ABSTRACT
In order to fully understand Sandor Ferenczi's case of Elizabeth Severn, one needs to place their analysis in the context of the history of psychoanalysis. Ferenczi's case of Severn was an evolutionary development, connected to Freud's early clinical flexibility. The notion that there were difficult cases first emerged in Freud's original report of his iconic cases, such as the Rat Man and the Wolf Man. These cases presented particular difficulties in adhering to the basic rules of analytic interaction and presented interpersonal and emotional difficulties that arose between analyst and analysand. In the second decade of psychoanalysis, it became clear to Freud that there was a disparity between his theory of psychoanalysis, namely, the Oedipal theory of neurosis and attempts to treat clinically the so-called neurotic behavior. Congress in 1918, Freud discussed his own difficulty in treating the obsessive/compulsive and phobia disorders. The analysis of Pankejeff also brought into focus Freud's idea that psychoanalysis was basically the study of imagination.
