Victor Campbell Meyer, or Vic Meyer, was a British

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

(now UCL Medical School) and has been called the father of behavioral case formulation, an approach toward understanding complex psychiatric problems using learning principles derived from scientific psychological research and uniquely adapted to the individual case by means of the

experimental method An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

as a way to develop an effective intervention regimen. Meyer is credited by the

British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the organ ...

for his influential work in creating case formulation along with three other innovators:

Hans Eysenck Hans Jürgen Eysenck (; 4 March 1916 – 4 September 1997) was a German-born British psychologist who spent his professional career in Great Britain. He is best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality, although he worked on other ...

Monte B. Shapiro Monte B. Shapiro (May 31, 1912 – April 29, 2000) was considered to be one of the founding fathers of clinical psychology in the United Kingdom (as noted by the University of Kent, along with Hans Eysenck ). He is credited by King's College ...

, and Ira Turkat. Turkat credited Meyer as the pioneer of the framework of what is generally known today as case formulation, a required core skill for all British practicing psychologists since 2011.

Early years

Prior to becoming a psychologist, Meyer was an RAF pilot. His plane was shot down in France during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and he was captured as a Prisoner of War.

Early career

Early in his career as a psychologist (mid 1960s), Meyer created the first successful psychological treatment for obsessive-compulsive motor rituals known as response prevention—today a well established, scientifically validated treatment method used around the world for children and adults so afflicted. Meyer devised this procedure from his analysis of scientific animal studies on ritualistic behavior and then applied it to human cases in the psychiatric setting, which at the time, were considered intractable. The treatment procedure is currently called

exposure and response prevention Exposure therapy is a technique in behavior therapy to treat anxiety disorders. Exposure therapy involves exposing the target patient to the anxiety source or its context without the intention to cause any danger (desensitization). Doing so is tho ...

(ERP) and its success clinically and scientifically has been summarized as "spectacular" by prominent psychology professor,

Stanley Rachman Stanley Jack Rachman (January 19, 1934 – September 2, 2021) was a psychologist and Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Career Rachman worked primarily w ...

decades following Meyer's creation of the method. Meyer was among the first psychologists to show that complex psychiatric problems could indeed be treated successfully by psychological methods.

Boards and program creations

Meyer was the Founding President of the British Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapies (originally known as the British Association of Behavioral Psychotherapy) and served as its first president in 1972. He also created the first behavior therapy training program in the United Kingdom at the Middlesex Hospital.

Recognition

Meyer was known as the top clinical trainer in behavior therapy in the United Kingdom. American psychologist Ira Turkat who worked with Meyer, described Meyer as the most fascinating interviewer he had ever seen, who not only attracted therapists from around the world to London to observe his interviewing and case formulation skills, but Meyer often traveled across the globe interviewing patients in front of audiences of mental health professionals to teach his case formulation approach. Meyer's interview demonstrations in front of mental health professional audiences excited other psychologists' interest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Vic 2005 deaths British psychologists Year of birth missing Obsessive–compulsive disorder researchers