Cognitive psychotherapy and integrative psychotherapy

The text presented below, consisting of two complementary parts, was written almost three years ago as a chapter for a book on cognitive therapy. As the publication of the book was continually delayed, a week before his death Professor Leder asked the book editor, Andrzej Kokoszka, if he didn’t think it suitable to publish at least parts of the book separately, since the publication date was increasingly vague. I was a witness to this conversation, and so a few weeks after Professor Leder’s death I thought that publishing the text in Psychotherapy – a publication created mainly by Professor Leder many years ago would be the right way for him to say goodbye to his readers, while at the same time it would symbolically remain a sign of the active presence of his thought in this publication, which is mostly a discussion forum for his colleagues. I made sure again that the editor of the monograph on cognitive therapy did not mind a separate publication, and decided to submit one of the chapters to the Psychotherapy editors. The part of the paper written by Professor Leder is an exceptionally valuable presentation of the history of the cognitive approach in psychology and psychotherapy. It includes information difficult to find anywhere else, as for most people cognitive therapy begins only with Beck or Ellis. Professor Leder offers a broader historic overview of this approach. The paper also gives Professor Leder’s readers the opportunity to examine some of the sources of inspiration for his work as a founder of the Neurosis Clinic at the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw. I, on the other hand, in my part of the paper, have tried to show how some elements of cognitive therapy are used effectively in the integrative, intensive form of cognitive-social psychotherapy applied at the Neurosis Clinic.