Authors present the history of psychotherapy in Slovakia. The first section refers to the social
requirements for psychology and psychotherapy development. The history of psychotherapy alone
is analysed in three stages of development. The first stage includes the years 1918–1945, where,
related to the activities of the Clinic of Psychiatry and Neurology of the Faculty of Medicine of
Comenius University in Bratislava, we come across the first attempts at applying psychothera -
peutic approaches in medical practice and in the training of physicians. The second developmental
stage (1945–1989) introduces individuals that significantly influenced the development of psychotherapeutic
theories and their application in individual fields of clinical practice. They simultaneously
show the contribution of the training school SUR to the development of psychotherapy
in Slovakia. The most significant changes in the aspect of domestication and development of psychotherapy
in Slovakia happened in the last characterised stage, in the period following the Velvet
Revolution in 1989. The previously almost unavailable psychotherapeutic literature became available
and psychotherapy was gradually introduced into the undergraduate and postgraduate education
of physicians and other professionals. The first Slovak Society of Psychotherapy was founded
and became a common ground for professionals in this field. In the final section of this paper, the
authors present current questions and problems of the development, research and application of
psychotherapy in Slovakia and briefly characterise the influence of legislation changes and reforms
in healthcare on the position of psychotherapy
