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The first Mrs Winnicott and the second Mrs Winnicott: does psychoanalysis facilitate healthy marital choice?
No full textDr Donald Woods Winnicott, arguably the most famous and influential psychoanalyst since Professor Sigmund Freud, married twice during his lifetime. In 1923, he wed Miss Alice Buxton Taylor, who divorced him after more than a quarter of a century; and eventually, in 1951, he embarked upon a second marriage to Miss Clare Britton, a social worker, with whom he enjoyed a far more stable partnership which lasted until Winnicott's death in 1971. In this essay, based predominantly on the author's hitherto unpublished interviews with members of Donald Winnicott's family and, also, with relations of Alice Winnicott, as well as numerous unpublished archival sources, we reconstruct the nature of these two very different marriages and consider both the conscious and the unconscious attractions which propelled Winnicott towards these two particular women at different phases of his life and during different periods of psychological awareness. Additionally, we examine whether Winnicott's lengthy tenure as a patient undergoing psychoanalysis, initially with James Strachey, and subsequently with Joan Riviere—both students of Sigmund Freud—may have contributed to Winnicott's arguably more considered choice of a second wife
Mother, Madonna, whore: Understanding perverse mothering: Reflections on a ground-breaking book
No full textEstela takes this opportunity to tell the story of the book she wrote in 1988, entitled Mother, Madonna, Whore: The Idealization and Denigration of Motherhood, in which she offers a conceptualisation and explanation of perverse mothering. Some of her earlier reflections on this book and her journey since writing it are to be found in Playing with Dynamite: A Personal Approach to the Psychoanalytic Understanding of Perversions, Violence, and Criminality (2011) and Dancing with death, (British Journal of Psychotherapy Vol. 25, Number 2, May 2009)
The emotional and mental health needs of young carers: what psychiatry can do.
No full textAims and Method: To review the literature on the emotional and mental health needs of young carers of parents with mental illness and the extent to which such needs are recognised and supported by professionals. Three databases were systematically searched from 2008 to 2018, and five studies met the inclusion criteria.
Results: The key findings were that young caregivers had a significantly higher dose-response mortality risk than their peers; were at increased risk of mental health difficulties, especially where the ill family member was a parent and had mental illness or misused substances; were overlooked by professionals owing to a lack of awareness; but could derive benefits from their caring role when appropriately supported.
Clinical Implications: Young carers are at increased risk regarding emotional and mental health needs; this risk could be mitigated by professionals recognising the young carer's role and including them in their parent's treatment plan
Understanding digital relationships with smartphones: A psychoanalytic perspective
Get PDFWith the latest data informing us that 78% of UK adults now own a smartphone and that most young people report accessing digital media through a smartphone themselves it is evident that the smartphone as a digital device has become a ubiquitous everyday object. With the rate of growth of digital technologies, it is difficult to research the impact of smartphones on our way of relating to ourselves and others without a constant feeling of playing catch-up. The author uses a mixed methodology design to gain a better understanding of the nature of the human-smartphone relationship which might allow us to think more about what underpins our relationship with digital media rather than how we use it at any given point in time. This paper reviews the literature from both non-psychoanalytic and psychoanalytic perspectives to explore the more unconscious aspects of the relationship that are being actively engaged. The author then undertakes a short autoethnographic study of his own relationship with his smartphone and conducts a focus group of training child psychotherapist to gather personal experience of the human-smartphone relationship and the implications of how the presence of the smartphone in the consulting room impacts upon the practice of child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Findings suggest that all smartphone users, children and adults, are being encouraged to develop an unconscious intimate attachment with the smartphone which is reflective of the mother-infant relationship and it proposes that the smartphone is experienced as a digital pseudo-breast which is designed to not be given up
You can take Stig out of the dump, but can you take the dump out of Stig? The value of consultation to the homeless organisation
No full textA psychoanalytic framework for interpreting young child observations that integrates emotional and cognitive development
No full textThe paper looks at the relevance of W.R. Bion’s ‘Theory of Thinking’ to the interpretation of young child observations. Bion describes a process whereby emotional experience, when contained by a caregiver, gives rise to a capacity for symbol formation, which is at the root of imagination and language. The study consists of eight written hour-long observations of pre-school children which form the data for the study. The data were analysed using template analysis. The results indicate that all children in the study communicated primitive feelings to adults who were contained to a greater or lesser extent. All children demonstrated some capacity for representing their feelings through symbol formation, but this could break down when frustration levels were high. Bion’s Theory of Thinking was found to be highly applicable and relevant to the interpretation of the young child observations
Time-limited adolescent psychodynamic psychotherapy: A developmentally focussed psychotherapy for young people
No full textTime-Limited Adolescent Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: A Developmentally Focussed Psychotherapy for Young People will be an indispensable clinician’s guide to the practice of Time-Limited Adolescent Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (TAPP), providing comprehensive instruction on the theory and delivery of this distinctive model of psychotherapy.
TAPP is a manualised brief psychodynamic psychotherapy of 20 sessions, for young people between, approximately, 14 and 25 years, combining psychodynamic psychotherapy with psychosocial understanding of adolescent difficulties. It places emphasis on the therapeutic engagement of young people and works with a developmental focus to effect change and growth. Divided into two parts, "Conceptual Framework" and "Practice", this book combines digestible scholarly analysis with case studies to effect a one-stop practitioner’s guide to TAPP.
Time-Limited Adolescent Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: A Developmentally Focussed Psychotherapy for Young People will be of immense value to clinicians working with young people, researchers engaging with evaluating TAPP and students of psychotherap
A person beyond gender: A first-hand account
No full text“A Person Beyond Gender” is an honest first-hand account of one transgender person’s experiences of early life, teenage years, and early adulthood while in the grip of what he now understands to be gender dysphoria. In a desperate attempt to gain control of overwhelmingly powerful feelings of wrongness, confusion, and turmoil, he spent years battling eating disorders and obsessed by extreme diets and weight-training regimens that lead to national-level bodybuilding competitions, while trying to concentrate on his prestigious professional career. It was only with the help over many years of a therapist that he finally began to make sense of it all and was able to recognize and accept that he is a transgender person. He describes the crucial support he gained from the therapeutic relationship and the importance of the work that was undertaken, particularly around concepts of gender, identity, and what constitutes a person, and how this facilitated his subsequent successful social and professional transition two years prior to the time of writing when he was 33 years old. He also discusses the challenges faced in therapy, his physical experience of transition, and his first years living as his true male self
A Constructivist Grounded Theory of the influences and practices that are thought to promote a sense of belonging in a primary school context
Get PDFA sense of school belonging has been proposed,by educational professionals and researchers, to have a powerful effect on a student’s emotional, motivational and academic functioning. It has been well-documented as a predictor of academic success and emotional wellbeing, with UK Government policy increasingly recognising the central role played by school staff in the promotion of belonging in their pupils. Although a considerable body of research exists, which presents the positive outcomes associated with experiencing a sense of school belonging, less is known about how schools cultivate such a sentiment for their pupils. The qualitative research presented here aims to address this gap by applying Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology (Charmaz, 2014) to explore the influences and practices that are thought to promote a sense of belonging in a primary school context. Purposive sampling methods were employed to recruit the primary school of study and a descriptive case-study approach was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit the views of nine members of a primary school community in London. The processes of data collection and analysis were guided by the principles of the grounded theory method. The findings of this study led to the construction of an interpretive theory: 'Keeping to our path: a shared commitment to the promotion of school belonging through organised and transformative child-centred practices, which integrate environmental, relational and cultural influences.' In order to promote sentiments of school belonging, this interpretive theory emphasised the importance of adopting a systematic multidimensional approach that incorporates individual, organisational and environmental factors. The conceptual model presented, that is grounded in the data, may guide educational professionals in their effort to promote school belonging. Implications for Educational Psychology practice will be discussed
Primary school senior leaders’ experiences of a work discussion group: An interpretative phenomenological analysis
Get PDFEducational psychologists have an integral role to play in the support of emotional wellbeing in schools; at the individual, group and organisational level (Beaver, 2011; Pellegrini, 2010). Whilst there is a growing body of research concerning the emotional experience of school staff in their work with students, families and professionals, there is very little concerning their experiences of support. Less still, the experience of senior leaders. Work discussion groups (WDGs) have been reported to be an effective resource to senior leaders reporting a virtual absence of prior training and opportunity to reflect on the impact of management (Jackson, 2008). In order to extend the literature available on the use of WDGs and the experience of leadership in education, the aim of this research was to explore the individual experiences of a primary school’s senior leadership team of engaging in a WDG. Semi-structured interviews and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) were used to shape an exploration of the senior leader’s accounts, resulting in the identification of seven overarching themes: ‘Conceptualisations of leadership: juggling responsibilities and increasing expectations (OT1)’, ‘Senior Leadership Team: relationships, relating in role and developing the work group (OT2)’, ‘Emotions, expectations and assumptions: surfacing and working with (OT3)’, ‘Reflection on the use and function of communication: a revised channel (OT4)’, ‘Negotiating difference, boundaries and safety: relational concepts (OT5)’, ‘Through new lenses: revisiting practice, revisiting the self (OT6)’ and ‘Time: restraints, pressures and necessity for growth (OT7)’. The overarching themes are discussed through the application of a systems psychodynamic lens, with reference to the developing research base around WDGs in educational organisations. The strengths and limitations of this research are outlined alongside suggestions for future research and the associated implications for educational psychologists