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[Adam Phillips] has added his name with distinction to the growing literature on Winnicott...[His] book presents a cohesive study of the major conceptual paradigms developed by Winnicott in his lifetime. -- Macario Giraldo Psychiatry A charming new book...that sums up the work of the British psychoanalyst D. W. Winnicott, the only major therapist I know of whose language would have pleased a poet...[Winnicott's] depiction of the beginning of human life is a kind of wry sublime. The infant's relation to his mother, he says, is one of utter ruthlessness. He uses her in an absolute way, as if this were her destiny. Gradually, by making herself less available to him, the mother "disillusions" the infant. Then, the wind knocked out of him, he is obliged to reconsider his ruthlessness...According to Mr. Phillips, Winnicott believed that this early experience sets a pattern for life, which is "a continual and increasingly sophisticated illusionment--disillusionment--re-illusionment process." Winnicott suggested that the artist's ruthlessness resembled, even repeated, the infant's. In the absence of a mother, the critic has to disillusion and re-illusion the artist. In therapy, the analyst does it for the patient. -- Anatole Broyard New York Times Book Review This short critical study is one of the best introductions to the British pediatrician and psychoanalyst who augmented object-relations theory and gave us the concept of the "good-enough" mother. Boston Globe This beautifully written account explores the development of British psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott's thought. The author, a fellow Briton and a child psychotherapist, is both a sympathetic interpreter and a perceptive critic of Winnicott's ideas from both a therapeutic and a scientific perspective...Phillips praises Winnicott for his major theoretical contributions--transitional phenomena, primary creativity, ruthlessness, the antisocial tendency, and the "true and false self"...By deftly weaving bits of biographical information into the narrative, the author places Winnicott in historical perspective, illuminating his often tactfully disguised quarrels with his predecessors, Freud and Klein, and suggesting how personal preoccupations became theoretical arguments in Winnicott's intuitive and idiosyncratic mind. -- Mary Hayden Science Books and Films A distinguished addition to the growing body of literature on the most important native-born English psychoanalyst. Phillips is especially illuminating on Winnicott's life, drawing, for example, on Winnicott's late poem "The Tree" for evidence of "his mother's depression, and her consequent inability to hold him"...[This book] is written in the spirit of independent thinking that Winnicott himself fostered. Times Literary Supplement
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
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.
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The autobiography that Winnicott started to write in the last years of his life, entitled 'Not Less Than Everything', began with a description of his own death. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The autobiography that Winnicott started to write in the last years of his life, entitled 'Not Less Than Everything', began with a description of his own death. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
48 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Who better to write a book on who is arguably Britain's most important post-WW2 psychoanalytic writer, than Britian's most widely-read contemporary psychoanalytic writer? As any psychoanalytic psychotherapist will testify, contemporary therapy would be no where near what it is without Donald Winnicott. Adam Phillips (himself a practicing child and adult therapist) has said that, without having immersed himself in Winnicott's writings in particular, he could not have developed his own style and begun disseminating his own unique brand of psychoanalytic writing. This immersion is here more than evident. Phillips goes into comprehensive detail, displaying a thorough awareness of both the man and his ideas, yet never so abstractly that we lose track of the larger journey that is explicated through the various chapters of the book. Winnicott's major theoretical concepts are elaborated from first principles - the True/False Self dichotomy, Holding vs. Interpretation, etc. - interwoven with illuminating biographical information. Clearly deeply researched and intellectually considered, Phillips's Winnicott is just that: personal yet never polemic, distanced yet thought-provokingly involved. The book is rare - how many other biographies inspire one to go out and find others by the author *and* his subject? Although the reader new to psychoanalytic jargon might become unstuck in more than one or two places, these are moments worth suffering: for the trainee and the fascinated layperson alike, the book remains - quintessentially - unmissable.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Until I picked up this book, I knew next to nothing about D W Winnicott, the pioneering paediatrician and psychoanalyst. But Adam Phillips (himself a child psychotherapist) corrects that gap in my knowledge with this affectionate - though not uncritical - exploration of a very significant figure in the history of child psychiatry and psychology.
Given that Winnicott had a preference for plain language, it is regrettable that Phillips' preface and fairly lengthy introduction are rather dry in style, which may put off more casual readers. Fortunately, his writing style is more easily manageable in the main body of the book.
As Winnicott's focus was always on child developmental issues, it is more than appropriate that Phillips considers not only the facts of Winnicott's upbringing, but also Winnicott's own view of it (as expressed in published comments).
One particular chapter especially grabbed my attention. This is the one which looks at Winnicott's observations about children evacuated from their homes during World War II. Phillips examines how these unfortunate (and damaging) circumstances gave Winnicott the opportunity to learn a great deal about children's behaviour. What fascinates me personally is the parallel between these wartime experiences (and discoveries) and my own interest in the situation of children removed from their homes and placed in psychiatric units (of the kind that existed - broadly speaking - from the 1950s through to the mid-'90s).
Also of special interest for me, given how little I knew of Winnicott previously, is how familiar many of his ideas appear. Many parents will be familiar with some of his concepts from child rearing self-help books and parenting 'experts'.
The author has succeeded in bringing his subject to life on the page, revealing a good deal about Winnicott's possible motivations, hopes and aims. Given how empathetic and caring a figure Winnicott appears to have been, it is perhaps disappointing that these aspects of his approach were less influential (arguably) in children's post-war mental health care than were his theoretical contributions.
Given that Winnicott had a preference for plain language, it is regrettable that Phillips' preface and fairly lengthy introduction are rather dry in style, which may put off more casual readers. Fortunately, his writing style is more easily manageable in the main body of the book.
As Winnicott's focus was always on child developmental issues, it is more than appropriate that Phillips considers not only the facts of Winnicott's upbringing, but also Winnicott's own view of it (as expressed in published comments).
One particular chapter especially grabbed my attention. This is the one which looks at Winnicott's observations about children evacuated from their homes during World War II. Phillips examines how these unfortunate (and damaging) circumstances gave Winnicott the opportunity to learn a great deal about children's behaviour. What fascinates me personally is the parallel between these wartime experiences (and discoveries) and my own interest in the situation of children removed from their homes and placed in psychiatric units (of the kind that existed - broadly speaking - from the 1950s through to the mid-'90s).
Also of special interest for me, given how little I knew of Winnicott previously, is how familiar many of his ideas appear. Many parents will be familiar with some of his concepts from child rearing self-help books and parenting 'experts'.
The author has succeeded in bringing his subject to life on the page, revealing a good deal about Winnicott's possible motivations, hopes and aims. Given how empathetic and caring a figure Winnicott appears to have been, it is perhaps disappointing that these aspects of his approach were less influential (arguably) in children's post-war mental health care than were his theoretical contributions.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
56 of 57 people found the following review helpful
Excellent primer on Winnicott
2 Feb 1998
Format:Paperback
Renowned, revered, kind-hearted D.W. Winnicott (1896-1971) was a pediatrician and then a child analyst whose contributions to theories of child development and psychology (mothering, love, language, attachment, dependency, anxiety and many other topics) were enormous. Phillips' book illuminates Winnicott's body of work and includes a chronology. The tone is respectful and insightful and Phillips' knack for skillful explanation and analysis is here. But he knows Winnicott's work -- and life -- by heart, and has written extensively on him elsewhere, and occasionally in this work he meshes the two -- biography and work -- so seamlessly that I wished for more. As an intro to Winnicott's ideas, this is first-rate.
A subject brought to life on the page
21 Mar 2011
Format:Paperback
I must admit that, until I picked up this book, I knew next to nothing about D W Winnicott, the pioneering pediatrician and psychoanalyst. But Adam Phillips (himself a child psychotherapist) corrects that gap in my knowledge with this affectionate--though not uncritical--exploration of a very significant figure in the history of child psychiatry and psychology.
Given that Winnicott had a preference for plain language, it is regrettable that Phillips' preface and fairly lengthy introduction are rather dry in style, which may put off more casual readers. Fortunately, his writing style is more easily manageable in the main body of the book.
As Winnicott's focus was always on child developmental issues, it is more than appropriate that Phillips considers not only the facts of Winnicott's upbringing, but also Winnicott's own view of it (as expressed in published comments).
One particular chapter especially grabbed my attention. This is the one which looks at Winnicott's observations about British children evacuated from their homes during World War II. Phillips examines how these unfortunate (and damaging) circumstances gave Winnicott the opportunity to learn a great deal about children's behavior. What fascinates me personally is the parallel between these wartime experiences (and discoveries) and my own interest in the situation of children removed from their homes and placed in psychiatric units in the UK (of the kind that existed--broadly speaking--from the 1950s through to the mid-'90s).
Also of special interest for me, given how little I knew of Winnicott previously, is how familiar many of his ideas appear. Many parents will be familiar with some of these concepts from child rearing self-help books and parenting "experts."
The author has succeeded in bringing his subject to life on the page, revealing a good deal about Winnicott's possible motivations, hopes and aims. Given how empathetic and caring a figure Winnicott appears to have been, it is perhaps disappointing that these aspects of his approach were less influential (arguably) in children's post-war mental health care than were his theoretical contributions.
Given that Winnicott had a preference for plain language, it is regrettable that Phillips' preface and fairly lengthy introduction are rather dry in style, which may put off more casual readers. Fortunately, his writing style is more easily manageable in the main body of the book.
As Winnicott's focus was always on child developmental issues, it is more than appropriate that Phillips considers not only the facts of Winnicott's upbringing, but also Winnicott's own view of it (as expressed in published comments).
One particular chapter especially grabbed my attention. This is the one which looks at Winnicott's observations about British children evacuated from their homes during World War II. Phillips examines how these unfortunate (and damaging) circumstances gave Winnicott the opportunity to learn a great deal about children's behavior. What fascinates me personally is the parallel between these wartime experiences (and discoveries) and my own interest in the situation of children removed from their homes and placed in psychiatric units in the UK (of the kind that existed--broadly speaking--from the 1950s through to the mid-'90s).
Also of special interest for me, given how little I knew of Winnicott previously, is how familiar many of his ideas appear. Many parents will be familiar with some of these concepts from child rearing self-help books and parenting "experts."
The author has succeeded in bringing his subject to life on the page, revealing a good deal about Winnicott's possible motivations, hopes and aims. Given how empathetic and caring a figure Winnicott appears to have been, it is perhaps disappointing that these aspects of his approach were less influential (arguably) in children's post-war mental health care than were his theoretical contributions.
good enough = great
14 Feb 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
slow to start but does an excellent job of explaining what Winnicott meant by "good enough" mothering. I appreciate the author's effort to point out that Winnicott ignored the concept of good-enough fathering, so now I just think "good-enough parenting."
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