Anna Freud

Anna Freud was an Austrian-British psychoanalyst and the youngest daughter of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, and his wife, Martha. She has made significant contributions to the study of children with psychological disorders. Anna Freud was the founder of child psychoanalysis and one of its prominent practitioners.

Anna Freud was born in Vienna. She went the way of her father and contributed to the newly born field of psychoanalysis. She received her education at the Cottage Lyceum and the University of Vienna.

Freud began her training in psychoanalysis at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society in 1918 and later became a member of the society in 1922.

In her debut book, An Introduction to the Technique of Child Analysis (1927), she set out her approach to the technique of child analysis that Freud practices at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Training Institute.

In 1938, Anna Freud and her father were forced to escape Austria due to the Nazi occupation. They settled in London, where Anna continued her work in child development.

In 1947, she established the Hampstead Child Therapy Course and Clinic in London, a pioneering center for treating children with emotional and behavioral problems.

Her notable works include The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense (1936), in which she developed the concept of defense mechanisms, and Normality and Pathology in Childhood (1965), in which she discussed the stages of psychological development in children.

Anna Freud continued to work and write on psychoanalytic theory and practice until her death on October 9, 1982, in London.

In 2014, She Writes Press published a novel, Hysterical: Anna Freud's Story, by Rebecca Coffey. The book delves into the life and experiences of Anna Freud and explores her contributions to psychoanalysis.