ABSTRACT
Anna Freud placed enormous emphasis on the importance of clear and precise thinking. This was not about feeling one should or needed “to know”, but rather about thinking through what one knew, knowing what the questions were, having a sense of what was not known. In neurotic disturbance there has been progressive development, but in the face of earlier fixation points, to which the individual regresses when confronted with what is experienced as irresolvable internalized conflicts. Sarah sought analysis when she was twenty-eight. She had had a life-long struggle with overwhelming anxiety, fears of abandonment, fears of being overwhelmed by others, and feelings of worthlessness. Although she had her share of neurotic conflicts, the author does not feel such conflicts formed the bulk of her disturbance. In Sarah’s analysis the transference and countertransference were characterized by anxiety, though this decreased as analysis progressed.
