This book introduces the psychoanalytic principles of both Winnicott and Bion, to compare the ways in which their concepts evolved, and to show how their different approaches contribute to distinctive psychoanalytic paradigms that warrant further research. The book is comprised of five parts, each of which ends with a dialogue between authors, to provide an in-depth look at the perspectives of Winnicott and Bion on the following issues: the British Psychoanalytical Society; working with children and groups; the formulation of psychoanalytic principles; the consolidation of their ideas and new beginnings; and their clinical approaches. Structuring an analysis of Winnicott and Bion’s work in this way simultaneously acts as a comprehensive introduction to their thinking and provokes further research into the ways in which the Winnicottian and Bionian traditions interact. The Clinical Paradigms of Donald Winnicott and Wilfred Bion will appeal to all those seeking an introduction to psychoanalytic ideas and to these two schools of British Object Relations especially.

The Clinical Paradigms of Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott seeks to introduce the distinctive psychoanalytic basic principles of both Klein and Winnicott, to compare and contrast the way in which their concepts evolved, and to show how their different approaches contribute to distinctive psychoanalytic paradigms. The aim is twofold – to introduce and to prompt research. The book consists of five main parts each with two chapters, one each by Abram and Hinshelwood that describes the views of Klein and of Winnicott on 5 chosen issues: Basic principles Early psychic development The role of the external object The psychoanalytic concept of psychic pain Conclusions on divergences and convergences Each of the 5 parts will conclude with a dialogue between the authors on the topic of the chapter. The Clinical Paradigms of Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott will appeal to who are being introduced to psychoanalytic ideas and especially to both these two schools of British Object Relations.

In this book, Abram proposes and elaborates the dual concept of an intrapsychic surviving and non surviving object and examines how psychic survival-of-the-object places the early m/Other at the centre of the nascent psyche before innate factors are relevant. Abram’s clinical-theoretical elaborations advance several of Winnicott’s key concepts. Moreover, the clinical illustrations show how her advances arise out of the transference-countertransference matrix of the analyzing situation. Chapter by chapter the reader witnesses the evolution of her proposals that not only enhance an appreciation of Winnicott’s original clinical paradigm but also demonstrate how much more there is to glean from his texts especially in the contemporary consulting room. The Surviving Object comprises 8 chapters covering themes such as: the incommunicado self; violation of the self; the paradox of communication; terror at the roots of non survival; an implicit theory of desire; the fear of WOMAN underlying misogyny; the meaning of infantile sexuality; the ‘father in the nursing mother’s mind’ as an ‘integrate’ in the nascent psyche; formlessness preceding integration; a theory of madness. The volume will appeal to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically-informed psychotherapists of all levels who are inspired by clinical psychoanalysis and the study of human nature.

Independent Women in British Psychoanalysis celebrates the lives and work of female psychoanalysts whose significant contributions to the Independent Tradition have hitherto been overshadowed by their male counterparts. The contributors in this volume look at seven female psychoanalysts who broke new ground with their contributions to theory and practice: Ella Freemen Sharpe, Marjorie Brierley, Paula Heimann, Marion Milner, Enid Balint, Nina Coltart and Pearl King. The chapters tell the individual stories of these psychoanalysts alongside their theories, showing how their personal lives embody and illustrate the essential universal developmental task of becoming oneself and finding one’s own voice. The themes across the chapters include infant and child development with (m)other, trauma, constructive use of aggression, creativity, a theory of clinical technique, and independence of mind in a social world. This book will be of interest and relevance to psychoanalysts and psychotherapists, developmental psychologists, sociologists, group analysts and historians of psychoanalysis, as well as those interested in feminism and women’s position in society.

Reading Melanie Klein brings together the most innovative and challenging essays on Kleinian thought from the last two decades. The book features material which appears in English for the first time.

Bion and Intuition in the Clinical Setting focuses on Bion’s investigation of the intuitive approach to clinical data and lays out how Bion’s method encouraged constant effort by the analysts to relinquish its reliance on sensory and conceptual-verbal faculties to make room for intuition. Based on the work of the biannual Bion conference, this book includes contributions from the most eminent voices on Bion’s work. Spanning topics such as the primordial mind, intuitive comprehension and desire, the contributors in this volume illustrate how they incorporate the concept of intuition in their own clinical developments. Each chapter examines different elements of how Bion’s research approaches the difficulties faced by analysts in the approach and discrimination of primitive emotional levels in the patient-analyst communication. This book will be of key interest to analysts and analytic therapists of all schools and is an essential resource for those that follow the work of Bion.