| Activity | Anna Freud was born in Vienna on December 3, 1895, the youngest of six children born to Sigmund Freud and his wife, Martha. Throughout her childhood, Freud remained distant from her five siblings and especially from her sister Sophie, with whom she rivaled for her father’s attention. Many summers, Freud’s parents sent her away to health camps in order to help her overcome health problems, which may have included depression and chronic eating disorders. Freud was not close to her mother, preferring her nurse instead. She was, however, close to her famous father.
After finishing high school and training to become a teacher, Freud traveled to Italy to stay with her grandmother and to England by herself. In 1914, she began teaching at the Cottage Lyceum, the grammar school she attended as a child.
Anna Freud’s interest in psychoanalysis was piqued when her father began to analyze her in 1918. In 1922, Freud presented the totality of this analysis to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in a paper entitled "The Relation of Beating Fantasies to a Daydream." She became a member of the society shortly thereafter and began working with children in private practice. Within two years, she was offered a teaching position at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Training Institute. In 1927, Freud accepted a position with the International Psychoanalytical Association as Secretary, and in 1935, she took over as director of the Vienna Psychoanalytical Training Institute. The following year Freud published The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, a book that laid the groundwork for the field of ego psychology and defined Freud as an innovative thinker.
Freud and her family fled Austria and emigrated to England in 1938 due to the Nazi invasion. She founded The Hampstead War Nursery, an institution that provided foster care and encouraged attachment and bonding for the youngest victims of the war. Eventually, Freud published her observations of how stress affected children and the importance of creating foster attachments for children whose parents were unavailable in the book Normality and Pathology in Childhood. The institute began to offer courses in 1947, and a clinic was built to offer services to children with psychological needs.
Freud spent the latter part of her life lecturing and traveled to the United States several times. She visited Yale Law School and conducted courses on crime and its effect on family relationships. This area of interest provided her with the opportunity to work with Albert Solnit and Joseph Goldstein, and the three published their collaborations in Beyond the Best Interests of the Child in 1973. Freud died in 1982.
Freud discovered that children often required different psychological treatment from adults and emphasized the role that early disruptions in attachment could play in the subsequent development of psychological problems. Her work studying children who had experienced abandonment or extreme neglect laid the foundation for later research into early attachments.
Freud's father had outlined the oral, anal, urethral, and phallic stages of psychosexual development, but his work was tentative and based upon the recollections of adults. Through her work with children, Freud tightened her father's theories, emphasizing that children develop through distinct developmental phases. She also outlined and expanded upon her father's theory of psychological defense mechanisms. In The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense, Freud outlined many defense mechanisms, some of which contemporary psychologists still rely upon. |
| PublishedWorks | 1. Beating fantasies and daydreams. (1922) 1:137-57
2. Hysterical symptom in a child of two years and three months. (1923) 1:158-61
3. Child analysis, Four lectures on. (1927 [1927]) 1:3-62
4. Child Analysis, The theory of . (1928) [1927] 1:162—75
5. Psychoanalysis for teachers and parents, Four lectures on (1930) 1:73-136
6. Psychoanalysis and the upbringing of the young child. (1934 [1932] )1:176-88
7. Infants without families: Reports on the Hampstead Nurseries (1939-45) written
in collaboration with Dorothy Burlingham. 3:3-681
8. Child analysis, Indications for. (1945) 4:3-38
9. Psychoanalytic study of infantile feeding disturbances, The. (1946) 4:39-59
10. Early education, Freedom from want in. (1946) 4:425-41
11. Child: an outline, The sleeping difficulties of the young. (1947) 4:605-9
12. Emotional and instinctual development. (1947) 4:458-88
13. Feeding habits, The establishment of. (1947) 4:442-57
14. Aggression in relation to emotional development: normal and pathological. (1949
[1947]) 4:489-97
15. Aggression, Notes on. (1949 [1948]) 4:60-74
16. August Aichhorn: July 28, 1878 – October 17 1949. (1951) 4:625-38
17. Expert knowledge for the average mother. (1949) 4:528-44
18. Nursery school education: its uses and dangers. (1949) 4:545-59
19. Preadolescent’s relations to his parents, On certain difficulties in the. (1949) 4:95-
106
2
20. Social Maladjustment, Certain types and stages of. (1949) 4:75-94
21. Edith Buxbaum’s “Your child makes sense”, Foreword to. 4:610-13
22. Training analysis, The problem of. (1950 [1938]) 4:407-24
23. Psychoanalytic child psychology, The significance of the evolution of. (1950)
4:614-24
24. Child development, Observations on. (1951 [1950]) 4:143-62
25. Experiment in group upbringing, An. (1951) 4:163-229
26. Psychoanalysis to genetic psychology, The contribution of. (1951 [1950]) 4:107-
42
27. Bodily illness in the mental life of children, The role of. (1952) 4:260-79
28. Children, The child, visiting. (1952) 4:639-41
29. Ego and id: introduction to the discussion, The mutual influences in the
development of . (1952 [1951]) 4:30-44
30. Passivity, Studies in. (1952 [1949-1951]) 4:245-59
31. Teachers’ questions, Answering. (1952) 4:560-68
32. Alice Balint’s “The psychoanalysis of the nursery, “ Introduction to. (1953)
4:642-44
33. Infant observation, Some remarks on. (1953 [1952]) 4:569-85
34. Instinctual drives and their bearing on human behavior. (1953 [1948]) 4:498-527
35. James Robertson’s “A two-year-old goes to hospital” film review. (1953) 4:280-
92
36. Infantile neurosis: contribution to the discussion, Problems of. (1954) 4:327-55
37. Psychoanalysis and education. (1954) 4:317-26
38. Psychoanalysis: discussion, The widening scope of indications for. (1954) 4:356-
76
39. Technique in adult analysis, Problems of. (1954) 4:377-406
40. Rejecting mother, The concept of the. (1955 [1954]) 4:586-604
41. Borderline cases, The assessment of. (1956) 5:301-14
42. Joyce Robertson’s “A mother’s observations on the tonsillectomy of her fouryear-old
daughter,” Comments on. (1956) 4:293-301
43. Psychoanalytic knowledge and its application to children’s services. (1964)
5:265-80
44. Child observation to psychoanalysis, The contribution of direct. (1957) 5:95-101
45. Gabriel Casuso’s “Anxiety related to the ‘discovery’ of the penis”, Introduction
to. (1957) 5:473-75
46. Hampstead child-therapy course and clinic, The (1957) 5:3-8
47. Hampstead child-therapy clinic, Research projects of. (1957-1960) 5:9-25
48. “Inconsistency in the mother as a factor in character development: a comparative
study of three cases” by Anne-Marie Sandler, Elizabeth Daunton, and Annelise
Schnurmann, Introduction to (1957) 5:476-78
49. Marion Milner’s “On not being able to paint,” Foreword to. (1957) 5:488-92
50. Adolescence. (1958 [1957]) 5:136-66
51. Child observation and prediction of development: a memorial lecture in honor of
Ernst Kris. (1958 [1957]) 5:102-35
52. “Chronic schizophrenia” by Thomas Freeman, John L. Cameron, and Andrew
McGhie, Preface to. (1958) 5:493-95
3
53. John Bowlby’s work on separation, grief, and mourning, Discussion of.
(1958.1960) 5:167-86
54. Child guidance clinic as a centre of prophylaxis and enlightenment. (1960 [1957])
5:281-300
55. Kata Levy’s “Simultaneous analysis of a mother and her adolescent daughter: the
mother’s contribution to the loosening of the infantile object tie, “Introduction to.
(1960)5:479-82
56. Margarete Ruben’s “Parent guidance in the nursery school,” Foreword to. (1960
[1959]) 5:96-98
57. Nursery school: the psychological prerequisites, Entrance into. (1960) 5:315-35
58. Pediatrician’s questions, Answering. (1961 [1959]) 5:379-406
59. Children, Clinical problems of young. (1962) 5:352-68
60. Emotional and social development of young children, The. (1962) 5:336-51
61. Parent-infant relationship: contribution to the discussion, The theory of the. (1962
[1961]) 5:187-93
62. Pathology in childhood, Assessment of. (1962, 1964, 1966 [1965]) 5:26-59
63. Regression in mental development, The role of. (1963)5:407-19
64. Herman Nunberg, An appreciation of. (1964) 5:194-203
65. Psychoanalytic knowledge applied to the rearing of children. (1956) 5:265-80
66. Children in the hospital. (1965) 5:419-35
67. Family law, Three contributions to a seminar on. (1965 [1963-1964]) 5:436-59
68. “Hampstead Psychoanalytic Index” by John Boland and Joseph Sandler et al.,
Preface to “The”. (1965) 5:483-85
69. Heinz Hartmann: a tribute. (1965 [1964]) 5:499-501
70. Jeanne Lampl de Groot’s “The development of the mind,” Foreword to. (1965)
5:502-5
71. Metaphychological assessment of the adult personality: the adult profile. (1965)
5:60-75
72. Normality and Pathology in childhood: Assessment of Developments. (1965) 6:3-
273
73. Child analysis, A short history of. (1966) 7:48-57
74. Children, Services for underprivileged. (1966) 5:79-83
75. Ego and the Mechanisms of defence, The (1966 [1936]) 3:1-191
76. “Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence,” Forword to the 1966 edition of “The”.
(1966) 2:v-vi
77. Hartmann’s ego psychology and the child analyst’s thinking, Links between.
(1966 [1964}) 5:204-20
78. Humberto Nagera’s “Early childhood disturbances, the infantile neurosis, and the
adulthood disturbances, “Foreword to. (1966 [1965]) 5:486-87 (This Foreword is
available at the end of this section)
79. Ideal psychoanalytic institute: a utopia, The. (1966) 7:73-93
80. Nursery school and child guidance clinic, Interactions between. (1966 [1965])
5:369-78
81. Obsessional neurosis: a summary of psychoanalytic views. (1966 [1965]) 5:242-
64
82. Psychoanalysis and family law. (1966 [1964]) 5:76-8
4
83. Psychoanalytic theory in the training of psychiatrists, The place of. (1966) 7:59-
72
84. Doctoral award address. (1967 [1964]) 5:507-16
85. Losing and being lost, About. (1967 [1953]) 4:302-16
86. Psychic trauma, comments on. (1967 [1964]) 5:221-41
87. Residential vs. foster care. (1967 [1966]) 7:223-39
88. Humberto Nagera’s “Vincent van Gogh, A psychological Study”, “Foreword to”.
(Book published in 1967) (This Foreword is available at the end of this section)
89. Acting out (1968 [1967]) 7:94-109
90. Child analysis, Indications and contraindications for. (1968) 7:110-23
91. “Painter v. Bannister”: Postscript by a psychoanalyst. (1968) 7:247-55
92. “Psychoanalytic contribution to pediatrics”, by Bianc a Gordon, Foreword to
“The”. 7:268-71
93. Yale Law School, Address at commencement services of the. (1968) 7:256-62
94. Adolescence as a developmental disturbance. (1969 [1966]) 7:39-47
95. Difficulties in the path of psychoanalysis: a confrontation of past with present
views. (1969 [1968]) 7:124-56
96. Film review: “John, seventeen months: nine days in a residential nursery” by
James and Joyce Robertson. (1969) 7:240-46
97. “Hampstead Clinic Psychoanalytic Library Series,” Foreword to “The”. (1969
[1968]) 7:263-67 (Four volumes) (This Foreword is available at the end of this
section)
98. James Strachey. (1969) 7:277-80
99. Child analysis as a subspecialty of psychoanalysis. (1970) 7:204-22
100. Child analysis, Problems of termination in. (1970 [1957]) 7:3-21
101. Infantile neurosis: genetic and dynamic considerations, The. (1970) 7:189-203
102. Rene Spitz, A discussion with. (1970 [1966]) 7:22-38
103. Symptomatology of childhood: a preliminary attempt at classification, The.
(1970) 7:157-88
104. Termination in child analysis, Problems of. (1970 [1957]) 7:3-21
105. ”Wolf-Man” by the Wolf-Man, Foreword to “The” (1971) 7:272-76
106. Aggression, Comments on. (1972 [1971]) 8:151-75
107. Psychoanalytical child psychology, normal and abnormal, the widening scope of
. (1972) 8:8-33
108. Childhood disturbances, Diagnosis and assessment of. (1974 [1954]) 8:34-56
109. Infantile neurosis, Beyond the. (1974) 8:75-81
110. Psychoanalytic view of developmental psychopathology, A. (1974 [1973]) 8:57-
74
111. Humberto Nagera’s “Female Sexuality and the Oedipus Complex”, “Foreword
to”. (Book published in 1974) (This Foreword is available at the end of this
section)
112. Children possessed. (1975) 8:300-6
113. Pediatrics and child psychology, On the interaction between. (1975) 8:285-96
114. Psychoanalytic practice and experience, Changes in. (1976 [1975]) 8:176-85
115. August Aichhorn. (1976 [1974]) 8-344-45
116. Dynamic psychology and education. (1976) 8:307-14
5
117. Psychoanalytic training, Remarks on problems of. (1976) 8:186-92
118. Humberto Nagera’s “Obsessional Neuroses, Developmental Psychopathology”,
“Foreword to”. (Book published in 1976) (This Foreword is available at the
end of this section)
119. Psychopathology seen against the background of normal development. (1976
[1975]) 8:82-95
120. Children, Concerning the relationship with. (1977) 8:297-99
121. Fears, anxieties, and phobic phenomena. (1977 [1976]) 8:193-200
122. Child analysis, The principal task of. (1978 [1977]) 8:96-109
123. Freud’s writings, study guide to. (1978 [1977]) 8:209-76
124. Sigmund Freud Chair at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Inaugural lecture
for. (1978 [1977]) 8:334-43
125. Unveiling of the Freud statue, Address on the occasion of. (1978 [1977]) 8:331-
33
126. Child analysis as the study of mental growth, normal and abnormal. (1979)
8:119-36
127. Ernest Jones, Personal memories of. (1979) 8:346-53
128. Insight in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy: introduction, The role of. (1979
[1978]) 8:201-8
129. “Lest we forget” by Muriel Gardiner, Foreword to. (1979) 8:354-57
130. Mental health and illness in terms of internal harmony and disharmony. (1979)
8:110-18
131. Nursery school from the psychoanalytic point of view, The. (1979) 8:315-30
132. “Analysis of a phobia in a five-year-old boy,” Foreword to. (1980 [1979])
8:277-84
133. “Normal child development,” Introduction. (1980) 8:3-7
134. “Topsy” by Marie Bonaparte, Foreword to. (1980) 8:358-62 |