Playing and Reality (Routledge Classics)

Winnicott was a strange, playful genius. The hugeness and flexibility he shows in this book is astounding. He's tossing around super-profound philosophical ideas like oranges and catching them in reverse order; leaving an idea undeveloped at the end of a chapter, and ending the chapter essentially with a good hearted laugh. I can almost see him laughing his way through certain parts of the text.I give this book five stars because the ideas contained in here are going to continue to bear fruit in so many ways. We have been waiting for decades for someone to tie together the Neo-platonic strands in psychological thought, in contradiction to Freud and the radical empiricist strands, and Winnicott is the first to really achieve some headway in this area. You see, most people in psychology either think that our brains are like wax and we go around pressing them against things and putting indentations in the wax, whereas some others think that our brains are more like cookie cutters that chop out figures from raw experience. The former group are the empiricists (Freud), and the latter, the rationalists. (Piaget). This is especially important as we move into an era where psychotherapy is increasingly cognitive and rationalistic. Psychiatry and psychology training, in the wake of psychoanalysis's rationalistic errors of ignoring data and imposing a theory of sexuality on every case it came across, is unfortunately being repeated by people in the various schools of therapy. And it's really confusing for residents (like myself) to decide how much data to gather on a patient, and when to stop and apply a theory.Winnicott teaches here that we in part, create reality and in part, discover it. Certain expectations we have come from our playful and interpersonal nature and we find ways to make the world conform to those expectations and desires. That does not mean those interpretations of the world are "illusion", meaning false, as Freud uses the term pejoratively. It simply means that a creative process is involved. But more importantly, after disagreeing with Freud so profoundly, Winnicott goes on to say that our expectations must also be let down repeatedly and conformed to reality as well. The infant does not only create the blanky-teddy, but discovers it in the real world, and gradually lets go of it, just as we all gradually let go of our parents, if we had healthy ones, that is... But the reality that we conform to is not the reality where all our expectations and illusions were dashed to pieces. They are merely modified to fit into a reality as Winnicott sees it, a reality of other minds and other persons.

I'm giving this defective Kindle edition, which only includes 2 pages—the front cover and a thumbnail of the front and back covers—zero stars. I tried buying it twice now, in the hopes that something had gone wrong in my purchase or download, only to return it both times as defective. Funny, because the paperback preview includes excerpts from the actual text.Please fix the defective Kindle version of this precious classic!

Here is a review I wrote 20 years ago. It remains true (though I have removed some references to early reviews).=====Winnicott (henceforward DWW) creates--in an enormous leap away from Freud--a vision of the complex and beautiful relationship of the infant and primary caregiver. In fact he speaks of the "mother infant dyad," rather than two separate persons during the first few months of life. From this union, if all goes well, the child gradual emerges and develops a sense of self through a process of disillusionment by the mother, in doses the infant can withstand.As this occurs, the child symbolizes the lost union with the mother in what DWW calls "transitional objects" and begins, with the comfort of these objects, to begin to play in what DWW calls the "potential space." We might call it the realm of culture, of love, and of religion. Only with successful caregiving does the child have a chance to fully develop as a person, and DWW shows, in loving detail and case histories, how this happens through the devotion of the mother.This is why DWW's work is vital not merely to psychoanalysts, but to every person on this planet. His work has influenced two generations of therapists, theorists, and educators and, indirectly, every one of us. Further, his work has increasingly been supported by developmental insights gained from attachment theory and other experimental and verifiable studies.I don't normally write reviews on amazon.com, but I could not let foolish misreadings by other reviewers stand unchallenged. DWW *does* allow for gradual disillusionment through experience of the external world. As for using Derrida to read DWW, I imagine that is useful. Go for it, if you like. But let's not forget that the work of Lacan is inconceivable without DWW, and the work of Derrida inconceivable without Lacan.DWW indisputably and deservedly stands as one of the most influential psychological thinkers of the 20th century. Further, his use of language is simple and yet always provocative, finding new depth and meaning in the simplest of words.Please consider reading DWW and judge for yourself.

I'll start off by saying I agree with D. Miles - this can be difficult reading at times. I'm not a psychoanalyst but I am a linguist so complicated language is something I am used to dealing with. I still find myself working hard when reading Playing & Reality. If you're willing to put in the effort, you'll find some fascinating ideas and interesting case studies that illustrate them. Franz Metcalf, in his review, has done an excellent job of explaining Winnicott's importance.

This is a brilliant book written clearly and with compassion. The concept of the potential space is put forth and discussed at length with many clinical examples.

Classic text that covers transitional objects, the psychology of play, and a few breathtaking pages on Hamlet.

The title of the book promises and promotes considerable clinic application.Winnicott is original and surprisingly simple and precise through his practical and theoretical implements.

Was exactly what I wanted, AND was in perfect condition. If I ever need more books for my graduate studies I will definitely shop here!

I came to this book having found the authors more famous work  The Child, the Family, and the Outside World (Penguin Psychology)  was not for me. Nothing to do with the writing: Winnicott is an excellent writer. Not having been a parent, I just couldn't connect with it, something that is perhaps amplified by the fact that the earlier work is more addressed to mothers."Playing and Reality" was a different matter, being more scholarly. This is not to say that it is unapproachable, just identifying what qualities are on show. Indeed Winnicott is a most approachable figure. Humane, urbane, some times humorous, he make a refreshing change from the Germanic intensity of some psychoanalysts (e.g. Freud, and Klein), reminding us, for example, that no parent is perfect, though some, maybe most, are instinctively "good enough."The concept of the "good enough parent" was not the only idea he introduced into psychoanalysis. Ideas such as the transitional object and the importance of play were pioneered by Winnicott and are discussed here and their importance in an infants adaptation to life. Later he discusses the basis of cultural experience, and the role of the Mother.All in all this is an elegant summary of Winnicott's ideas by the man himself, of use both to student therapists in their studies as well as to the general reader. The Child, the Family, and the Outside World (Penguin Psychology)

This is a seminal book for me. I read several of the chapters years ago and have long wanted to go back and explore further. further. Now I can. For anyone wanting to understand child development this is the gold standard.

The book has arrived sooner than expected. However, the pages started to come out as I was reading it.

very insightful. Really got me thinking about 'space' (between mother and child, client and therapist, person and society, person and art etc) in a new way. Very glad I bought this book for my studies in child psychology and play therapy.

Really fascinating read, I am just starting studying art therapy and councilling. I particularly liked the 'creativity and its origins' chapter