Cäcilie M.

Pseudonym of Freud's early patient Anna von Lieben (c. 1847–1900)

Cäcilie M. (Anna von Lieben, born Anna von Tedesco; c. 1847–1900) is the pseudonym of one of Freud's first patients, whom he called in 1890 his “principal client” and in 1897 his “instructress”.^[1]

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.^[2] He also used abreaction for temporary relief of her symptoms,^[3] noting however that her sense of guilt and self-reproaches would swiftly return after the treatment sessions.^[4]

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,^[5] often by a 'punning' logic.^[6]

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.^[7]

Freud continued during the six years of psychoanalysis to treat her continuously with injections of morphine without any success or therapeutic result.^[8]

References

^ P. Gay, Freud (1989) p. 69
^ E. Jones, The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud (1964) p. 211
^ H. Westerink, A Dark Trace (2009) p. 12
^ M. Macmillan, Freud Evaluated (1997) p. 106
^ J. Schwartz, Cassandra's Daughter (2003) p. 51-2
^ M. Nixon, Fantastic Reality (2005) p. 138-9
^ F. B. Michael, Ingenious Nonsense (2012) p. 80
^ Les patients de Freud. Destins. by Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen, Éditions Sciences Humaines, 2011

External links

Cäcilie M., Case of
Anna von Lieben, Gedichte (1867-1870)
Anna von Lieben, Gedichte (1867-1873)

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