Transference in the Dora Case

IN HIS POSTSCRIPT TO THE DORA CASE, Freud wrote that his failure to interpret the transference in time accounted for her flight from analysis. He also made a specific suggestion as to what transference interpretation he should have made, and he discussed transference in general terms. Because the case is so widely used for teaching purposes and because we believe that it offers an excellent opportunity to review and demonstrate some of the important issues about transference analysis, we have made a retrospective study of the transference manifestations in the case as a follow-up to our previous paper on the early analysis of transference (Gill and Muslin, 1976). Our thesis there was that transference and resistances are always present and should be interpreted at all stages of an analysis. We suggested that the failure to do so could lead to an unmanageable transference or a premature interruption of treatment, and gave the Dora case as an example of the latter.

Any case is clearer in hindsight, and we do not imply that Freud was not subsequently aware of some of the points we plan to make. He wrote in 1923 with regard to this case