Émile Coué

French psychotherapist
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Quick Facts
Born:
Feb. 26, 1857, Troyes, Fr.
Died:
July 2, 1926, Nancy (aged 69)
Subjects Of Study:
autosuggestion

Émile Coué (born Feb. 26, 1857, Troyes, Fr.—died July 2, 1926, Nancy) was a French pharmacist who in 1920 at his clinic at Nancy introduced a method of psychotherapy characterized by frequent repetition of the formula, “Every day, and in every way, I am becoming better and better.” This method of autosuggestion came to be called Couéism.

An apothecary at Troyes from 1882 to 1910, Coué in 1901 began to study under Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault and Hippolyte Bernheim, leading exponents of hypnosis. Although stressing that he was not primarily a healer but one who taught others to heal themselves, Coué claimed to have effected organic changes through autosuggestion.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.