FREE ESSAY ON ANNA FREUD

ANNA FREUD

Elizabeth Young-Bruehl is a professor at Haverford College and a member of the
Philadelphia Association for Psychoanalysis; this psychological background is very much
evident in her writing. Young-Bruehl's obvious knowledge of psychoanalysis, often times
made reading Anna Freud: a Biography difficult. For example, the book covered many of
Anna Freud's theories and this being a biography and not a psychology textbook it was
difficult to comprehend without previous knowledge of her theories. An entire chapter of
the book dealt with the conflicting views Anna Freud and Melanie Klein had regarding the
Oedipus complex. But I never caught on to what the different views were, so the
importance of that chapter was somewhat lost. The book is also written with great
attention to detail that it just becomes overwhelming, are difficult to follow. One other
problem I had with the book was that there were so many names mentioned that it was
difficult to remember who did what and what their significance was. 
The beginning of the book, Young-Bruehl provides some background information on the Freud
family, before Anna is born, particularly Sigmund. In fact, the first fifth of the book
deals more with Sigmund Freud than it does with Anna. However, it is important to discuss
her father, because was the founder of psychoanalysis and had a huge impact on her life.
Most of her life seemed to be based around him. Every since Anna was little, she craved
her father's love and attention. This is why she began to take an interest in
psychoanalysis in the first place because it allowed the two of them to spend lots of
time together, which pleased Anna. She was the youngest of the six Freud children and had
felt excluded from her siblings and ignored by her father, during her youth. 
I found it rather disturbing the way she lived her life so much for her father instead of
for her self. And being exposed to this knowledge early on tainted my opinion of Anna for
the remainder of the book. Her father was involved with every aspect of her life,
including her love life. Sigmund Freud once wrote to his friend concerning his daughter's
suitor, Hans Lampl, that although he was very fond of Lampl, he was not interested in
having Lampl as a son-in-law when the courtship became more serious. And undoubtedly Anna
could sense her father's desire, and was influenced by him. In a letter Anna writes to
her father she says, I am often together with Lampl in a friendly relationship, but I
also have the daily opportunities to confirm our judgment of him from last year and to
rejoice that we judged correctly(96). When she wrote this letter Anna was twenty-six
years old. By this age children should live for themselves and should no longer need
approval by one's parents. She should be making decisions on her own, especially
concerning her love life. It was examples such as this that made me angry and wanted to
discredit Anna's achievements. 
However, just because her personal choices upset me they do not discredit her
contribution to the child psychoanalysis. Throughout her father's life Anna basically
just studied and agreed with his theories, but she did not come up with many original
thoughts on her own. It wasn't until after Sigmund's death in 1939, that Anna truly made
any significant contributions to the Psychoanalytical Society. Anna opened up the
Hampstead War Nursery, where they cared for children during the wartime. This nursery
allowed Anna to address two of her main concerns: to have an evacuation residence
organized and ready to receive children from the London homes, and to be able to care for
babies, the most vulnerable population(246). While they cared for these children, they
observed them. Anna recorded the children's eating, sleeping and play pattern, as well
as, the emotional development of the children. Much of her child psychoanalysis came from
the observations she made in the nursery. This nursery was such a good idea that years
later after the war was over she received grants to open up another clinic. The clinic
was not a refuge for children of war but rather a place to observe normal, neurotic,
disturbed and blind children, as well as an establishment that advised young mothers how
to accommodate their babies physical and emotional needs. The clinic was also where
Anna's student analysts worked, since observation and actual interaction with one's
patient is the basis of psychoanalysis.
Anna Freud is credited for making substantial contributions to the field of child
psychoanalysis. Her father, the founder of psychoanalysis, is recognized for his
revolutionary thinking. Anna on the other hand was able to get more personal and is
recognized with her ability to empathize with her patients. She really tried to see
things from the viewpoints of her patients.
Young-Bruehl's book was very informative and it really gave an insight into Anna Freud
that was unexpected. I incorrectly assumed that psychologists are people that have their
lives pretty figured out and are able to live a happy and fulfilling life. But, Anna
Freud certainly did not fit my stereotypical psychologist. She seemed to have some pretty
heavy issues herself. I wonder if she was truly satisfied with her career or if it was
just the life she choose because it made her father proud and this acceptance from father
was all she really wanted out of life. An interesting book, even though Anna's weakness
of character and her dependency on her father was a disappointment.