Reading Anna Freud

Nick Midgley’s 2013 publication Reading Anna Freud is an easily accessible book that provides an excellent introduction to the numerous writings of Anna Freud, one of the most influential yet also controversial figures in the early days of child analysis. The book sheds light on the development of Anna Freud’s key ideas and her fundamental interest in learning how the lives of children can be improved. Furthermore,

the book draws the reader to question the relevance of her pioneering work today; what place do Anna Freud’s ideas have in the history of psychoanalysis? What can her writings teach us now about how to work therapeutically with children? Are her psychoanalytic ideas still relevant to those entrusted with the welfare of infants and young people?

These key questions are the basis of the book and as I continue reading I am presented with a chronology of Anna Freud’s life. I immediately notice that Anna Freud died just before I was born yet her influence on my thinking and that of many psychoanalytic colleagues is profound. It is also evident just how prolific a writer she was. Midgley is, however, clear to state that the intention of his book is not just to provide a biography of Anna Freud, nor does the book seek to provide a full picture of all the contemporary psychoanalytic (or other) ideas that were developing alongside her work but instead intends to introduce the interested reader to the main aspects of Anna Freud’s writing and her key ideas in a number of fields. He does, however, comment on the limited availability of her papers and writings and describes this as a great loss to the psychoanalytic community.

Where he considers appropriate, Midgley does provide some historical and biographical context. This is, however, easily digestible and adds to the liveliness of the book. Indeed, when writing about some of her earliest papers the author conveys a real sense of motion and the beginning of a new movement, supported by direct quotes from Anna Fre