Little Hans and Freud's self-analysis: a biographical view of clinical theory in the making.
For nearly a century, Freud's "Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-year-old Boy" has been read mainly--if often critically--with Freud's conscious aim in mind: providing evidence for the central importance of oedipal conflict. Material recently released by the Freud Archives casts new light on Freud's treatment of Hans's mother, Olga Graf (nee Hönig)--which began at the height of his self-analysis in 1897--and of Hans himself. Read in the enriched context of new information from Eissler's interviews with Max Graf and Herbert Graf, two texts--Freud's 1897 letters to Fliess and the 1909 case history--illuminate possible personal motives for Freud's insistence on the primacy of oedipal conflict.
Stuart
Jennifer
J
Department of Psychiatry, NYU Medical Center, USA. jstuart@rcn.com
D001317:Austria; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015709:Correspondence as Topic / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000266:history; D009813:Oedipus Complex; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000266:history*; D011572:Psychoanalysis / Q000266:history*; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D012648:Self Care / Q000266:history*