Donald W Winnicott – författare

”Synen på leken som något av det allvarligaste vi kan ta oss för är inte Winnicott den förste att föra fram. Men han sätter in leken och lekförmågan i ett teoretiskt sammanhang som är starkt fruktbart för vårt tänkande.”

Så skriver Johan Cullberg i förordet till denna klassiker inom psykoanalysen. I mellanområdet mellan mor och barn tar barnets lekande form. Det är platsen för barnets symboliserande, för övergångsobjekt och övergångsfenomen. Där hålls frågan om vad som kommer inifrån och vad som kommer utifrån svävande och fantasin befruktar verkligheten. Tillgången till detta potentiella rum blir enligt Winnicott grunden för all skapande verksamhet. Det är också den plats där psykoanalys och psykoterapi äger rum.

Översättningen är bearbetad av Arne Jemstedt, läkare och psykoanalytiker.

Översättning Ingeborg Löfgren.

Boken ingår i serien Natur och Kulturs psykologiklassiker.

In his illuminating introduction, Masud Khan, to whom Dr Winnicott''s case notes were entrusted, relates this definite text of Holding and Interpretation: Fragment of an Analysis to an earlier phase of the treatment of the same patient described by Winnicott in his paper ''Withdrawal and Regression'', also included in this volume. The case documents the therapeutic care of a highly gifted professional man who suffered a psychotic breakdown with acute depression, and who, through analysis, and hospital treatment, was gradually helped to recovery. It is remarkable for many things: Dr Winnicott''s skill at ''holding'' the patient in the analytical sessions, and providing guidance through sensitive interpretation; his ability to re-enforce the patient''s sexual and ego functions; his instinctive recognition of the value of silence (as a way of showing trust, and of not destroying by intent); his capacity to accept the paradox that verbal communication can be both meaningful and a negation of psychic reality; and, not least, his acute judgment of when to stop the analysis.

Over a period of several decades, the author evolved a personal way of relating to and communicating with children, offering them a live professional setting in which to discover themselves. He believed that, in the right case, a full and free use of the first interview can yield rich rewards, and he claimed that the right cases for this are common. He hoped that, by presenting these case studies, he would introduce the reader to the exciting potential of his approach, which depends as much on selection (of therapist) as on training. Here is his presentation - seventeen case histories whose significance for child psychiatry is in the tradition of Freud''s case histories of the treatment of adult neurotics. Therapeutic Consultations in Child Psychiatry provides a fruitful feedback to psychoanalysis itself.

Thinking About Children collects thirty-one papers, of which twenty-eight have never previously been published. As might be expected, they range widely in tone and content from concise clinical observations to more general meditations including the landmark paper "Towards an objective study of human nature". Of particular interest are sections on autism and psychosomatics, where the author''s thinking can be seen to foreshadow more recent developments, such as Frances Tustin''s work on autism. Together with a substantial introduction by the editors, this book indispensable for those acquainted with the author''s work, and an ideal introduction for those who have not yet encountered the extraordinary clarity and depth of his thought.

The value of Winnicott''s work has become more and more widely recognized not only among psycho-analysts but also psychologists, educators, social workers, and men and women in every branch of medicine; indeed, all whose work or practice involves the care of children in health or sickness.An important part of the value of these writings lies in the uniquely binocular view with which the author regards the subjects of his investigation. With him, pediatrics informs psycho-analysis; psycho-analysis illuminates pediatrics.

This book is not concerned with innovation in basic psychoanalytic concepts or techniques, but with the formulation and testing-out of ideas whose origin was in the challenge of day-to-day clinical work that was the staple of Winnocott''s medical experience throughout his professional life.This book is arranged in three sections. The first represents Winnicott''s attitudes as a pediatrician prior to training in psycho-analysis, and demonstrates the degree to which a purely formal pediatric approach requires as an effective complement a deeper understanding of the emotional problems of child development.

In his illuminating introduction, Masud Khan, to whom Dr Winnicott''s case notes were entrusted, relates this definite text of Holding and Interpretation: Fragment of an Analysis to an earlier phase of the treatment of the same patient described by Winnicott in his paper ''Withdrawal and Regression'', also included in this volume. The case documents the therapeutic care of a highly gifted professional man who suffered a psychotic breakdown with acute depression, and who, through analysis, and hospital treatment, was gradually helped to recovery. It is remarkable for many things: Dr Winnicott''s skill at ''holding'' the patient in the analytical sessions, and providing guidance through sensitive interpretation; his ability to re-enforce the patient''s sexual and ego functions; his instinctive recognition of the value of silence (as a way of showing trust, and of not destroying by intent); his capacity to accept the paradox that verbal communication can be both meaningful and a negation of psychic reality; and, not least, his acute judgment of when to stop the analysis.

Over a period of several decades, the author evolved a personal way of relating to and communicating with children, offering them a live professional setting in which to discover themselves. He believed that, in the right case, a full and free use of the first interview can yield rich rewards, and he claimed that the right cases for this are common. He hoped that, by presenting these case studies, he would introduce the reader to the exciting potential of his approach, which depends as much on selection (of therapist) as on training. Here is his presentation - seventeen case histories whose significance for child psychiatry is in the tradition of Freud''s case histories of the treatment of adult neurotics. Therapeutic Consultations in Child Psychiatry provides a fruitful feedback to psychoanalysis itself.

Thinking About Children collects thirty-one papers, of which twenty-eight have never previously been published. As might be expected, they range widely in tone and content from concise clinical observations to more general meditations including the landmark paper "Towards an objective study of human nature". Of particular interest are sections on autism and psychosomatics, where the author''s thinking can be seen to foreshadow more recent developments, such as Frances Tustin''s work on autism. Together with a substantial introduction by the editors, this book indispensable for those acquainted with the author''s work, and an ideal introduction for those who have not yet encountered the extraordinary clarity and depth of his thought.

The value of Winnicott''s work has become more and more widely recognized not only among psycho-analysts but also psychologists, educators, social workers, and men and women in every branch of medicine; indeed, all whose work or practice involves the care of children in health or sickness.An important part of the value of these writings lies in the uniquely binocular view with which the author regards the subjects of his investigation. With him, pediatrics informs psycho-analysis; psycho-analysis illuminates pediatrics.

This book is not concerned with innovation in basic psychoanalytic concepts or techniques, but with the formulation and testing-out of ideas whose origin was in the challenge of day-to-day clinical work that was the staple of Winnocott''s medical experience throughout his professional life.This book is arranged in three sections. The first represents Winnicott''s attitudes as a pediatrician prior to training in psycho-analysis, and demonstrates the degree to which a purely formal pediatric approach requires as an effective complement a deeper understanding of the emotional problems of child development.