Anna Freud, the daughter of the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, also worked in the psychoanalytic approach. Below I propose to consider how she worked with fears in children and adults. Children's fears In her research and work with children, she focused on the development of their emotional sphere. Anna used several approaches when working with children’s fears. After reading this article, you can see how her ways of working have influenced the way we work with clients' fears today. One such approach is play therapy, in which children can express their fears and anxieties through play. Anna Freud suggested that children use toys and other materials to create their inner world and experience various situations, including those that cause fear. This allowed children to express their emotions and feelings, become aware of them and begin to overcome them. Another approach that Anna Freud used was psychoanalytic therapy. In this therapy, children communicate with a psychoanalyst, expressing their fears and anxieties. A psychoanalyst helps the child understand and analyze his emotions and feelings, as well as their sources. The child learns to understand how his fears interact with other aspects of his personality and how they can be overcome. A third approach is the use of fairy tales and stories. Anna Freud used fairy tales and stories to help children express their fears and experience them imaginatively. Children can empathize with characters going through similar situations and thus understand their own emotions and feelings better. All of these approaches helped children recognize and overcome their fears, develop emotional maturity, and learn to interact more healthily and productively with their environment. Fears in AdultsOne One of these techniques is the “small step” technique. The essence of this technique is to help the client gradually overcome their fears, starting with small steps. For example, if a client has a fear of speaking in public, he might start by recording himself speaking and watching the tape, then ask a few close friends to speak in front of him so that he can get used to the idea of ​​speaking in front of people. After this, he can try speaking in front of a small audience, then in front of a larger one, and so on. Another method that Anna Freud proposed is the association technique. She suggested that clients replace their negative associations with positive ones. For example, if a client is afraid of speaking in public due to fear of criticism, he may begin to associate this experience with a feeling of confidence and success, instead of associating it with danger and fear. In general, Anna Freud emphasized the importance of a gradual approach and an individual approach to working with the fears of each client. Her techniques can help clients overcome fears and develop a healthier, more confident psyche. Have you noticed any similarities between your work and that of Anna Freud??