelines for psychotherapy with Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual clients.^[52]

2001: The U.S. Surgeon General’s report on Mental Health: Culture, race, and ethnicity. This highlighted significant disparities in mental health services for racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S., emphasizing their lower access to care, poorer quality treatment, and higher burden of unmet mental health needs, which are exacerbated by systemic barriers such as cost, stigma, and historical racism.

Mid-2000s: Psychology increasingly focused on addressing racism, sexism, homophobia, and ableism. Research on implicit bias gained attention, revealing how unconscious prejudices influence judgments. The APA emphasized cultural competence and updated guidelines to ensure more inclusive and respectful treatment of marginalized groups, including LGBTQ+ individuals. Additionally, intersectionality became a key focus, recognizing the interconnectedness of various forms of oppression and how they shape individuals’ experiences in society and therapy.

2007: Research shows that Black clients’ experiences of microaggressions from White therapists have a significant impact on therapeutic alliances and their ratings of satisfaction with both the counselor and counseling in general. Constantine notes that “in the face of perceived racial microaggressions in counseling, African American clients might feel much worse after their counseling experiences than before”.^[53][54]

Late 2000s: Research highlighted the impact of microaggressions in therapy, particularly how subtle forms of racial bias and discrimination could negatively affect the therapeutic alliance and client well-being. Sue et al. (2007) categorized microaggressions into microassaults, microinsults, and microinvalidations, emphasizing their harmful effects on marginalized clients.^[55] Hernandez et al. (2010) investigated how mental health professionals of color cope with racial microaggressions in their professional environments.^[56]

2011: Melba J. T. Vasquez is elected the first Latina president of APA.

2014: Study finds that racial microaggressions, particularly in educational and workplace settings, negatively impact self-esteem, with varying effects across different racial and ethnic minority groups, highlighting the need for further research on their impact on college students and student development.^[57]

2017: The #MeToo movement led to increased psychological research on sexual harassment, trauma recovery, and systemic gender discrimination. Feminist psychologists advocated for trauma-informed therapy and better legal protections for survivors. Research on the mental health disparities in LGBTQ+ communities has expanded, emphasizing the impact of discrimination, family rejection, and minority stress. Researchers and advocates emphasized social inclusion and accommodations over “cures”, shifting toward strength-based approaches for neurodivergent individuals. Sub-associations such as the American Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African Psychological Association (AMENAPsy) were established.

2018: Jessica Henderson Daniel was elected the first Black woman president of APA.

Test Your Knowledge of the Events Listed Above

• In 2021, the American Psychological Association (APA) issued a formal apology for its role in perpetuating systemic racism, acknowledging past harms and committing to corrective actions.^[58]
• Scholars have increasingly focused on advancing equity and social justice within psychology.^[59]
• The COVID-19 pandemic exposed racial health disparities, prompting the American Psychological Association to acknowledge the “pandemic of racism”.^[60]
• National focus on racial injustice, leading to increased psychological research on systemic racism.^[61]
• The field of psychology began critically examining its history and contributions to racial hierarchy and inequality.^[62]

(2.10) What story of psychology is this timeline telling? (For example: Who are the protagonists? What are their social identities? What are they focused on? Why do they think people “are the way they are?”)  Is it similar to the story of psychology that you have learned in your psychology classes? How does this timeline tell a story that differs from one you learned in the past? 

History of the Psychiatric Survivor Movement

While it is important to retell the story of events within the field of psychology, it is also necessary to note that many people who experienced the mental health system, in outpatient, inpatient, and community settings, also challenged the story of psychology. They challenged the story that the field was there to help and support them. Instead, they considered themselves to be oppressed and victimized by the field as clients and patients. They developed the psychiatric survivor movement.

• The current manifestation of the movement is understood to have begun in the 1970s when many groups engaged in social movements and, through advocacy and organizing, focused on gaining civil and social rights and challenging the norms of dominant US culture.
• The Psychiatric Survivors movement offered a critique of the field of mental health, utilizing Marxism, feminism, anti-psychiatry, civil rights, and disability rights perspectives.
• People in the psychiatric survivor movement called for a voice and a say in the mental health services being provided to them.
• They wanted to make visible the power differential in mental health settings and how those differentials harmed clients/patients.
• They wanted people in general and practitioners in specific to reconceptualize what it meant to be healthy and what mental health services could look like. For example, they challenged the view of forced hospitalizations as helpful and instead pointed to forced hospitalizations as human rights violations.
• Instead of subscribing to the perspective of mental health professionals as benevolent “helpers,” they pointed to the physical, sexual, and psychological abuses clients/patients faced within the system. ^[63]

(2.11) Have you ever heard of the psychiatric survivor movement? Are you surprised by what you have read about the movement? What are your thoughts about their aims and goals?

Review Questions

Self-Reflection Questions:

(2.12) Do you see yourself and/or your community in this history of psychology? How do you feel about how your community or communities were represented in this telling of the story of psychology? Is there more that you wanted to learn? If so, what?

(2.13) Key Terms and Concepts: What do these words mean to you?

• Ethnical psychology
• Drapetomania
• Womanist and mujerista psychologies
• Indigenous psychologies
• Post-traumatic slave syndrome
• Menticide