Anna Freud and her work after Sigmund Freud

Anna Freud was an unwanted daughter. She was the youngest of 6 siblings and the only one who, when she reached adolescence, became the devoted and almost selfless disciple of her father, Sigmund Freud. She was a “guinea pig” for psychoanalysis and also heir to its legacy. Of course, a good part of what Anna Freud contributed to the field of child psychology was pioneering and truly valuable.

The name of this interesting woman fortunately does not sail in the mist of oblivion. Her name has not fallen into that diffuse echo where other female figures were almost diluted by the closeness of great men with whom they shared lineage. There is, for example, the figure of Ada Lovelace, notable mathematician and precursor of the programming language; a woman who for many was nothing more than the outstanding daughter of Lord Byron.

Anna Freud was also the most advantaged daughter of the father of psychoanalysis, a girl who came into the world without anyone expecting her but who soon managed to make a place for herself among her siblings and among all those relatives who blindly idolized the Austrian doctor and neurologist. Anna was unruly, restless and sought above all else to forcefully gain the admiration of her father, a man who always treated her more like a patient than a daughter.

It was during the 1920s when, already a member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association, his life began to take new directions. Freud had already received the diagnosis of palate cancer and Anna, determined not to leave her father at any time, thought that although she would not abandon him physically, she would direct her career to other fields. Instead of practicing as an analyst, he decided to pedagogically treat young children under psychoanalytic guidelines.

What began in Vienna in 1925 was continued in England and in the context of the Second World War. A key stage where his authentic work would begin; one that continued in a certain way that of the now deceased Sigmund Freud, but at the same time providing new approaches.

Anna Freud and ego psychology

Anna Freud was always a practical woman. He did not like to theorize too much: hence his books are full of interesting practical cases as a basis to justify and develop his ideas. What he wanted most Miss Freud was that psychoanalysis had a therapeutic usefulness in people’s lives, especially in children’s lives.

Throughout his life He was much more concerned with mental dynamics than with its structure. Hence, she was more interested in the EGO than in the IT, and in that unconscious part of psychic life that her father was so passionate about. Anna Freud is especially known for her book “The Ego and Defense Mechanisms.” In her pages she explains how each of these dynamics work, dedicating a special section to the use of defense mechanisms in children and adolescents. She also delved into an interesting idea, and that is the fact that Most of us apply different defense mechanisms and there is nothing pathological about it.. Anna Freud’s approach did not focus as much on the symptoms of possible abnormalities, as her father did. She also sought to combine her theoretical prism with a more common psychology that would be useful and practical to all of us.

Among the multiple defense mechanisms that Anna Freud enunciated, these would undoubtedly be the best known:

Repression: responds to the need to contain the thoughts and emotions that maintain anxiety.Projection: It is the ability and habit of seeing one’s own defects in another person.Displacement: the transfer of negative feelings towards third parties.Regression: return to a psychologically younger age, with the customs and patterns of this previous age.

The British stage and child psychology

In 1941 Anna Freud opened a nursery and several children’s homes in Wedderburn Street, an area of ​​Hampsteaden, London. In those days she had also read María Montessori and, sensitized by all those little ones, traumatized by the imprint of war, she decided that it was time to move forward and achieve achievements in that field that interested her so much.

He based the development of his theories on his father’s approach. However, he was clear that When treating traumas, I would leave the “Id and the superego” aside to focus on the “I”.Likewise, when Anna began her psychotherapy sessions, she avoided by all means assuming that “father” figure so classic in psychoanalysis. She knew that, for a child to be able to communicate comfortably, she needed a warm, friendly and relaxed environment.Freud’s daughter She was the first to use the game (play therapy) as a mechanism to enter the child’s emotional world. With the game, the way he played his role as a therapist also changed: Far from presenting himself as a distant authority figure, his intention was to deal with the children from close proximity and using their language.

The couch was therefore put aside to create authentic play classrooms: a much more ideal context for the spontaneous expression of the little ones.

The importance of early relationships

Throughout her life, Ann Freud defended the need to care for and attend to a child’s early relationships as an essential mechanism for their correct development. His work on children who had suffered abandonment or extreme neglect, for example, laid the foundations for multiple subsequent investigations.

Likewise, another pioneering initiative was the recommendation that children should not be hospitalized more than necessary, nor should they remain in orphanages for an excessive amount of time in case of orphanhood or abandonment. Children need family closeness and a mother figure. Any distance from the family (reference figures) causes stress, fear, and has an impact on the child’s mind and psychological development.

Anna Freud intended that the operation of her shelters be based on “family units”. In this way, every child abandoned or traumatized by the effects of war found in these institutions other companions (siblings) and a substitute mother or psychotherapist who treated the traumas and recurring nightmares of those little ones.

The “black demon”, as her father called her because of her sometimes strong and somewhat eccentric character, did not betray the theoretical heritage of Sigmund Freud; in fact, he improved it. Thanks to her, it was possible to polish that edge, that loose and neglected end that her parent left behind by not delving too deeply into childhood education.

Anna Freud’s therapeutic practice focused exclusively on children, and not only that. His own life was dedicated to the protection of children who lacked basic care. She created multiple residential daycare centers, a clinic, and a training center for psychotherapists in child psychoanalysis.

Miss Freud died at the age of 82, having fulfilled her mission. She was the mother of psychoanalysis and the person who ensured its continuity.

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Bibliographic referencesAnna Freud (2004). Psychoanalysis of child and adolescent development. Barcelona: Editorial Paidós IbéricaSigmund Freud & Anna Freud (2014). Sigmund and Anna Freud. Correspondence 1904-1938. Deep Psychology Collection. Argentina: PaidósAnna Freud Editions (1980). The Self and defense mechanisms. Barcelona: Editorial Paidós Ibérica