Life
Born into a rich Austrian Jewish family, Anna von Lieben was referred to Freud in the late eighties for help with a long-standing series of nervous disorders. After referring her for a consultation with Charcot, Freud treated her (with some short-term success) through hypnotism, taking her with him to see Hippolyte Bernheim in 1889 in the (unsuccessful) hope that he might be able to work a permanent cure. He also used abreaction for temporary relief of her symptoms, noting however that her sense of guilt and self-reproaches would swiftly return after the treatment sessions. Her symptoms, including hallucinations and physical spasms, provided the basis for many of Freud's claims about conversion hysteria; and how to interpret back from physical symptom or hallucination to the underlying (symbolic) emotional meaning it expressed, often by a 'punning' logic.Criticism
Freud's later critics have argued that his continuing treatment of Anna, given awareness of her incurability, amounted to using her as a kind of cash-cow. Freud continued during the six years of psychoanalysis to treat her continuously with injections ofSee also
References
Further reading
*Peter J. Swales, 'Freud, his Teacher, and the Birth of Psychoanalysis', in Paul E. Stepansky ed., ''Freud, Appraisals and Reappraisals'', (1986) 3-82External links