Winnicott

Writer, paediatrician and psychoanalyst D. W. Winnicott became internationally renowned for his work with mothers and children, and his books such as The Piggle and Home is Where We Start From. In this updated edition of Adam Phillips's acclaimed biography of Winnicott, now with a new preface, he gets to grips with a figure who made a huge contribution to our understanding of human development, and continues to be read, valued and argued over decades after his death.Through an exploration of Winnicott's life and close readings of his most important papers, Adam Phillips traces his growing interest in the mother-infant relationship and the developmental process of children, and, above all, his radical, though often understated, revision of the work of Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein. In this sometimes critical, yet always penetrating and deeply considered, account of his life and work, Winnicott takes his place with Klein and Lacan as one of the very few great innovators within the psychoanalytic tradition. Although he founded no school of his own, 0. W. Winnicott (1896 1971) is now regarded as one of the most influential contributors to psychoanalysis since Freud. In over forty years of clinical practice, he brought unprecedented skill and intuition to the psychoanalysis of children. This critical new work by Adam Phillips presents the best short introduction to the thought and practice of D. W. Winnicott that is currently available. Winnicott's work was devoted to the recognition and description of the good mother and the use of the mother-infant relationship as the model of psychoanalytic treatment, His belief in natural development became a covert critique of overinterpretative methods of psychoanalysis. He combined his idiosyncratic approach to psychoanalysis with a willingness to make his work available to nonspecialist audiences. In this book Winnicott takes his place with Melanie K'ein and Jacques Lacan as one of the great innovators within the psychoanalytic tradition. D.W. Winnicott's remarkable books, including The Piggle , Home Is Where We Start From and The Child, Family and the Outside World (all published by Penguin) are still read, valued and argued with over thirty years after his death. Adam Phillips's short book, now issued with a new preface, is an elegant, thoughtful attempt to get to grips with a writer, paediatrician and psychiatrist whose work with children and mothers (and the wider implications their relationship has for all of us) continues to be profoundly relevant and fascinating. DW Winnicott's books, including "The Piggle", "Home Is Where We Start From" and "The Child", "Family and the Outside World" are still read, valued and argued with years after his death. This title attempts to get to grips with a writer, paediatrician and psychiatrist whose work with children and mothers continues to be relevant and fascinating.