Counseling@Northwestern University has created an interactive timeline showing the development of counseling as a profession. In recent years, counseling has become a popular mental health profession among those interested in preventing and treating different forms of mental, emotional, and behavioral issues. Timeline: The History of Counseling features information about industry pioneers like Sigmund Freud, details government involvement through legislation, particularly in dealing with the fallout from thousands of returning WWII soldiers, and illustrates how more modern laws like Title IX turned our attention to the needs of diverse populations. It describes the impact of categorizing counselors as primary mental health professionals, legitimizing the profession and differentiating those who are certified counselors. Also examined is how counseling techniques and the overall profession have changed throughout the last few centuries, leading us to the counseling practices and techniques we know and use today. This is from a Counseling@Northwestern original piece, which can be found here: http://counseling.northwestern.edu/timeline-the-history-of-counseling/

1. Timeline: The History of
Counseling

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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).

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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.”

9. 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.

10. 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).

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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.