ABSTRACT
Many modern psychotherapists appear to think that Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, was the first psychotherapist. Modern psychotherapy first began to coalesce toward the end of the nineteenth century, around the dominant schools of hypnotherapy. Of course, there may also be a recognition that psychotherapeutic practises resemble in some way the much older theological notions of pastoral religious counselling and confession. There may even be a sense that throughout European history various authors have hinted at obscure self-help techniques or contemplative exercises, fragmentary and fleeting, which they appear to have stumbled across in seeking a balm for their own troubled minds. Critics might say it is actually a healthy sign that so little attention has been given to the historical and philosophical origins of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, because it is inherently a forward-looking, scientific approach to psychotherapy.
