In this article the authors review the historical development of Chinese psychology. China's long history as a country immersed in the study of psychological issues is well known and has had an influence on developments in the field of psychology around the world. Modern Chinese psychology, however, was imported from the West and the Soviet Union and has been closely linked with China's social environment and changes of national policy. Today Chinese psychology is still in a preliminary stage. Despite difficulties that may impede its future development, the importance of psychology in the modernization of China has been widely recognized.

An introduction to Chinese psychology--its historical roots until the present day.

To explore the potential of Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) with clients of Chinese background, a brief review is conducted with respect to parallels between RET philosophy and some key components of Chinese culture and ways in which Chinese think. Arguments are advanced as to why RET is particularly suitable for use within a Chinese cultural context. Issues involved in using RET with Chinese clients are addressed including the appreciation many Chinese have for the logical and rational aspects of RET, the most appropriate type of client-counselor relationship to facilitate RET therapeutic progress, appropriate ways to dispute, and some cautionary words on the use of “emotive methods”. Areas where the RET counselor needs to be particularly sensitive to the cultural background of the client are highlighted.

Counseling applications of RET in a Chinese cultural context

Both developing and major developed countries of theworld are facing the global aging of their citizenry.The United States and the People's Republic ofChina each share in this phenomenon. Therapid growth of their aging populations comes as bothcountries are experiencing a sustained period ofeconomic stability with an accompanying drop infertility rates (Coale & Watkins 1986; Dyson M Kennedy, LaPlante & Kaye1997). The careful assessment and interpretation ofavailable data to define the actual extent of needshould be part of a process to help guide each countryas they prepare for the future.

Population aging and the need for long term care: a comparison of the United States and the People's Republic of China.

The models of psychiatric rehabilitation described in this supplement evolved in response to a change in the official attitude to the disabled and to the provision of welfare services that has arisen since the start of China's reform era in 1978. The traditional ‘residual’ welfare that provided the minimum services needed to prevent social unrest (Chan & Chow, 1992) has been transformed into a pro-active form of welfare that identifies disadvantaged and disabled persons in the community and provides them with support and rehabilitation. Perhaps the most dramatic indication of the new status of the disabled in China is that the opening ceremony of the Second National Congress of the China Disabled Persons' Federation on 6 October 1993 was held in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, and President Jiang Zemin, Premier Li Peng and “all China's top Party and government leaders” were in attendance (Liang, 1993).

Future opportunities and challenges for the development of psychiatric rehabilitation in China.

This article provides a historical overview of the development of Western psychotherapy in China based on existing scholarship and my own ethnography. I describe a meandering trajectory embedded in the shifting political, social, and economic circumstances: the tentative beginning in the Republican period, the transmutation and destruction in the Maoist period, the relatively slow recovery and progress in the earlier reform period, and the eruption of the psycho-boom in the new millennium. Emphasis is placed on the reform period that began in the late 1970s, but by incorporating the previous periods I intend to show that the long-term process is highly relevant to the current psycho-boom. I further reveal that the development of psychotherapy in China has involved a dual process— both the building of this new profession and the infiltration of related ideas into the broader society—and that this duality is particularly evident in the recent psycho-boom. Finally, I discuss the implications of the new Mental Health Law and the preliminary signs that psychotherapy as a profession is taking root in urban China.

From Psychotherapy to Psycho-Boom: A Historical Overview of Psychotherapy in China

(1987). 30 Years of Chinese Clinical Psychology. International Journal of Mental Health: Vol. 16, Mental Health Problems and Care in the People’s Republic of China, pp. 3-21.

30 Years of Chinese Clinical Psychology

This paper summarizes briefly the development of clinical psychology in the past thirty years. The work in the fields of psychotherapy, the psychological causes and traits in neurosis, the psychopathological traits in psychosis, the psychological problems in acupuncture anaesthesia, and the psychological diagnosis in children with mental deficiency is reviewed.

Xu Shulian

Papers

30 Years of Chinese Clinical Psychology

Thirty Years of Clinical Psychology in China

The relationship between personality characteristics and some cognitive performances in adults

A Preliminary Survey of the Psychological and Social Situation of the Elderly in Belling