Further Influences of Anna Freud's Work
Anna Freud's theories were important for the discipline of the developmental psychology. She encouraged child analysts to understand the (for psychoanalysis) most central developmental question: what moves development along? Psychoanalysts of today are inspired by her work to take a broad view on child development. Her concept of developmental lines stimulates other child psychoanalysts to pay attention to various fields where the child develops. Although she did not know about new processes in neurobiology, genetics and social psychology, her model still is suitable as basic model of how to understand children and how we can learn more about their development. Lasting contributions of her theories lie in asking how mind and body are brought together. The field of developmental psychology has learned from Anna Freud always to consider that the inner world of the child is constructed in interaction between biologic predisposition and the environment.
Read more about this topic: Developmental Lines
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