ANNA FREUD
[1895-1982]
She was the daughter of Sigmund Freud.
Anna was attending lectures, going through analysis with her father and she’s moving
towards a career as a lay psychoanalyst.
She became at the very least her father’s symbolic successor.
Anna Freud was not primarily a theoretician, but her interests were more practical and
most of her energies were devoted to the analysis of children and adolescents. Her
father had focused entirely on adult patients.
She also became his caretaker after he developed cancer in 1923.
EGO PSYCHOLOGY
She was more interested in the dynamics of the psyche than in its structure, particularly
fascinated by the place of the ego. Freud spent most of his efforts on the Id and the
unconscious side of psychic life.
She pointed out that the Ego is the “seat of observation” from which we observe the
work of the Id, the Superego, and the unconscious generally.
She is best known for her book The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, in which she
gives a particularly clear description of how the defenses work, including some special
attention to adolescents’ use of defenses.
A movement in the psychoanalytic circle called “Ego Psychology” began that represents
arguably, the majority of Freudians.
Ego is a crucial foundation but extends it into a more ordinary, practical, day-to –Day
world of the Ego
Freudian theory can be applied not only to psychology but also to social, and
developmental issues as well.
CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
What do you do with the child, for whom family crises, traumas, and fixations are present
events, not dim recollections?
First, the relationship of the child to the therapist is different. The child’s parents are still
very much a part of his/her life. The therapist cannot and should not try to usurp but
neither can the therapist pretend to be just another child rather than an authority figure.
[1895-1982]
She was the daughter of Sigmund Freud.
Anna was attending lectures, going through analysis with her father and she’s moving
towards a career as a lay psychoanalyst.
She became at the very least her father’s symbolic successor.
Anna Freud was not primarily a theoretician, but her interests were more practical and
most of her energies were devoted to the analysis of children and adolescents. Her
father had focused entirely on adult patients.
She also became his caretaker after he developed cancer in 1923.
EGO PSYCHOLOGY
She was more interested in the dynamics of the psyche than in its structure, particularly
fascinated by the place of the ego. Freud spent most of his efforts on the Id and the
unconscious side of psychic life.
She pointed out that the Ego is the “seat of observation” from which we observe the
work of the Id, the Superego, and the unconscious generally.
She is best known for her book The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, in which she
gives a particularly clear description of how the defenses work, including some special
attention to adolescents’ use of defenses.
A movement in the psychoanalytic circle called “Ego Psychology” began that represents
arguably, the majority of Freudians.
Ego is a crucial foundation but extends it into a more ordinary, practical, day-to –Day
world of the Ego
Freudian theory can be applied not only to psychology but also to social, and
developmental issues as well.
CHILD PSYCHOLOGY
What do you do with the child, for whom family crises, traumas, and fixations are present
events, not dim recollections?
First, the relationship of the child to the therapist is different. The child’s parents are still
very much a part of his/her life. The therapist cannot and should not try to usurp but
neither can the therapist pretend to be just another child rather than an authority figure.
