Winnicott And The Psychoanalytic Tradition

This book focuses on two themes: the first theme is the true self and the resonance of Winnicott's thinking with the contributions of other major psychoanalysts of the past half century; the second theme emerges from the first: the pursuit of authenticity, whether by patient or analyst.

This collection proposes that using Winnicott's work to think about themes of importance to practitioners now is also a way of thinking about some of the present preoccupations of psychoanalysis. How certain themes assume an importance and develop at certain times often resonates with debates of the past and to encounter them in the present almost always offer something new. Theoretical and clinical ideas are produced in particular conditions and often also in response to, or as part of, a certain intellectual and socio-cultural context; how they have come to be understood and how they have their effect also involves that wider world and its interests.

This volume in a book series on psychoanalytic leaders, provides a geographically global sampler of writing stemming from Winnicott's complex and paradoxical thinking. In the first section, on his work and legacy, his thinking is put into a context to reveal something of the origins, significant milestones, contemporary development, and theoretical expansion of his thinking. In the second section, there is a recognition of the fact that Winnicott privileged clinical work. This section aims to illustrate the evolution of theory, expansion of concepts and applications of Winnicott's body of work to the clinical situation with both children and adults in a variety of settings which include private practice, the health services and residential programmes in a varied array of settings worldwide. The third section on applications of Winnicott's work outside the consulting room celebrates his special capacity as a bridge-builder and as a figure whose work has had a very wide appeal and influence.

Object relations, which emphasizes the importance of the preoedipal period and the infant-mother relationship, is considered by many analysts to be the major development in psychoanalytic theory since Freud. In this reinterpretation of its history Peter L. Rudnytsky focuses on two pivotal figures: Otto Rank, one of Freud's original and most brilliant disciples, who later broke away from psychoanalysis, and D. W. Winnicott, the leading representative of the Independent tradition in British psychoanalysis. Rudnytsky begins with an overview arguing that object relations theory can synthesize the scientific and hermeneutic dimensions of psychoanalysis. He the uses the ideas of Rank and Winnicott to uncover the preoedipal aspects of Sophocles' Oedipus the King. After an appraisal of the relationship between Rank and Freud, he turns to Rank's neglected writings between 1924 and 1927 and shows how they anticipate contemporary object relations theory. Rudnytsky critically measures Winnicott's achievement against those of Heinz Kohut and Jacques Lacan, the founders of two competing schools of psychoanalysis, and compares Winnicott's life and work with Freud's. Next, using both published and unpublished accounts by the psychotherapist Harry Guntrip of his analyses with W. R. D. Fairbairn and Winnicott, he probes the personal and intellectual interactions among these three British clinicians. Rudnytsky concludes by advancing a psychoanalytic theory of the self as a rejoinder to the postmodernism that is the dominant ideology in literary studies today. In two appendices he makes available for the first time an English translation of Rank's "Genesis of the Object Relation" and a 1983 interview with Clare Winnicott.

Describes Winnicott's theories of child development, the mother-child relationship, and human sexuality.

`The importance of Michael Jacobs′ book lies in his attempt to convey... Winnicott′s profound influence.... Jacobs rightly delights in the creativity and imagination of his subject and illustrates these with numerous quotations and descriptions from Winnicott′s writings.... What is conveyed throughout the book is the essence of Winnicott.... [whose] gift was to make psychoanalytic language, methods and concepts more widely available, accepted and appreciated to a nonpsychoanalytic world′ - British Psychological Society Counselling Psychology Review One of the best-known British psychoanalysts, D W Winnicott attracts the interest of counsellors and psychotherapists far beyond the strict psychoanalytic tradition in which he was trained. He coined many phrases that have entered the discourse of therapy, such as `good enough mother′, `transitional object′ and `facilitating environment′. Winnicott has had a profound impact on research into the mother-baby relationship, and his unorthodox manner and sparkling writing style have attracted enthusiastic acclaim. In this book, Michael Jacobs summarizes Winnicott′s life and explains his major theoretical concepts. He also rigorously evaluates his practice as a clinician - for example, the holding and management of deeply regressed patients. While highlighting Winnicott′s brilliance and creativity, Jacobs is not afraid to scrutinize his contributions more critically. He also discusses criticisms others have made of Winnicott, notably within the psychoanalytic movement. The final chapter assesses the influence of Winnicott′s thinking in other countries as well as in Britain.

"Bowlby and Winnicott's students give us new perspectives in a lively, authentic and scholarly picture of these important figures, whose influence and major contributions to many fields is immense. I welcome this informative, entertaining and thought-provoking book and I hope that it will be widely read." --Dr. Mario MarroneJohn Bowlby and Donald Winnicott were two of the most notable twentieth century pioneers in the application of psychoanalysis to child development and family studies. A series of essays, written by former students of both men, provides insight into the way they approached their work, in addition to novel and clarifying commentaries on their ideas.The book covers such subjects as the problems of antisocial children, separation, loss, and grief. It pays attention to the social context and dimension of Bowlby and Winnicott's work and includes a novel examination of their contributions to the 1945 Curtis Committee?'s deliberations leading to the landmark 1948 Children?'s Act in Great Britain. Their different personalities and scientific attitudes are brought out in a lively and anecdotal way. The book ends with an extensive bibliography that links their own individual work not only to each other, but also to the many and varied strands of research and reflection that owe their origin to D.W. Winnicott and John Bowlby.

Donald Woods Winnicott (1896-1971) was one of Britain's leading psychoanalysts and pediatricians. The author of some of the most enduring theories of the child and of child analysis, he coined terms such as the "good enough mother" and the "transitional object" (known to most as the security blanket). Winnicott's work is still used today by child and family therapists, social workers, teachers, and psychologists, and his papers and clinical observations are routinely studied by trainees in psychiatry and clinical psychology. Beyond the expected audiences of psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists, Winnicott also wrote for parents, teachers, social workers, childcare specialists, pediatricians, psychologists, art and play therapists, and others in the field of child development. Now, for the first time, virtually all of Winnicott's writings are presented chronologically in 12 volumes, edited and annotated by leading Winnicott scholars. The Collected Works of D. W. Winnicott brings together letters, clinical case reports, child consultations, psychoanalytic articles, and papers, including previously unpublished works on topics of continuing interest to contemporary readers (such as delinquency, antisocial behavior, corporal punishment, and child care). The Collected Works begins with an authoritative General Introduction by editors Lesley Caldwell and Helen Taylor Robinson, while each of the volumes features an original introduction examining that volume's major themes and written by an international Winnicott scholar and psychoanalyst. Throughout The Collected Works, editorial annotations provide historical context and background information of scholarly and clinical value. The final volume contains new and illuminating appendices, comprehensive bibliographies of Winnicott's publications and letters, documentation of his lectures and broadcasts, and a selection of his drawings. This extraordinary publication will be an essential resource for Winnicott admirers the world over and those interested in the history and origins of the fields of child development and psychoanalysis.