ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PSYCHOTHERAPY OF THE NORWEGIAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION

In the psychiatric hospital, 40 years ago, each doctor had the responsibility for about 100 patients. There was no formal or systematic teaching in psychiatry after medical school, and what residents learned was dependent upon their superiors and their own initiative and interests. Psychotherapy and psychoanalysis were looked upon with suspicion by the older generation of psychiatrists. Gordon Johnsen wrote to the board of the Psychiatric Association and suggested that a section for psychotherapy should be formed. The proposal was initially laid aside, but in 1956 the board presented a proposal to elect a committee on psychotherapy to the annual meeting. The first elected committee comprised Herluf Thomstad (chairman), Nils H. Houge (treasurer) and Gordon Johnson (secretary). The primary task of the committee was to encourage interest in psychotherapy among the members by keeping them informed about seminars, by arranging seminars and lectures and by developing Scandinavian and European connections. As early as in 1956/57 psychotherapy and even psychoanalysis, was on its way out of its shadowy existence in the Psychaitric Association, as indicated by the fast-growing psychotherapeutic activity.