Psycho-Analytic Explorations - Softcover

Winnicott, Donald Woods

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0674720911 ISBN 13: 9780674720916

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1992

Synopsis

The editors of The Winnicott Trust have assembled into one volume ninety-two works by the brilliant writer, theoretician, and clinician. This fascinating volume includes, among many important topics, critiques of Melanie Klein's ideas and insights into the work of other psychoanalysts, as well as gems of thought on such concepts as play in the analytic situation, the fate of the transitional object, regression in psychoanalysis, and the use of silence in psychotherapy.

About this title

Review

As well as being informative, [this book] is a delight to read. Its value comes from the light it throws on Winnicott as a person and on the evolution of his ideas. In an initial 'Reflection,' Winnicott's wife, Clare, attempts 'to throw some light on D.W.W.'s capacity for playing' (p. 3). In so doing, she tells us a great deal about the man himself and his formative years...It is the playful quality of his writing style that makes it such a pleasure to read...All the important Winnicottian themes are represented in this book: honesty and deceiving, the uses of silence, psychosomatic disorders, the transitional object, fear of breakdown, orgastic pleasure, play in the analytic situation, regression, male and female elements of the self, envy, and, of course, the mother and the baby...Winnicott's technique emerges here with great clarity. As always, he moves back and forth between theory and clinical illustration with beautiful fluidity...All of the essays are fascinating. They are Winnicott in his shirtsleeves, and together they provide a unique supplement to our knowledge about a man who was a major contributor to psychoanalysis. -- Sydney E. Pulver, M.D. "Psychoanalytic Books"

From the Publisher

A testimony to the wide range of Winnicott's interests
As both theoretician and clinician, Winnicott left a legacy of concepts, ideas, and attitudes whose importance continues to grow. Now the editors of The Winnicott Trust have assembled in one volume 92 works - half of them previously unpublished - that will be of particular interest to psychoanalysts and psychotherapists. Psycho-Analytic Explora- tions will stand as the sourcebook of Winnicott's thought for those in his own field. This collection spans the years from World War II to Winnicott's death in 1971, and testifies to the wide range of his intellectual interests and clinical experience.

It includes previously unpublished critiques of the ideas of Melanie Klein, and comments on the work of other psychoanalysts, as well as clinical examples, case studies, and gems of thought extracted from his files. Many of the topics will be of direct usefulness to clinicians: for example, play in the analytic situation, the use of silence, psycho- somatic disorder, interpretation in analysis, and seven chapters on psychotherapy with children and adolescents. Other chapters treat such themes as the fate of the transitional object, fear of break- down, the split-off male and female elements, the basis for self in body. Also included are Winnicott's writings on convulsion therapy and leucotomy; his last great theoretical paper, "The Use of an Object"; a moving and illuminating memoir by his widow, Clare; and, as a Postscript, a talk he gave late in life discussing the influences that shaped his work

Exploring in her memoir the question of why Winnicott was so interested in "the first two- person relationship," that between mother and baby, Clare Winnicott says: "Given his personality, his training and experience, and his urge for discovery, it seems inevitable that he would concentrate his researches on the [then] so far comparatively unexplored area of earliest infancy and childhood. His findings, however, are recognized by many as having implications far beyond the immediate area of study. It is the expressed opinion of some that they throw light on all areas of living." Readers of Psycho-Analytic Explorations will share that opinion.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0674720911
• ISBN 13: 9780674720916
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 616