Psychotherapy in Russia: Historical Backgrounds and Current Practice

During recent years, the former Soviet states have witnessed enormous social and cultural changes, which have also greatly influenced the field of mental health, including psychotherapy. In this article, the historical backgrounds of Russian psychotherapy and its current practice are described. Psychotherapy in Russia and in Western countries share common roots, but have developed into different directions during the 70 years of Soviet regime. In more recent years, they have begun to slowly converge again. In the West, a trend away from insight-oriented, nondirective psychotherapy is taking place in favor of more directive approaches, aimed at changing overt behavior. In contrast, there is a tendency for therapies in Russian-speaking countries to become gradually less directive and authoritarian. In these countries there is an increasing interest in psychodynamic, insight-oriented therapies.