Donald Winnicott

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Donald Woods Winnicott (born April 7, 1896 in Plymouth , † January 25 or 28, 1971 in London ) was an English pediatrician and psychoanalyst . Through the mediation of his training analyst James Strachey, under the influence of Melanie Klein, he came from paediatrics to psychoanalysis, without calling himself a Kleinian. Instead, he belonged - in addition to z. B. Michael Balint and Michael Foulkes - the so-called B-group, the group of the independents and the middle group of the British psychoanalytic society, and he is (therefore) one of the most important exponents of the British object relationship theory , outside of the object relationship theory of the Kleinians School.

His concepts of the transitional object and the transitional space were particularly well received . His bon mot "There is no such thing as a baby", with which he wanted to express that you cannot adequately research and treat a baby without its mother, since the two form an inseparable dyad , achieved great fame . In addition, Winnicott coined the term The False Self .

Winnicott is one of the most important pioneers in child psychotherapy. In doing so, he was able to draw on over 60,000 cases that he has handled in his forty years at Paddington Children's Hospital and in his own practice.

theory

In the first few months, a newborn baby has fused into one with its mother; the baby perceives the mother as part of itself. Winnicott does not start from an idealized mother who damages her child by deviating from the ideal of psychoanalytic theories, but introduces the concept of a sufficiently good mother into the terminology of psychoanalysis. The “good enough mother” is able to respond to the needs of the baby, at least to the extent that the baby never feels completely abandoned. Over time, the mother breaks away from this close bond so that the child can learn that the mother is not part of him.

In this process, the transition object plays an important role. This could be the corner of a blanket that the baby uses to comfort itself in the absence of the mother. For the child, it belongs to both the mother and the real world.

If the mother is not good enough, emotional deprivation occurs , which means that the image of the mother in the baby dies. Deprivation is an important prerequisite for anti-social behavior, such as stealing, from children. With this behavior the child tries to compensate for his deficiency. However, it is important for the caregiver to know that this anti-social behavior is a sign of the child's hope. A deprived child who has no hope will seemingly adapt and only when he has hope again will he show anti-social behavior, i.e. try to make up for his deficiency.

Selection of works in German

  • Maturation Processes and Supporting Environment. Studies on the theory of emotional development. Psychosozial-Verlag, Giessen 2002, ISBN 3-89806-091-8 (Translation from: The Maturational Processes and the Faciliating Environment. Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development , International Universities Press, New York 1965.)
  • Human nature. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-608-91800-0 .
  • From play to creativity. 11th edition. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-608-95376-0 .
  • A look at analytical practice. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-608-91787-X .
  • Family and individual development. (18 lectures). Kindler, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-463-00732-0 .
  • Child, family and environment. Reinhardt, Munich / Basel 1992, ISBN 3-497-00944-X .
  • Babies and their mothers. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-608-95647-6 .
  • Aggression: environmental failure and anti-social tendency. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-608-95337-X .
  • The spontaneous gesture. Selected letters. Edited by F. Robert Rodman. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-608-95760-X .
  • Transition objects and transition phenomena. A study of first non-self possession. First as a lecture in 1951, then in English. 1953; German in: Psyche No. 23, 1969.
  • From paediatrics to psychoanalysis. Psychosozial-Verlag, Giessen 2008, ISBN 978-3-89806-702-7 .

literature

  • Eva Busch: Introduction to the work of DW Winnicott. Lang, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-631-45495-3 .
  • Madeleine Davis: An Introduction to the Work of DW Winnicott. 2nd Edition. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-608-95105-9 .
  • Werner Sesink: Mediations of the Self. An educational introduction to DW Winnicott's psychoanalytic development theory. Lit, Münster 2002, ISBN 3-8258-5832-4 .
  • Denys Ribas: Donald Woods Winnicott. PUF, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-13-050761-1 .
  • Edward R. Shapiro: Images in Psychiatry: Donald W. Winnicott, 1896-1971. In: American Journal of Psychiatry. Volume 155, H. 3, March 1998, p. 421, doi: 10.1176 / ajp.155.3.421 (short portrait with illustration).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ DW Winnicott: Maturation Processes and Supporting Environment. Studies on the theory of emotional development. Psychosozial-Verlag, Giessen 2002, ISBN 3-89806-091-8 . (Translation from: The Maturational Processes and the Faciliating Environment. Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development. International Universities Press, New York 1965)
  2. ^ L. Caldwell: Winnicott and the Psychoanalytic Tradition. Karnac Books, London 2007.
  3. Search for the lost self . In: Der Spiegel . No. 29 , 1979 ( online ). “Those who have to be the pride of their parents never really know whether they are loved: there are always conditions or, in the worst case, creeping blackmail. What comes about is what Winnicott called a 'false self' that has made the often unconscious expectations of parents into its own substance. "
  4. ^ D. Winnicott: Transitional objects and transitional phenomena. In: International Journal of Psychoanalysis. 34, 1953, pp. 89-97.