 The concept of abreaction may have actually been initially formulated by Freud's mentor, Josef Breuer; but it was in their joint work of 1893, "Studies on Hysteria", that it was first made public to denote the fact that pent-up emotions associated with a trauma can be discharged by talking about it.The release of strangulated affect by bringing a particular moment or problem into conscious focus, and thereby abreacting the stifled emotion attached to it, formed the cornerstone of Freud's early cathartic method of treating hysterical conversion symptoms.For instance, they believed that pent-up emotions associated with trauma can be discharged by talking about it.