The Phoenix Juncture: Exploring the Dimension of Hope in Psychotherapy

This paper presents an exploration of the concept of hope in clinical and developmental contexts. Traditionally, psychoanalytic theory has emphasized pathological aspects of development and, not surprisingly, the subject of hope has been neglected. Although the therapist's hope and how it impacts on the treatment is within the purview of the paper, the predominant focus is on the patient's hope and the dimension of mutuality in the treatment that fosters it. A case example is provided to illustrate the unfreezing (Winnicott, 1954) of unconscious hope in a phase of treatment I call the phoenix juncture. Connections are drawn between the capacity for reflection and hope. The paper concludes with a discussion of a view of hope as problematic or regressive, along with a selective literature review.     

The dilemmas for black social work professionals: Therapeutic implications

This paper explores the nature of social work and therapeutic practive from the perspective of black practitioners in Britain today. Black practitioners carry their histories of hurt, loss and reunion, migration and racism with them, and this lends a particular meaning to the idea of 'therapeutic' for them. The writer articulates some of the complexities and tensions of black professional social work identity through a number of vignettes based on her own experience and biography. The paper was presented as a keynote address at the Therapeutic Social Work Today conference at the Tavistock Clinic in 2001.     

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE RELEVANCE OF THE WORK OF D. W. WINNICOTT FOR PRESENT DAY SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE WITH ADULTS

The work of D. W. Winnicott is of topical relevance and value to current social work students who are learning to work with adult service users. Winnicott's theories and ideas on essential matters like reliability and proper listening are raised, together with issues of ambivalence, and some implications for inter‐professional practice. Winnicott is clear, accessible and meaningful in practice terms, which is what social work students crave.     

Motherless Subjects and Mothered Selves: The Implications of Jacques Lacan’s and Donald Winnicott’s Writings on the Formation of the ‘I’ for American Studies

ABSTRACT

This article contrasts the theories of ego formation put forward in Jacques Lacan’s ‘The Mirror Stage’ and Donald Winnicott’s ‘The Mirror Role of the Mother,’ and discusses their methodological implications for the field of American studies. While Lacan theorises subjectivity as irreparably split and (self-)alienated, Winnicott offers an optimistic version of a self which is sustained in its going-on-being by a nourishing maternal presence. These disparate conceptualisations of the human being produce two powerful frames through which to approach culture. Yet, while Lacan is widely recognised in the American studies scholarship, Winnicott remains virtually unknown. This article aims to enhance the visibility of the British author by outlining the productivity of his ideas for any cultural or literary analysis. By stressing the foundational significance of the primary bond Winnicott’s theory intervenes in the recent critiques of neoliberal capitalism which remain halted in a Lacanian-like melancholic mode, masked by a cultural command of perpetual enjoyment. The Winnicottian perspective challenges Lacan’s fixation on the unattainable objects of desire, reiterated by the neoliberal myth of self-perfection through consumption, and offers an alternative pattern of human sociality, based on relational, self-reflexive moderation.     

Using Therapeutic Metaphor to Provide a Holding Environment: The Inner Edge of Possibility

The basic thesis of this paper is that effective use of therapeutic metaphor can provide a holding environment within which the client can both address and recontextualize clinical issues. The use of therapeutic metaphor can serve to bolster the empathic connection between therapist and client, providing the client with a new feeling of being understood, in part through a new use of language. Therapeutic metaphor is also particularly well-suited to promoting dialectical understanding and analysis of everyday problems in living. The inner edge of possibility is a construct that illustrates the link between the clinical efficacy and structure of therapeutic metaphor.     

The Untold Story of Clare and Donald Winnicott: How Social Work Influenced Modern Psychoanalysis

While the work of Donald Winnicott is well-known to clinical social workers, most are unaware of his rich professional collaboration with his second wife, Clare, a pioneering social worker analyzed by Melanie Klein who worked in child welfare, academia, government service, and psychoanalysis. This paper will review their work and lives together, outlining how their relationship expanded Donald's horizons in exploring the interface between psyche and environment.     

Gaming–playing on social media: using the psychoanalytic concept of ‘playing’ to theorize user labour on Facebook

ABSTRACT

Political economists have argued that user activity on corporate social media is regarded as labour that appears playful and fun but is exploited and sold to advertisers for profit maximization. This article begins with the working assumption that such user labour on social media constitutes a form of playing. It is theorized through a psychoanalytic perspective on the term as developed by D. W. Winnicott and André Green. The notion of gaming–playing is put forward to account for set interface structures on Facebook that resemble a game as well as free-flowing dimensions more akin to playing. Some user discourses on Facebook are analysed through this prism. A psychoanalytic conceptualization of user labour as playing allows one to analyse both positive discourses that emphasize Facebook as a space for creativity, exploration and the unknown, as well as negative discourses that critique the platform with regard to lacking privacy controls or data ownership. Both discourses are conducted in a playful manner that creatively utilize a sense of user agency in relation to others and Facebook itself, but often remain without consequences.     

The Psychotherapeutic Dimensions of Clinical Case Management with a Combat Veteran

This article addresses the overlapping dimensions of clinical case management and psychotherapy. The theoretical framework that is used as the basis of analysis is drawn from the work of D. W. and Clare Winnicott. Kanter has more than adequately demonstrated that these two authors were extremely knowledgeable about clinical case management and psychotherapy. The conclusion of the paper agrees with D. W. Winnicott (1961 Winnicott, D. W. 1961. “Varieties of psychotherapy.”. In Home is where we start from: Essays by a psychoanalyst, Edited by: Winnicott, C, Shepherd, R and Davis, M. 101–111. New York: Norton.  [Google Scholar]) who defined clinical case management as a variety of psychotherapy. The shared psychotherapeutic dimensions of clinical case management are identified as a focus on human development, the importance of the facilitating/holding environment and issues related to transference and countertransference.     

Considering Improvisation: Play,Transitional Space,and Discovery

This article explores the concept of improvisation in the therapeutic setting as a complex construction when elaborated in the idiom of jazz music. A composite clinical case is offered that illustrates an impasse and how improvisational thinking offers a way forward. Improvisation has recently been conceptualized through the metaphor of theater improvisation, dance, and rhythm. The therapeutic hour is considered an improvisational dialogue with the main theme (melody) and counter melodies, and harmonic possibilities that underlie the rhythmic pulse of the hour. Improvisation requires a reflective/interpretive process that draws on patterns, structures, and experiences reformulated in the relational field of the participants. The client initiates the call and response pattern, from which improvisation emerges as a mutual process of discovery. A more relaxed, receptive, and reflective posture extends Winnicott’s 1971 notion of play to integrate classic understanding and relational interaction.     

Winnicott,Tomkins, and the Psychology of Affect

Donald Winnicott’s work is rather well-known to most clinicians, and many of his concepts––e.g., facilitating environment, spontaneous gesture, going-on-being, impingement, annihilation, True and False Self––are utilized clinically and theoretically. Silvan Tomkins and his colleagues provide a profound understanding of the psychology of affect, and their work furnishes a lens through which Winnicott’s ideas can be further appreciated. The author suggests such an integration is crucial not only to deepening our understanding of Winnicott’s concepts, but also to enhancing the clinical dimension of affect theory. This discussion also has important implications for social work with respect to both treatment issues as well as prevention and early intervention programs.