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'''Anna Freud''' (December 3, 1895 - October 9, 1982) was the sixth and last child of [[Sigmund Freud|Sigmund]] and Martha Freud. Born in Vienna, she followed the path of her father and contributed to the newly born field of [[psychoanalysis]].
anna freud
Viennese-born British psychoanalyst, youngest daughter of [[Sigmund Freud]] and founder, in 1947, of the Hampstead Child Therapy Clinic.
Her ''Selecting Writings'' privdes a comprehensive introduction to her work.
[[Anna Freud]] is one of the pioneers of [[child psychoanalysis]] and of the psychoanalytic study of normal child development.
Firmly grounded in Freud's second [[topology]] of [[id]], [[ego]] and [[superego]], her work is one of the starting points for the development of [[ego-psychology]].
Her main contribution to psychoanalytic theory is her description of the defense mechanisms used by the [[ego]] in its attempt to avoid [[anxiety]], danger and [[unpleasure]].
According to Anna Freud, the [[superego]] originates in the mechanism of [[identification]] with the aggressor, as the child mimics and then identifies with the aggressive criticisms of its parents in such a way as to allow the [[ego]] to perceive its own faults.
[[Anna Freud]]'s theory of child development is based uppon the view that there is a normal sequence of libidinal phases (oral, anal and genital) and that a [[child]] who is going to be a harmonious personality should, at each stage of libidinal development, reach a corresponding stage of emotional maturity, phsical independence, companionship and creative play.
In 1943-4, the respective supporters of [[Anna Freud]] and [[Melanie Klein]] became embroiled in the so-called 'Controversial Discussions' which almost split the British Psychoanalytic Association and let to its recognition of three coexisting groups (Freudians, Kleinians and 'Independents').
The discussions focused on differences over play therapy, the chronology of the onset of the [[Oedipus complex]] and of the [[superego]] formation, and the role of fantasy.
==The Vienna years==
Anna Freud furthermore developed different techniques of assessment and treatment of children disorders, thereby contributing to our understanding of [[anxiety]] and [[clinical depression|depression]] as significant problems among children.
[[Category:Freudian psychology]]
[[Category:Psychoanalytic theory|Freud, Anna]]
[[Category:People]]
