Psychotherapy can be said to have existed throughout history because mental health professionals, philosophers, spiritual healers, and people in general used psychological techniques to treat other people. By the 19th century, a moral treatment movement at the time known as morale or mental treatment based on non-invasive, non-restraint therapeutic approaches had emerged in the Western tradition. Mesmerism, also known as animal magnetism, would have a significant impact not only on the development of hypnosis theories but also on the development of dynamic psychology and psychiatry. In 1853, Dendy coined the term psycho-therapy to describe the ways in which doctors could influence patients' mental states and, as a result, their physical conditions, such as by inducing opposing emotions to promote mental equilibrium. In 1872, Tuke used the term and wrote about psycho-therapeutics, where he also suggested turning animal magnetism into a science. Bernheim and her colleagues in the Nancy school further developed the idea of psychotherapy, which means using hypnosis to heal the body with the mind. This marked the first time the word appeared in a clinic's name. Traveling stage hypnosis gained popularity during this time, adding to the scientific debate surrounding the use of hypnosis in medicine. Also in 1892, van Eeden tried to claim credit for the term psychotherapy and separate it from hypnosis at the second congress of experimental psychology. Thus, the treatment of disease by psychic or hypnotic influence, or by suggestion was the original definition of psychotherapy.

Freud went to the Nancy School, where he used hypnosis in his early neurological work. However, Freud began focusing on conditions that appeared to have psychological causes originating in childhood experiences and the unconscious mind following the work of his mentor Breuer, in particular a case where the patient Pappenheim, dubbed a talking cure. He went on to develop methods like free association, dream interpretation, transference and an analysis of the id, ego and superego. He also developed these other techniques. His use of the distinct term psychoanalysis, linked to an overarching system of theories and methods and the effective work of his followers in rewriting history established his popular reputation as the father of psychotherapy. A number of theorists, including Adler, Jung, Horney, Freud, Rank, Erikson, Klein and Kohut, frequently developed their own systems of psychotherapy on top of Freud's fundamental ideas. All of these were later categorized as psychodynamic, which refers to anything that involved the conscious or unconscious influence of the psyche on the self and relationships outside of it. Over a number of years, there were typically hundreds of sessions. Behaviorism emerged in the 1920s, and the 1950s and 1960s saw the rise of behavior modification as a treatment option. Wolpe in South Africa, Shapiro and Eysenck in the United Kingdom and Watson and Skinner in the United States were notable contributors. In order to effect therapeutic change in observable symptoms, behavioral therapy approaches relied on the principles of operant conditioning, classical conditioning, and social learning theory. Phobias and other disorders became common targets for this method.

With Regards,
Joseph Kent
Journal Manager
Journal of Brain, Behaviour & Cognitive Sciences