Talking horizontally and encouraging honesty

Sigmund Freud discovered that there is a remarkable difference between what people will tell you when they are sitting up and looking at you in the eye, and what they will say to you when they lie down on their backs and focus on the ceiling.

In Freud's view, self-ignorance and denial were the ultimate causes of illnesses. He wanted extreme honesty from his patients. Freud also realised that his own presence hindered his clients from being honest about their dreams and fantasies. Hence he decided in 1890 to shift his patients onto a couch.