Where Psychotherapy Really Began

A Journey Through Rituals, Myths & the Mind

When we think of psychotherapy today, we imagine quiet rooms, cozy couches, and trained professionals helping people untangle their thoughts. But the roots of psychotherapy go way deeper — and weirder — than most people realise.

Long before Freud and his infamous couch, people were already trying to make sense of their inner worlds. The earliest forms of psychotherapy didn’t involve theories or textbooks — they came in the form of rituals, astrology, myths, and magic.

Before Science: The Ancient World of Spirit and Symbol

Thousands of years ago, if you were feeling off — sad, anxious, or plagued by visions — you didn’t call a therapist. You visited a priest, healer, or shaman. In Mesopotamia,

Egypt, and across early civilizations, mental suffering was often seen as a spiritual issue. The fix? Rituals, dream interpretation, prayer, and even exorcisms.

And let’s not forget astrology. In Babylon and later in Greece and Rome, your mental state was believed to be deeply influenced by the stars. Birth charts were early tools for self-understanding. Sound familiar?

Myths and fairytales also played a role. They weren’t just entertainment — they were symbolic stories passed down through generations to help people make sense of fear, desire, death, and identity. Today, many therapists (especially those influenced by Carl Jung) still look at myths and dreams to tap into the unconscious.

Philosophers as Proto-Therapists

Fast forward to Ancient Greece: enter thinkers like Plato and Aristotle, who started asking big questions about the soul, the self, and the meaning of life. Plato believed a well-balanced soul led to a just and harmonious life. These early philosophers were, in a way, the first “talk therapists,” encouraging self-reflection and moral inquiry.

Hippocrates, meanwhile, began to shift thinking toward biology. He believed mental illness was due to imbalances in the body’s four humors — not demons. It wasn’t science by today’s standards, but it was a huge leap.

The Middle Ages: A Step Back (and a Few Steps Forward)

During the medieval era, much of this progress got buried under religious dogma in Europe. Mental illness was often blamed on sin or possession, and treatments became harsh again — think chains and exorcisms. But in the Islamic world, scholars like Avicenna kept the light on, writing about the connection between emotions, thought, and the body, and encouraging kind, thoughtful care.

Renaissance to Freud: The Long Road to the Couch

The Renaissance brought a rebirth of curiosity. People started questioning old beliefs and turning back to observation and reason. Asylums started to reform, and thinkers began asking: what if mental suffering is just part of being human?

By the 1800s, people like Mesmer were using trance and hypnosis, and Freud burst onto the scene with his radical idea that talking about your childhood and dreams could actually heal you. His “talking cure” was the seed from which modern psychotherapy grew.

Modern Therapy: Science Meets Soul

Since Freud, therapy has exploded into dozens of schools: Jungian, cognitive-behavioral, humanistic, mindfulness-based — the list goes on. But in many ways, we’ve come full circle.

Therapists today often work with dreams, myth, symbolism, and story — just like ancient healers did. Others are integrating astrology, ritual, and even psychedelic therapy in ways that echo the very beginnings of mental healing.

In the End…

Psychotherapy isn’t just about fixing problems. At its heart, it’s about making meaning. Whether through star charts, sacred rituals, or modern science, humans have always searched for ways to understand their pain and transform it into something deeper.