Body as Psychoanalytic Object: Clinical Applications from Winnicott to Bion and Beyond

265 Pages·2021·5.558 MB·English

by  Caron Harrang (editor), Drew Tillotson (editor), Nancy C. Winters (editor)

“It is paradoxical and intriguing that after a century of existence psychoanal-
ysis is still so uncomfortable saying what it knows about the body. Paradoxical
because psychoanalysis was born giving voice to the body of hysterics. Yet over
time, the picture became that of a disincarnate analyst for a disincarnate patient,
prompting Paula Heimann to remind us that the purpose of psychoanalysis is
not to transform the analyst into a mechanical brain, which produces interpre-
tations purely on the basis of intellectual procedures. In her classic 1949 essay on
countertransference, Heimann denounces a split not yet resolved in psychoana-
lytic theorizing on the link between mind and body. Otherwise one would not
understand why a book like Body as Psychoanalytic Object can be so intriguing. The
fact is, this remains an exciting frontier of research in psychoanalysis. How body
and mind communicate remains quite mysterious. We know that the body that
interests us does not speak in words; still it ‘speaks’ and cannot be placed entirely
outside the field of the symbolic even when it is deprived of the ability to commu-
nicate lexically, as is the case with small children. It is not at all obvious that even
the body of the infant, that is, the child who does not yet have access to words, is
already touched by culture; which means that it starts immediately (even before
birth) to exist as a body that has its own intentionality, a body that dreams, a
body that communicates. Nor is it clear what relation there is between intersub-
jectivity based on instinct, what Bion calls the proto-mental system—the ability
of individuals to connect with each other on the basis of certain ‘valences’—and
intersubjectivity based on language. This outstanding book co-authored and ed-
ited by Caron Harrang, Drew Tillotson, and Nancy Winters promises readers an
extraordinary journey in which, little by little, they will be able to reflect on these
issues and see them in the light of a series of rigorous, provocative, and sophisti-
cated essays that make up the volume. I recommend this splendid book to psycho-
therapists, to psychoanalysts, and to all those in philosophy and the humanities
who reflect on the mystery of what constitutes the essence of our humanity.”
— Giuseppe Civitarese, MD, FIPA, author of
Sublime Subjects: Aesthetic Experience and
Intersubjectivity in Psychoanalysis
“In this theoretically intricate, clinically rich and challenging collection of es-
says, edited by Caron Harrang, Drew Tillotson, and Nancy Winters, we are
exposed to new and evolving ideas on the creative forms of body–mind engage-
ment. With Bion and Winnicott as guiding lodestars, authors here take us on
fascinating journeys. Body–mind emergence in prenatal and perinatal life, at the
end of life, in the process of growth and development, at points of breakdown,
and even, quite presciently, in the transformed clinical scenes of teletherapy and
screens. I was struck by the complexity and challenge of the many clinical mo-
ments in this book, used to push the reader towards new imaginings of the body
and mind in their complex and profound encountering. We are presented here
with troubling and inspiring stories, through a complex theoretical perspective in
which psychoanalysis is about opening the capacity to dream, to need, to want,
as well as to know.”
— Adrienne Harris, PhD, Director, Sandor
Ferenczi Center of the New School
“Body as Psychoanalytic Object: Clinical Applications from Winnicott to Bion and Beyond is
a sparkling collection of essays. Its varied authors engage the complexities of em-
bodiment as patient and analyst live these in the consulting room, taking up and
diving deep into the conscious and unconscious body, its sensory, related, affec-
tive, oneiric, and biologic presentations. Building on the foundational thinking of
Winnicott and Bion as well as contributions from French psychoanalysis, these
authors redress the relative scotomization of the body in psychoanalysis, turning
their collective clinical attention to the body present from before birth through
infancy and into illness and death. In these pages, concentration on the vulnera-
ble, mortal body reveals what it is to be alive, breathing, present, human.”
— Bruce Reis, PhD, FIPA is Regional Editor
for North America at the International Journal
of Psychoanalysis ; training and supervising
psychoanalyst, IPTAR, New York City
Body as Psychoanalytic Object
This book explores the role of bodily phenomena in mental life and in the psy-
choanalytic encounter, encouraging further dialog within psychoanalysis, phi-
losophy, and the humanities, and contributing new clinical and theoretical
perspectives to the recent resurgence of psychoanalytic interest in the body.
Presented in six parts in which diverse meanings are explored, Body as Psy-
choanalytic Object focuses on the clinical psychoanalytic encounter and the body
as object of psychoanalytic inquiry, spanning from the prenatal experience to
death. The contributors explore key themes including mind–body relations in
Winnicott, Bion, and beyond; oneiric body; nascent body in early object rela-
tions; body and psychosensory experience; body in breakdown; and body in
virtual space. With clinical vignettes throughout, each chapter provides unique
insight into how different analysts work with bodily phenomena in the clinical
situation and how it is conceived theoretically.
Building on the thinking of Winnicott and Bion, as well as contributions
from French psychoanalysis, Body as Psychoanalytic Object offers a way forward in
a body-based understanding of object relations theory for psychoanalysts and
psychotherapists.
Caron Harrang, LICSW, FIPA is a board-certified training and supervising
psychoanalyst of the Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society and Institute in Seat-
tle, Washington, USA.
Drew Tillotson, PsyD, FIPA is a board-certified psychoanalyst and a graduate
and Past President of the Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California in San
Francisco, California, USA.
Nancy C. Winters, MD, FIPA is a training and supervising psychoanalyst of
the Oregon Psychoanalytic Institute and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and
Child/Adolescent Psychiatry at the Oregon Health and Science University in
Portland, Oregon, USA.

Body as Psychoanalytic
Object
Clinical Applications from Winnicott
to Bion and Beyond
Edited by
Caron Harrang, Drew Tillotson, and
Nancy C. Winters
First published 2022
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Nancy Winters, Caron Harrang
and Drew Tillotson; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Nancy Winters, Caron Harrang, and Drew Tillotson to be
identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for
their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-032-04915-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-41844-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-19555-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003195559
Typeset in Baskerville
by codeMantra
To our patients, whose embodied lives inspired us to
explore body in its limitless capacity to speak, dream,
desire, and grieve.

Contents
Notes on contributors xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
General introduction 1
CARON HARRANG, DREW TILLOTSON, AND NANCY C. WINTERS
PART I
Mind–body relations in Winnicott, Bion,
and beyond 11
1 Introduction 13
CARON HARRANG, DREW TILLOTSON, AND NANCY C. WINTERS
2 Being after Winnicott: minding the body, embodying
the mind 16
LESLEY CALDWELL
3 Does the body have a mind? 32
ROBERT OELSNER
PART II
Oneiric body 45
4 Introduction 47
CARON HARRANG, DREW TILLOTSON, AND NANCY C. WINTERS
5 Body as dream space 50
JUDY K. EEKHOFF