Psychanalyse et thérapies cognitives-comportementales en France : l’improbable rencontre (1971–2011)

Objectives

The opposition between psychoanalysis and cognitive-behavioral therapies seems to have become irreducibly entrenched in people's minds, to the point of appearing and functioning today as a commonplace. The present article shows that French practitioners from both sides have, in the past, tried to overcome their antagonisms by working together within the very first French association dedicated to the study of behavioral therapies. While shedding light on a little-known chapter in the history of French psychiatry and of eclecticism in psychotherapy, this investigation encourages us to think afresh about the issues at stake in the contemporary divergences between psychoanalysts and practitioners of behavioral and cognitive therapies.

Method

The method used is that of the social and cultural history of science. Our study was based on the publications of the main actors in this dialogue, the archives of the Association Française de Thérapie Comportementale et Cognitive, and a series of interviews with several major figures in the history of French behaviorism.

Results

The psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Daniel Widlöcher was the main architect of this “unlikely encounter.” As a founding member and later president of the Association Française de Thérapie Comportementale (AFTC), Professor Widlöcher worked to compare the methods, indications, and opportunities of these two therapeutic approaches; published about his findings; and contributed to the creation of a training institute within the AFTC.

Discussion

By appropriating cognitive methods at the turn of the 1990s, the second generation of therapists evolving within the AFTC made a greater effort to distance themselves from the psychoanalytical paradigm than their predecessors. The publication of the INSERM report on the effectiveness of psychotherapy (2004), followed by the Livre noir de la psychanalyse (2005), definitively undermined the efforts made in the past to combine the two approaches.

Conclusion

Long before the extreme polarization of the mid-2000s, practitioners of psychoanalysis and behavioral therapies worked to overcome their differences in order to find common ground for the implementation of cotherapies. The crux of the discord between psychoanalysts and behavioral therapy practitioners goes beyond mere theoretical and practical issues and debates. The article concludes that this controversy is undeniably linked to questions of power within academic bodies, recognition or social visibility, as well as to economic issues.