Bøker av Donald W. Winnicott

Includes critiques of Melanie Klein's ideas and insights into the works of other leading psychoanalysts, and thoughts on such concepts as play in the analytic situation, the fate of the transitional object, regression in psychoanalysis, and the use of silence in psychotherapy.

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.

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.