Psychotherapie in the Netherland after the Second World War

The early history of psychotherapy in the Netherlands hardly differs from that of the surrounding countries. Somewhat later than in France and Germany, psychotherapy appeared during the last decades of the nineteenth century, with general practitioners who started to treat their patients (mainly for all kinds of somatic complaints) by psychological means. In the early decades of the twentieth century, psychotherapy was narrowed down to mainly psychoanalytic treatment. The patient population consisted of a small ?lite group of people who belonged to the upper social classes. The practice of psychotherapy was restricted to some ?enlightened? psychoanalysts.