| AdminHistory | BPS Medical Section established in 1919 to act as a forum for debate in Psychopathology and Psychotherapy. Ernest Jones recalls in his audio interview in 1957 being encourage to set the section up by C S Myers as part of Myers drive to broaden and open up the British Psychological Society.
In 1955 the Chairman of the Section proposed that its aim should be "to further the understanding of disturbances of human behaviour, and their treatment, in terms of the psychological processes involved". Some members of the Section, however, wished this aim to be broadened, and others thought that the Section should be split into two sub-sections, one concerned with the bearing on medicine of psychoanalysis and related systems, the other concerned with the bearing on medicine of psychology in general. A Committee of inquiry consisting of Past Presidents of the Society, was appointed by the Council in December 1956, and two months later, after hearing evidence, it recommended that the function of the section should be to "to consider and discuss any aspect of medical psychology, whether approached from a "dynamic", clinical, experimental, physiological or other point of view". This recommendation led to a letter from 10 past Chairmen of the Section, suggesting that it was "particularly important to the life of the section to ensure that entry rights and status are afforded primarily to those, both medical and non-medical, whatever their formal qualifications, whose basic interest is in psychotherapy". It also led the Committee of the section, with the approval of the members of the section, to formulate its aims as being "to further the understanding of disturbances of human thought, feeling and behaviour, their psychopathology and treatment and to discuss these in terms of the psychological processes involved. This formula was then submitted to the Council and the Committee of Past presidents, and, after further discussions, agreement was reached in 1958 on a modified version, which was incorporated in the Section's Draft rules, which also reflect agreement between the Council and the Section on qualifications for membership of the section and on the procedure for admitting new members.
See also The British Journal of Psychology- Medical Section from 1920 [copies in Senate House].
The Medical Section was renamed the Section of Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy in 1976.
The Section of Medical Psychology and Psychotherapy was renamed the Psychotherapy Section [BPS/002/05] in 1988. |