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.