There is no exact date or individual that founded or started clinical psychology. Clinical psychology began to arise with the call for more improvement and needed increase in helping those with mental illnesses. This started around the 19th century when reforms began to spring from the crowds. These reform movements helped shape the demand for necessary improvements. Not only did these reformed help shape and start clinical psychology, but a few individuals did as well. Out of the many people that helped reform clinical psychology three individuals stood out of the crowd and they were: Philippe Pinel, William Tuke, Eli Todd and Dorothea Dix. These people helped reform the medical profession to where it would be for assistive and detailed in order to try and help people understand mental illness.
Philippe Pinel was a French physician that helped with the reform movements after seeing how brutal and senseless "mental hospitals" during his time were doing to try and help patients. In order to try and change this problem, he managed to get himself appointed to be the head of the asylum Bicetre and Salpetnere. He was able to help shape and change the field of psychology by showing kindness and humanity to those he worked with. Although what he achieved was personal, people took into consideration of what he did. He helped develop psychiatry, the mental health approach, and ultimately the branch of clinical psychology (Prinstein and Trull 2005).
William Tuke and Eli Todd were similar even though they were in the opposite side of the world from each other. They both wanted to make a "better" hospital for those who were mentally ill and sick. Tuke devoted his life to try and establish what he would call a "model hospital". Like Tuke, Todd wanted to establish a retreat in Hartford, Connecticut for those who were mentally ill. Both of these men stood on the grounds of giving civilized care, respect, and morality to those that needed help.
