ABSTRACT
Albert Ellis explicitly recognized that in addition to their ancient precedent in Stoicism, modern schools of cognitive therapy, including rational emotive behaviour therapy, had many precursors within the field of psychotherapy. Paul Dubois often speaks of his rational psychotherapy as involving stoicism. Dubois interpreted the Stoics as emphasizing the role of autosuggestion in the cause and cure of emotional disturbance. Clients are trained to develop cognitive and behavioural skills that are rehearsed in the consulting room under the supervision of the therapist before being practised at home, between sessions, until they become habitual. A follower of Emile Coue, the French academic and psychotherapist Charles Baudouin, provided a more erudite account of the New Nancy School approach, into which he assimilated elements of early psychoanalysis and classical philosophy. Through self-monitoring of thoughts, the client learns to spot the beginning of harmful emotions, pause for reflection, and nip them in the bud.
