Nude psychotherapy was the use ofnon-sexual social nudity as an intentional means to improve the participant's psychological health. This practice has been largely forgotten, never having achieved mainstream acceptance.^[1] The practice traces its origin to the 1930s with psychological studies of the effects of social nudity on the lives ofnaturists. It developed in the 1960s along with theencounter group movement as a way to challenge preconceptions and promote intimacy and trust, but suffered a decline in the 1980s. In contemporary America, nudity has been incorporated into workshops and therapies for health and wellbeing generally conducted outside the medical and psychological professions.

In 1932 a Princeton psychologistHoward Warren, who was president of theAmerican Psychological Association, spent a week at a Germannudist camp. A year later, he published a paper entitledSocial Nudism and the Body Taboo, which was a largely sympathetic consideration of the social and psychological significance of nudism.^[2][3] Warren described nudism in therapeutic terms, pointing out its "easy camaraderie" and lack of "self-consciousness". He noted an "improvement in general health" among participants. Other psychologists published further papers on the effect of nudity in the 1940s and 1950s.^[2]

In 1967, a group psychotherapist in California,Paul Bindrim, noticed that towards the end of a long period ofgroup psychotherapy called a "marathon", the participants would be sufficiently open and trusting of each other to feel comfortable enough to be spontaneously naked in each other's company. Bindrim theorized that intentionally introducing nudity in the early stages of a group might accelerate the process of mutual trust and emotional openness. Bindrim corresponded withAbraham Maslow on the subject of nude psychotherapy groups, which Maslow, who was then-president of theAmerican Psychological Association, supported. Maslow supported the idea stating he saw the social taboo on nudity to be a matter of custom rather than of any ethical or moral importance. Maslow warned that he thought discretion, sensitivity and caution would have to be present in any execution of the idea.^[4] Maslow later cautioned that the sensation of nudity and sensual pleasure should not be mistaken by participants for the genuine achievement of a psychological "high" and feared it might impede the development of real empathy between individuals.^[5]

In 1967, Bindrim conducted his first nude workshop inDeer Park, California. There were typically 15 to 25 participants.^[2] Bindrim developed his nude encounter marathons into a weekend workshop using nudity and swimming pools, which was recorded in the 1971 documentary film entitledOut of Touch by theNational Film Board of Canada and produced by Bindrim.^[6][7] The American Psychological Association's Ethics Committee launched an investigation of Bindrim, reportedly prompted by conservative politicians. However, due to the cultural climate of the late 1960s and the fact that the nudity wasconsensual, the investigation was later dropped.^[2] Bindrim became increasingly sensitive to thepublic relations obstacle posed by the phrase "nude psychotherapy", causing him to recast his approach and by the late 1970s his promotional materials made only a passing reference to nudity. With the change in psychotherapeutic fashion as the 1970s progressed, the decision was eventually made to remove the emphasis on nudity altogether.^[4]

Nudity may be incorporated in many therapeutic practices that include mental health, but these are rarely done within the traditional psychotherapeutic professions.^[8]

• Psychotherapy by type
• Humanistic psychology
• Group psychotherapy
• Nudity

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