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In the early 19th century physicians started to develop various methods for treating mental disorders with respect to the current classification : moral treatment of mental disorders (Pinel), magnetic stimulation (Mesmer and his followers Puységur, Faria, Despine), induced sleep therapy and hypnosis (Braid, Azam, Janet), hypnotic suggestion (Bernheim), psychoanalysis (Freud). Such approaches based on the direct relationship between patient and therapist, were used in many situations, including armed conflicts. From the middle of the 19th century onwards, other methods developed. They were based either on individual care (methods such as Moreno-s psychodrama and Schutz- autogenic training) or on group sessions (psychoanalysis and educative psychotherapy in children, as well as institutionalized psychiatric care). These practices coincided with a deep renovation in care facilities. The rise of modern psychopharmacotherapy occurred during the mid-twentieth century and brought the issue of combining psychotherapy and medication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: During the Second Empire in France (1828–1913), a soldier called Jacob drew Parisian crowds by performing so-called miraculous cures. The craze that he created allowed to live from his “miracles” all of his life. He performed a kind of group hypno-therapy, which prefigures the methods used by today''s evangelists. His career and biography are depicted here, and an attempt at explaining how he was able convince his patients they were cured. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]