Freud used hypnosis to treat patients in his private neurological practice in Vienna, and he observed that the process of verbalization could lead to an improvement in the patient’s symptoms. A similar approach, known as ‘free association’, was taken by another of his colleagues, Josef Breuer. He believed that a patient merely talking about their problems freely with a psychotherapist would help them overcome their difficulties. It was one of these patients, ‘Anna O’, who coined the phrase ‘talking cure”.
Freud adopted the approach of psychoanalysis and found that many of his patients benefited from exploring their own thoughts and feelings. He observed that these people often displayed symptoms such as hysteria and neuroses. These conditions, now classed as anxiety disorders, are thought to stem from inner conflicts, particularly between the conscious and unconscious minds. Freud believed that talking helps to understand these conflicts and makes them easier to manage, but may work better if the therapist also understands the workings of the brain.
