This paper revisits Freud's Case of Dora to point out its contemporariness. It sustains that psychoanalysis' deadlocks, as revealed by the sudden conclusion of the analysis of this young Viennese in 1900, are as questioning and critical to the therapeutic function of psychoanalysis as the so called difficult contemporary cases. The changes in the treatment method announced in the Case of Dora, as well as its failure in this case of hysteria, are discussed. The privilege given by Freud to knowledge of the psychic as the means of solving psychoanalysis' deadlocks is shown. The paper concludes that the major obstacle in Dora's analysis was the instinctual character of sexuality, rather than the interpretation of sexuality and of object-relations. This comprehension is extended to the contemporary demands for psychoanalysis.
The Case of Dora; Freud; contemporary psychoanalysis; treatment method