Psychoanalytic Controversies: On Winnicott's clinical innovations in the analysis of adults: Responses to the controversy/Response by Michael Eigen/Response by Jan Abram/Response by Vincenzo Bonaminio/Response by Charles Hanly/Response by Daniel Widlöcher

• Published in: International journal of psychoanalysis Vol. 94; no. 1; p. 117
• Main Authors: Blass, Rachel B, Eigen, Michael, Abram, Jan, Bonaminio, Vincenzo, Hanly, Charles, Widlöcher, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Taylor & Francis Ltd 01.02.2013
• Subjects: Creativity; Psychoanalysis; Students
• ISSN: 0020-7578

The aim was to open to exploration and discussion the very different understandings of Winnicott that seem to prevail among those who align themselves with Winnicott's thinking in the contemporary analytic scene, ranging from those who view him as one who applied his clinical sensitivities to the development of traditional psychoanalytic practice to those who regard him as revolutionary and radical. All agreed that his innovations were very extensive, referring to how he brought to the fore the notion of aggression as creative, the clinical relevance of the existence and role of relationships prior to the development of internal objects, the necessity of the analyst adopting the maternal role and, perhaps most notably, the necessity of the analyst promoting a state of "being together" that is thought, at times, to replace interpretation.