Talking cures were pioneered by Austrian psychoanalyst Josef Breuer and his patient Anna O, who coined what we now call the talking cure. They discovered that allowing patients to speak freely about their problems relieved their symptoms. This was later developed into the modern psychotherapy method called free association. In this therapy, patients are encouraged to express themselves emotionally rather than holding back any feelings in order to avoid upsetting the therapist. By encouraging them to do so, they may discover things they would not otherwise have revealed. These discoveries are then used to help treat the condition being discussed. Freud built on this idea, understanding that this method would allow people to reveal thoughts in their unconscious – now also known as a Freudian slip.
As well as simply allowing his patients to speak freely, Sigmund Freud encouraged this process of association by encouraging his patients to respond without thinking to words or phrases, which could sometimes provide insights into their unconscious thoughts. He noticed in many cases that another association was being made – his patients were often directing their feelings and emotions towards him, the therapist, rather than towards someone else in their lives. This provided a chance to examine repressed thoughts.
