Paul Bindrim

E. Paul Bindrim (14 August 1920 in New York City – 17 December 1997 in Los Angeles) was an American psychotherapist who is known as the founder of nude psychotherapy which he believed allowed people to access and express repressed feelings more easily.

Born in New York City, Bindrim earned a bachelor's degree from Columbia University and a master's degree at Duke University, where he did research in parapsychology under J.B. Rhine who coined the term ESP.

He was ordained in the Church of Divine Metaphysics in 1958 and served as a minister of the Church of Religious Science in Glendale.

He obtained his psychologist license in California in 1967, and later served as president of the Group Psychotherapy Association of Southern California in 1978-79.

In his early work, Bindrim created a group psychotherapy strategy in which participants were encouraged to recall peak experiences, which he called “peak oriented psychotherapy”. This was based in part on ideas about peak experiences described by Abraham Maslow, considered the father of Humanistic Psychology. The encounter group movement was also an inspiration. After observing that towards the end of a long encounter group its participants would be easy about nakedness in front of each other Bindrim reasoned that introducing nudity early in the group might accelerate the transition to emotional openness.

Bindam corresponded with Abraham Maslow on the subject of nude psychotherapy groups which Maslow, who was then-president of the American Psychological Association, supported. In 1967, Bindrim conducted his first nude workshop in Deer Park, California.There were typically 15 to 25 participants.

...
Wikipedia