 This work traced the origins of psychoanalysis and psychotherapy back to its 18th-century prehistory in the attempts to heal disease through exorcism, as practiced by the Catholic priest Johann Joseph Gassner, and from him through the researchers of hypnotism, Franz Mesmer and the Marquis de Puységur, to the 19th century neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot and the main figures of 20th century psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav Jung.Robin Skynner praised the clarity of its presentation of the ideas of the great twentieth-century figures in their socio-historical contexts.Ellenberger's account of Pierre Janet has also been singled out for special mention; while Anthony Stevens has made use of his concept of "creative illness" in his account of Jung.