Review of Home Is Where We Start From: Essays by a Psychoanalyst (Paperback)

These essays were collected and published posthumously, by Winnicott's widow, Clare, and colleagues. British pediatrician, humanitarian, andground-breaking psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott died in 1971, having made anearly immeasurable contribution to the fields of psychoanalysis and childpsychology. In this volume, as with his other writings, his ideas are deep,reverential and respectful, and often somewhat complex, and at the sametime, his presentation is utterly simple and straightforward. The reader isfully engaged, as a result of Winnicott's incredible knack for connectingwith his audience.

The lively and interesting papers comprising thisutterly accessible collection were written over a wide span of time - threedecades or more. The selections are varied, and have been separated forreaderly convenience into several sections: "Health and Illness,""The Family," and, finally, "Reflections on Society."Some were written in order to be presented at meetings of the medicaland/or psychoanalytic community; others, to various civic, political, andother groups (The Progressive League, The Liberal Magazine, The BorstalAssistant Governors' Conference, etc.)

The collection is various andinteresting for its content but also for - not in spite of - its grab-bagfeel. Winnicott was comfortable with his listeners, and never afraid tospeak simply, clearly, and with his trademark empathy intact. In fact, thatempathy was at the core of his work. There's a great variety in it, too."The Price of Disregarding Psychoanalytic Research," a talk givenin 1965, details the importance of his philosophy. ("The link betweenpoetic truth and scientific truth is surely in the person, in you andme.") Essays such as the 1963 "The Value of Depression"("Always, depression implies ego strength...") and the 1967"Delinquency as a Sign of Hope" ("the antisocial tendency islinked inherently with deprivation" ) show Winnicott at his very best.And the playful and kind 1969 "The Pill and the Moon" - writtenfor an address to the Progressive League in the 1960's - iswonderful.

Some of these hopeful and kindhearted essays show their age,but in a welcome and lovely way, and therefore each is well worth readingand thinking about.

Product Description
One of the most gifted and creative psychoanalysts of his generation, D. W. Winnicott made lasting contributions to our understanding of the minds of children.His ideas have influenced the diverse psychoanalytic schools of Anna Freud, Melanie Klein, and Hans Kohut. But his reach extends far beyond professional circles: his talks to general audiences over the years won him enormous numbers of followers among parents and teachers who have found his observations rich in penetrating insight.

This collection brings together many of Winnicott's most important pieces, including previously unpublished talks and several essays from books and journals now difficult to obtain. They range widely in topic—from "The Concept of a Healthy Individual" and "The Value of Depression" to "Delinquency as a Sign of Hope"—and elucidate some of Winnicott's seminal ideas, such as the "transitional object" and the concept of false self. All convey Winnicott's vision of the ways in which the developing self interacts with the family and the larger society. .



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