Is it useful in the course of a cognitively oriented psychotherapy to spend part of therapeutic time on the patient's memories of childhood experiences? Only a minority of cognitive therapists would answer this question in the affirmative. In a recently compiled book, collecting the outlines of 10 different cognitive approaches to psychotherapy (Dryden and Golden 1986) only two contributions underscored the importance of exploring and understanding the patient's developmental history (Liotti 1986; Wessler and Wessler 1986). Most cognitive therapists view their clinical work as aimed at assessing and then actively modifying the patient's dysfunctional cognitions. From this perspective exploring the origins of maladaptive cognitive structures within the framework of the patient's childhood memories seems a minor concern and of only academic interest.