Freud and Dora case : a promise betrayed /
Cesare Romano.
- London : Karnac Books, (c)2015.
- 1 online resource (xxxvii, 225 pages)
- The History of Psychoanalysis Series .
Originally published in Italian in 2012 by Alpes Editore, Rome.
Includes bibliographies and index.
COVER -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -- ABOUT THE AUTHOR -- SERIES EDITOR'S FOREWORD -- AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR'S NOTE -- FOREWORD -- PART I THE CASE HISTORY -- CHAPTER ONE The first encounter with Dora -- CHAPTER TWO The second encounter with Dora and the beginning of the analysis -- CHAPTER THREE The first trauma: a disgusting kiss -- CHAPTER FOUR From archaeologist to burglar -- CHAPTER FIVE The dream of the burning house -- CHAPTER SIX The second dream -- CHAPTER SEVEN Confusion of tongues and the traumatolytic function of the dream -- CHAPTER EIGHT Conclusions -- PART II THE COUNTERTRANSFERENCE -- CHAPTER NINE Dora's analysis and her analyst's vicissitudes: a frame for Freud's countertransference -- CHAPTER TEN Spinach, cocaine, and countertransference in a dream of Freud's -- CHAPTER ELEVEN Conclusions -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- FURTHER READING -- INDEX.
Cesare Romano revisits Dora's clinical case in light of Freud's own seduction theory. His central thesis is that Freud failed to follow through with his initial proposition of confirming his theories on the traumatic aetiology of hysteria. He also suggests a new dating for the duration of Dora's therapy, placing the beginning of the analysis within the context of Freud's concurrent and recent life events. A detailed analysis of Dora's first dream shows that Freud did not go back to Dora's first infantile traumas, but stopped instead at the period of her infantile masturbation. In analysing this dream, Romano's theory begins to take shape around the idea that Dora suffered an early trauma: possibly, a sexual abuse inflicted by her father. Drawing on Ferenczi, the author uses the notion of the 'traumatolytic function of the dream' to show that Dora, through her two dreams, was elaborating her early sexual trauma. Dora's analysis is investigated alongside what was happening in Freud's life at the time of the therapy. It was a time of upheaval, including the breaking off of his friendship and transferential relationship with Fliess, and the erotically nuanced relationship with his sister-in-law Minna. Romano demonstrates how these real-life events and the experiences they entailed reflect on Dora's therapy, modulating Freud's countertransference.