Freud's Dora: a psychoanalytic, historical, and textual study

Abstract

The case of the patient whom Freud immortalised as Dora is regarded as a landmark in the evolution of psychoanalytic theory and technique, as a graphic demonstration of psychosomatics and the therapeutic significance of dreams. Now in this book Patrick Mahony claims that this case study is not a model of treatment but an exhibition of the rejection of a patient by a clinician, an inkblot test of Freud's misapprehensions about female sexuality and adolescence. Combining psychoanalytic, historical and textual approaches, Mahony ask us look at the case history in a new way. He maps out in detail how Freud neglected much significant data and he traces the clinical impact of Freud's undigested friendship with Fliess. Mahony also sheds light on Dora's bisexuality, transference, trauma and symptoms, and uncovers the deeper, problematic meaning of Dora's dreams. Through his close textual analysis Mahony shows that this case history is a specimen of symptomatic writing and evidence of Freud's countertransferential impasse.