D.W. Winnicott PDF
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D. W. Key Figures in Counselling and Psychotherapy Series editor: Windy Dryden The Key Figures in Counselling and Psychotherapy series of books provides a concise, accessible introduction to the lives, contributions and influence of the leading innovators whose theoretical and practical work has had a profound impact on counselling and psychotherapy. The series includes comprehensive overviews of: Sigmund Freud by Michael Jacobs Eric Berne by Ian Stewart Carl Rogers by Brian Thorne Mebnie Klein by Julia Segal Fritz Perls by Petrüska Clarkson and Jennifer Mackewn Aaron T. Beck by Marjorie E. Weishaar Albert Ellis by Joseph Yankura and Windy Dryden Joseph Wölpe by Roger Poppen George Kelly by Fay Fransella D. W. Winnicott by Michael Jacobs M i c h a el J a c o bs SAGE Publications Los Angeles · London · New Delhi · Singapore © Michael Jacobs 1995 First published 1995 Reprinted 1998, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the Publishers. SAGE Publications Ltd. 1 Oliver's Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y ISP SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd. Bl/11 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Mathura Road, New Delhi 110 044 India SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd 33 Pekin Street #02-01 Far East Square Singapore 048763 British Library Cataloguing in Publication data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-8039-8595-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-8039-8596-4 (pbk) Library of Congress catalog card number 95-71212 Typeset by Mayhew Typesetting, Rhayader, Powys Contents Preface vii 1 The Life of D. W. Winnicott 1 2 Major Contributions to Theory 27 3 Major Contributions to Practice 63 4 Criticisms and Rebuttals 98 5 The Overall Influence of D. W. Winnicott 121 Select Bibliography of Winnicott's Works 146 References 149 Index 155 Preface When the series editor offered me the opportunity to write about D. W. Winnicott, he gave me the chance to learn as much as I had done in writing about Freud, for the first volume in this series. As with that book, he provided me with the incentive to read more widely and more thoroughly in the considerable literature by and on Winnicott, whom I had up to that point quoted with obvious relish whenever I wished to find legitimacy for a less than orthodox view on psychoanalytic theory or practice. As I suggest in the closing paragraphs (which at this point are to the reader yet a long way off), I think I may not have been alone in using his name in this way. When teaching a course at the time of writing the concluding chapter, I commented to the group upon the informality with which Winnicott greeted Guntrip at the start of Guntrip's therapy sessions. The response from one course member illustrated a second way in which his name is used. She said, 'Ah, but Winnicott was Winnicott.' In other words, there are unorthodox ways in psychoanalysis, and that shows how progressive it is, but they are not for the likes of us. At first I was tempted to respond in turn that we are all Winnicotts, although I suspect that this would not have been in the spirit of the man. 'We are all ourselves, and we might actually need to become ourselves* would possibly have been a more appropriate reply, had I at the time thought quickly enough. In fact, as I discovered when I read through the sources on his life, Winnicott was not as unorthodox as I had imagined. The picture is a complex one, just as the politics of psychoanalysis is complicated, and he needs to be understood against that back- ground. I have discovered the appropriateness of questioning both him and his ideas - more so than I had at first contemplated. I have also found a welcome for a critical stance from many of those whom I have consulted. Those who have studied Winnicott in depth do not idolize him in the way many of us who have casually quoted him sometimes appear to do. That has been both a relief for the writer and an incentive to do him justice. There were fewer resources than I had at my disposal for my viii D. W. Winnicott earlier text on Freud. The books by Davis and Wallbridge (1981) and by Phillips (1988) provided clear pathways into the many ideas that Winnicott had generated. Here and there were other texts, which threw light upon his life, and which examined his theory and practice from different perspectives. I had at my disposal more of his papers in published form than I suspect Phillips had, even though Davis and Wallbridge would have had access to the same material in original documents and papers. I have also had the opportunity of meeting people who knew Winnicott personally, or who have devoted more time to the study of his work than I could ever have done in the relatively short time involved in writing this book. Such interviews gave me a taste of what it must be like to write a biography, especially the delight I experienced in talking with those who have valued Winnicott in person, or who so obviously enjoy their contact with his thinking. While hoping that one day there may be a more comprehensive and critical biography than has yet appeared, I had in my own less extensive researches a sense of what fascinating material and memories await such fashioning. The limited nature of my knowledge before I embarked upon my own writing here has meant that I have appreciated, even more than I did in the preparation of my other books, generous sharing of information and ideas, advice on sources and refinement of my sometimes inadequate comprehension. This has come from a number of people, some of whom I have met for the first time. I am grateful that this project gave me the opportunity to do so. My particular thanks go to Professor John Davis, who rightly cherishes not only both the Winnicotts but also his late wife's superb contribution to the editing and explanations of Winnicott's papers; to Professor Windy Dryden who gave me the opening for this subject, and whose editing of the text has been gentler than I have experienced before, leading me to hope that my grammar and sentence construction improve with age; to Nina Farhi and Louise Exeter - respectively director and general secretary of the Squiggle Foundation - for all manner of help from start to finish; to Dr Isobel Hunter-Brown and to the librarian of the Institute of Psycho- Analysis for searching out and supplying papers and chapters critical of and influenced by Winnicott; to Dr Peter Lomas for reading the text from another perspective and ensuring that I recognized both strengths and shortcomings in Winnicott's writing; to Dr Lynne Murray and Sheelah Seeley - director and researcher respectively at the Winnicott Research Unit in Cambridge - for explaining so fully their studies of as well as their work with mothers and babies, and for generously allowing me to draw upon Preface ix their published and unpublished papers; and at the end of the alphabet, but in fact always there from A through to Z, my wife Moira Walker, whose judgement I always value, and whose love provides the best facilitating environment of all. Michael Jacobs Leicester
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