http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt4h4nf5f4 No online items Finding aid for the Dr. Joseph Wolpe papers 0197 Michael Hooks USC Libraries Special Collections 2012 Doheny Memorial Library 206 3550 Trousdale Parkway Los Angeles, California 90089-0189 [email protected] URL: http://libraries.usc.edu/locations/special-collections Finding aid for the Dr. Joseph 0197 1 Wolpe papers 0197 Language of Material: English Contributing Institution: USC Libraries Special Collections Title: Dr. Joseph Wolpe papers creator: Wolpe, Joseph Identifier/Call Number: 0197 Physical Description: 62.67 Linear Feet114 boxes Date (inclusive): 1940-1997 Abstract: The papers, book manuscripts, articles, notes, and audiotapes and video tapes of Dr. Joseph Wolpe, the important South African-born American psychiatrist who helped usher in behavior therapy. Wolpe is probably best known for urging his colleagues to view psychotherapy as an applied science in which the effectiveness of treatment is evaluated through controlled experiments. Storage Unit: 114 Organization The papers of Dr. Joseph Wolpe are organized into the following series: Series 1: General Files; Series 2: Correspondence; Series 3: Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry; Series 4: Manuscripts; Series 5: Audio Tapes; Series 6: Videotapes; Series 7: Case Study Files Preferred Citation [Box/folder# or item name], Dr. Joseph Wolpe papers, Collection no. 0197, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California Restricted Access There are correspondence files and case study files that are considered confidential, and, therefore, access is restricted to those files. Conditions Governing Access COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access. Scope and Content The Wolpe papers consist of correspondence, general files, book reviews, manuscripts, articles, and other documentation, video tapes and audiotapes with case study subjects and of lectures and panels, and index cards containing his notes with patients. Conditions Governing Use All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. Biographical Note Dr. Joseph Wolpe, the South African-born (April 20, 1915) American psychiatrist, helped usher in behavior therapy with his treatment to desensitize phobia patients by exposing them incrementally to images of their fears. In addition to establishing the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy and founding the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, he helped to develop assertiveness training as an approach to combating depression and other emotional problems. Wolpe is probably best known for urging his colleagues to view psychotherapy as an applied science in which the effectiveness of treatment is evaluated through controlled experiments. The techniques of behavior therapy and relaxation techniques, guided imagery and other scientifically validated exercises were based on theories of learning derived from the classical conditioning research carried out by Ivan Pavlov and from the work of B.F. Skinner, John B. Watson, and Andrew Salter. A specialist in the study and treatment of neurosis, Wolpe produced scientific data that phobias are based on learned behavior, as opposed to repressed conflict, and can therefore be "cured" in far fewer sessions than needed in traditional psychotherapy. Wolpe's influence can be felt in today's managed care, which favors short-term, empirically supported treatments over long-term psychotherapy. Trained as a physician at Johannesburg’s University of Witwatersrand, Wolpe developed an interest in mental health as a medical officer in the South African army during World War II. He was dissatisfied with the effects of electroshock therapy and other common treatments for shell shock. Behavior therapy is based upon theoretical principles first developed in animal experiments. Wolpe, for example, found that cats could be cured of experimentally induced "neuroses." Based on this animal research, he developed a modality of treatment called "systematic desensitization" for people with phobias. In this procedure, fearful patients are exposed, while relaxed, to images of what they are afraid of, beginning with the least distressing scene and moving gradually to the most fearsome. Finding aid for the Dr. Joseph 0197 2 Wolpe papers 0197 Wolpe set forth his findings in the landmark 1958 book Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition, one of the first scholarly challenges to the notion that scientific evaluation is irrelevant to psychotherapy and contended that phobias are most effectively treated by confronting them directly. In 1965, Wolpe established a behavior therapy unit at Temple University in Philadelphia. With a small group of scientifically oriented clinicians, he established the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy and founded the scholarly journal Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry and edited it from its inception in 1970 until his death in 1997. He also developed two measuring systems still in use today--the subjective anxiety scale and the fear survey schedule. In addition to Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition (1958), major publications by Wolpe include Behavior Therapy Techniques: Guide to the Treatment of Neuroses; Theme and Variations: A Behavior Therapy Casebook; The Practice of Behavior Therapy; and Life without Fear: Anxiety and Its Cure. He also authored 700 journal articles. Major awards Wolpe received include the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award, a Psi Chi National Distinguished Member Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award and Special Award from the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy. After retiring from Temple University, Wolpe served as a distinguished professor in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University. Stella, his wife of 40 years, died shortly after the couple moved to Southern California in 1988. Wolpe married Eva Gyarmati, a retired insurance underwriting manager, in 1996. He died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, CA, on December 4, 1997. Highlights of the Wolpe archives include Wolpe's reports on his pioneering "systematic desensitization" studies with cats; audiotapes of a successful 16-session treatment with an intensely phobic client who was socially paralyzed by fear of fainting in public; correspondence with Skinner and other luminaries of the behavior therapy field; videotapes of an extensive 1994 interview with Wolpe; and an interview conducted by Gerald Davison. Wolpe was the author or editor of the following books: Psychotherapy by Reciprocal Inhibition (1958); The Conditioning Therapies; the Challenge in Psychotherapy, edited with Andrew Salter and L.J. Reyna (1964); The Practice of Behavior Therapy, 1st ed. (1969); The Practice of Behavior Therapy, 2nd ed. (1973); Theme and Variations: A Behavior Therapy Casebook (1976); Our Useless Fears, with David Wolpe (1981); The Practice of Behavior Therapy, 3rd ed. (1982); and The Practice of Behavior Therapy, 4th ed. (1990). Roger Poppen wrote a biography of Dr. Wolpe published in 1995. Subjects and Indexing Terms Psychotherapy -- United States -- Archival resources Psychiatry -- United States -- Archival resources Videotapes Agoraphobia -- Case studies Psychotherapy -- South Africa -- Archival resources Psychology -- South Africa -- Archival resources Phobias -- South Africa -- Archival resources Behavior therapy -- South Africa -- Archival resources Psychology -- United States -- Archival resources Phobias -- United States -- Archival resources Behavior therapy -- United States -- Archival resources Psychiatry -- South Africa -- Archival resources Behavior therapy -- Case studies Audiotapes Correspondence Manuscripts Pergamon Press, Inc -- Archives Skinner, B. F. (Burrhus Frederic) -- Archives Borislow, Boris -- Correspondence Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry -- Archives Lazarus, Arnold A. -- Correspondence Latimer, Paul -- Correspondence Finding aid for the Dr. Joseph 0197 3 Wolpe papers 0197 Reyna, Leo J. -- Correspondence Panzetta, Anthony -- Correspondence Wolpe, Joseph Wolpe, Joseph -- Correspondence American Psychiatric Association -- Archives Wolpe, Joseph -- Archives Behavior Therapy and Research Society -- Archives Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy -- Archives General Files 1943-1997 Box 1, Folder 1 Bernreuter Self-Sufficiency Scale undated Box 1, Folder 2 Eysenck Personality Inventory 1963 Box 1, Folder 3 Completed Eysenck Personality Test Forms 1967 Box 1, Folder 4 Eysenck Psychoticism Scale 1963 Box 1, Folder 5 Fear Behavior Checklist 1969 Box 1, Folder 6 Fear Inventory 1969-1977 Box 1, Folder 7 Jung Word Association Test undated Box 1, Folder 8 Kuder Vocational Preference Record 1948-1951 Box 1, Folder 9 Marriage Contract- R. Stuart undated Box 1, Folder 11 MMPI 1943-1948 Box 1, Folder 12 Panic Disorder 1987-1989 Box 1, Folder 13 Stuart: Appendix A - Food Intake Record; Appendix B- Weight Monitoring undated Box 1, Folder 14 University of Functional Status Questionnaire undated Box 1, Folder 15 Willoughby Personality Schedule 1969 Box 2, Folder 1 Phobic Reactions and Behavior Therapy (Mimeo) undated Box 2, Folder 2 JW's Review of "Behavioral Treatment of Psychosomatic Complaints" by Herb Walker