Anna Freud. A historical look at her theory and technique of child psychoanalysis

This paper traces historically the development of Anna Freud's thinking about the theory and technique of child psychoanalysis. Representing more than fifty years of work, her ideas were refined and many were altered, influenced by naturalistic and clinical observations and her developmental viewpoint. The paper begins with her 1926 Introductory Lectures, which contain both her early views about the technique used with children as compared to adults and the origins of many of her later ideas. It follows her theories up through her final papers, published in the late 1970s.