Work and Play of Winnicott

238 Pages·1990·2.667 MB·English

by  Simon A. Gronlnick

THE
WORK AND PLAY
OF WINNICOTT

THE
WORK AND PLAY
OF WINNICOTT
Simon A. Grolnick,
M.D.
Jason Aronson, Inc.
Northvale, New Jersey
London
Copyright O 1990 by Jason Aronson Inc.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may
be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from
Jason Aronson Inc. except in the case of brief quotations in reviews for inclusion in a
magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationD ata
Grolnick, Simon A., 1930-
The work and play of Winnicott / Simon A. Grolnick.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-87668-802-4
1. Child analysis. 2. Psychoanalysis. 3. Winnicott, D. W.
(Donald Woods), 1896-197 1. 1. Title
RJ504.2.G76 1990
155.4-dc20 89-18572
CIP
Manufactured in the United States of America. Jason Aronson Inc. offers books and
cassettes. For information and catalog write to Jason Aronson Inc., 230 Livingston Street,
Northvale, New Jersey 07647.
To my wife and four daughters

Contents
Preface
1. Why Winnicott Now?
2. The Man and the Analyst
Personal History 9
The Psychoanalytic Climate 15
3. Winnicottian Principles
Winnicott's "Total Person" 26
Winnicott's "Natural Person" 26
Winnicott's Developmental Stance 28
Winnicott's Views on Dependency
and Regression 29
Good Enough Caretaking 30
Winnicottian Authenticity 3 1
Winnicott's Position on Creativity 32
viii CONTENTS
Playing, Paradox, and Illusion 34
Winnicott and General System Theory 36
Winnicott, Family Therapy,
and the Psychology of Groups 37
4. The Winnicottian Mother-and-Baby
A Baby and Someone 41
A Winnicottian Mother 44
Learning to Mother 45
Once upon a Time 45
The Winnicottian Mother-A PrCcis 47
The Winnicottian Baby 48
Babies and Development 49
The Infant's Relationship to the World 50
5. Developmental Lines Involving
the Self and Its Functions
The Development of the Subjective
and the Objective Self 59
The Development of Self-constancy 64
The Development of a Sense of Security
and Self-Control 66
The Development of Self-Assertiveness 68
The Development of a Sense of Authenticity 70
The Development of Self-Possession 74
The Development of the Capacity to Be Alone 76
6. The Development of the Sense
of an Object and Object Relatedness
The Development of the Capacity for Concern 87
The Development of the Moral Sense 89
The Development of the Capacity to Use the Object
The Development of a Sense of Belonging 94
CONTENTS ix
7. The Development of the Intermediate World
and Its Relationship to Creativity 97
Primary Creativity 102
The Transitional Object
and Transitional Phenomena 103
Earlier and Later Transitional Objects 106
The Fate of the Transitional Object 109
Transitional Objects and Language Development 11 0
Intermediate Space and Potential Space 110
Imaginary Companions 113
Dreaming as a Transitional Phenomenon 114
8. Reading Winnicott
A Reading Dialogue 12 1
Out of Chaos 122
Winnicott's Intellectual Sources 123
Acknowledging the Work of Others 125
Winnicott on Diagnosis and Prognosis 126
Winnicott, Fathers, and Feminism 127
Winnicott's Use of Words 129
9. How to Do Winnicottian Therapy
Fields of Persons and Drama 136
Succeeding by Failing 138
The Acknowledgment of Failure 142
Holding, Handling, and Object-Relating 144
Going It (Almost) Alone 153
Squiggling with Adults 155
Winnicottian Child Therapy and Analysis 163
10. Caveats for the Therapist
Concretizing Winnicott 17 1
Poetizing Winnicott 172