Historical survey
Psychotherapy, as it is practiced in the modern world, began with Sigmund Freud, the Viennese neurologist who turned introspective psychologist and psychoanalyst, at the beginning of the twentieth century. Later followers as well as dissenters began to modify or reformulate his theories. Today, there is only a jumble of theories, each in disagreement with the others. Students are confused and practitioners generally take an eclectic position because they are undecided as to which approach to take. There are a few practitioners, however, who choose just one position and adhere to it. Of late, many books have mushroomed, condemning psychotherapy. These writers argue that modern psychotherapy as well as psychoanalysis is a failure.
Although psychotherapy has gone into disrepute today, among several thinkers, people in Europe and even in North America, often go to the psychotherapist, hoping to find a solution to their diverse emotional problems. Going to the psychotherapist today is like going to the family doctor. It is not only the abnormal people who visit the therapist today; even normal people visit the therapist for counsel, when overcome by worries and anxieties. Even the law courts have started consulting therapists to decide upon the sanity of criminals. The therapists have a great influence on the thinking of people. Even politicians are concerned about this trend. People, who formerly visited the priest or minister for advice, when they were in trouble, today visit the therapist.
Probably due to this fact, Christian ministers and Catholic priests have started studying modern psychology, and they practice psychological counselling as a part of their ministerial work. Buddhist teachers, living in the West, are often called upon to help people with their emotional problems. They have also recognized the need for a form of Buddhist psychotherapy. Some modern psychologists who have studied and practiced Buddhist meditation find that some of the Buddhist concepts appear to come in conflict with modern psychological theory and practice. Therefore, the Buddhists who are interested in helping are faced with the task of coming up with a Buddhist theory and practice of psychotherapy.
No researcher seems to realize that Buddhism, in its original form, was already a form of psychotherapy. Unfortunately, today, the Buddhist practice has descended to the level of a religion of faith and worship. It has lost its psychotherapeutic significance. Therefore the task of the modern Buddhist is not so much to create a new form of therapy that is acceptable to a particular school of Buddhism or way of thinking, but to rediscover the original psychotherapy that is already in existence, though hidden, in the original teachings of the Buddha.