- 1 The Place Where We Live
- 2 Communication Between Infant and Mother, and Mother and Infant, Compared and Contrasted
- 3 Physical and Emotional Disturbances in an Adolescent Girl
- 4 Chards Pil…
- 5 The Use of the Word ‘Use’
- 6 Interpretation in Psycho-Analysis
- 7 Letter to Donald Gough
- 8 Foreword to Disturbed Children
- 9 Playing and Culture
- 10 Sum, I Am
- 11 Review: Vulnerable Children: Three Studies of Children in Conflict
- 12 The Effect of Loss on the Young
- 13 Review: The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, Volume 22
- 14 A Link Between Paediatrics and Child Psychology
- 15 Playing
- 16 Children Learning
- 17 Letter to L. Joseph Stone
- 18 Review: Human Aggression
- 19 Sleep Refusal in Children
- 20 Letter to Mrs T.
- 21 Roots of Aggression
- 22 Foreword to Susan Isaacs: The First Biography
- 23 Letter to Adam Limentani
- 24 Letter to Renata Gaddini
- 25 Review: Children in Distress
- 26 Breast-feeding as Communication
- 27 First Interview with Child May Start Resumption of Maturation
- 28 The Use of an Object and Relating Through Identifications
- 29 Clinical Illustration of ‘The Use of an Object’
- 30 Further Clinical Illustration of ‘The Use of an Object’
- 31 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 32 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 33 Letter to Karl and Sheila Britton
- 34 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 35 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 36 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 37 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 38 Comments on My Paper ‘The Use of an Object’
- 39 Letter to Karl Britton
- 40 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 41 Letter to Renata Gaddini
- 42 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 43 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 44 Letter to Karl and Sheila Britton
- 45 Foreword to Therapy in Child Care
- 46 Review: The Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence
- 47 The Squiggle Game
- 48 Thinking and Symbol-Formation
(p. 299) Playing: A Theoretical Statement
- Chapter:
- (p. 299) Playing: A Theoretical Statement
- Author(s):
Donald W. Winnicott
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med:psych/9780190271404.003.0053
In this paper, Winnicott makes a theoretical statement about what psychotherapy and psychoanalysis do. For him, the work of therapy is a form of playing, and it occurs in the area of overlap between patient and analyst. If the therapeutic process is successful, the patient who cannot ‘play’ is enabled to do so. Winnicott looks at play in relation to masturbation, at his own concept of transitional phenomena, at play in time and space, and uses illustrative cases to make his points. He summarises that the child in play is investing external realities with his dreaming self and its meaning and feelings.
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- 1 The Place Where We Live
- 2 Communication Between Infant and Mother, and Mother and Infant, Compared and Contrasted
- 3 Physical and Emotional Disturbances in an Adolescent Girl
- 4 Chards Pil…
- 5 The Use of the Word ‘Use’
- 6 Interpretation in Psycho-Analysis
- 7 Letter to Donald Gough
- 8 Foreword to Disturbed Children
- 9 Playing and Culture
- 10 Sum, I Am
- 11 Review: Vulnerable Children: Three Studies of Children in Conflict
- 12 The Effect of Loss on the Young
- 13 Review: The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, Volume 22
- 14 A Link Between Paediatrics and Child Psychology
- 15 Playing
- 16 Children Learning
- 17 Letter to L. Joseph Stone
- 18 Review: Human Aggression
- 19 Sleep Refusal in Children
- 20 Letter to Mrs T.
- 21 Roots of Aggression
- 22 Foreword to Susan Isaacs: The First Biography
- 23 Letter to Adam Limentani
- 24 Letter to Renata Gaddini
- 25 Review: Children in Distress
- 26 Breast-feeding as Communication
- 27 First Interview with Child May Start Resumption of Maturation
- 28 The Use of an Object and Relating Through Identifications
- 29 Clinical Illustration of ‘The Use of an Object’
- 30 Further Clinical Illustration of ‘The Use of an Object’
- 31 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 32 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 33 Letter to Karl and Sheila Britton
- 34 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 35 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 36 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 37 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 38 Comments on My Paper ‘The Use of an Object’
- 39 Letter to Karl Britton
- 40 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 41 Letter to Renata Gaddini
- 42 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 43 Letter to Joyce Coles
- 44 Letter to Karl and Sheila Britton
- 45 Foreword to Therapy in Child Care
- 46 Review: The Psychology of Childhood and Adolescence
- 47 The Squiggle Game
- 48 Thinking and Symbol-Formation