Joseph Wolpe

Joseph Wolpe was born on 20 April 1915, in Johannesburg, South Africa, and died on 4 December 1997, from lung cancer. He is one of the most influential figures in behavior therapy.

Wolpe grew up in South Africa, attended Parktown Boys' High School and obtained his M.D. from the University of the Witwatersrand. In 1956, Wolpe was awarded a Ford fellowship and spent a year at Stanford University in the Center for Behavioral Sciences, subsequently returning to South Africa but permanently moving to the United States in 1960 when he accepted a position at the University of Virginia. In 1965 he accepted a position at Temple University. One of the most influential experiences in Wolpe’s life was when he enlisted in the South African army as a medical officer. Wolpe was entrusted to treat soldiers who were diagnosed with what was then called "war neurosis" but today is known as post traumatic stress disorder. The mainstream treatment of the time for soldiers was drug therapy. Doctors would use a type of "truth serum" to get soldiers to talk about their experiences. It was believed that by having the soldiers talk about their experiences openly it would effectively cure their neurosis. However, this was not the case. It was this lack of successful treatment outcomes that forced Wolpe, once a dedicated follower of Freud, to question psychoanalytic therapy and search for more effective treatments options. Wolpe is most well known for his reciprocal inhibition techniques and systematic desensitization which revolutionized behavioral therapy.