Winnicott and the Psychoanalytic Tradition

'Although this collection does not represent a comprehensive engagement with the intellectual history to which Winnicott contributed so significantly, it does propose that using his work to think about themes of importance to practitioners now is also a way of thinking about some of the present preoccupations of psychoanalysis. 'To think about Winnicott in terms of his links with others is to place him firmly in a discursive field of exchange, debate, theoretical and technical challenge. The papers collected here emphatically suggest there is much to be gained from reading Winnicott and the other psychoanalytic theorists and clinicians with attention and openness.'- Lesley Caldwell, from the Introduction 'This book, inspired by Winnicott's life and work, adopts, broadly, two themes: the true self and the resonance of Winnicott's thinking with the contributions of other major psychoanalysts of the past half century. The second theme could be said to emerge from the first: the pursuit of authenticity, whether by patient or analyst. There is no more important concern for psychoanalysis. Our role, in a worldwhere the complex role of healing is often displaced by strategies of rationalisation and normalisation, requires defending by example. These papers are emblematic of analytic work at its finest. I cannot imagine anyone with a serious interest in mental health failing to be inspired by their integrity.' - Paul Williams, Joint Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Psychoanalysis