Winnicott Studies Monograph Series
FATHERS, FAMILIES, AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD edited by
Val Richards
with
Gillian Wilce
KARNAC
BOOKS
for
The Squiggle Foundation
FATHERS, FAMILIES, AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD Winnicott Studies Monograph Series
Edited by Val Richards
The Person Who Is Me: Contemporary Perspectives on the True and False Self The Squiggle Foundation is a registered charity
set up in 1981 to study and cultivate the tradition
of D. W. Winnicott. For further information, contact
The Administrator, 33 Amberley Road, London N13 4BH.
Tel: 0181 882 9744; Fax: 0181 886 2418
Winnicott Studies Monograph Series
FATHERS, FAMILIES, AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD edited by
Val Richards with
Gillian Wilce
London
K A R N A C BOOKS for
The Squiggle Foundation
" A C h i l d Psychiatry Case Illustrating D e l a y e d Reaction to Loss" by D . W .
Winnicott reproduced by arrangement with Mark Paterson and Associates on
behalf of the Winnicott Trust, London.
First published in 1997 by
H . Karnac (Books) L t d ,
118 Finchley R o a d ,
London N W 3 5 H T
Copyright © 1997 The Squiggle Foundation
Introduction and Chapter five copyright © 1997 Val Richards
Chapter one copyright © 1997 The Winnicott Trust
Chapter t w o copyright © 1997 John Forrester
Chapter three copyright © 1997 John Fielding
Chapter four copyright © 1997 Graham Lee
The rights of the contributors to be identified as authors of this w o r k have been
asserted in accordance with §§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright Design and Patents
A c t 1988.
A l l rights reserved. N o part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A C L P . for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 1 85575 170 5
Edited, designed, and produced by Communication Crafts
Printed in Great Britain by BPC Wheatons Ltd, Exeter
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CONTRIBUTORS
Introduction:
Papa versus Pooh
Val Richards
CHAPTER ONE
A child psychiatry case
illustrating delayed reaction to loss
D . W. Winnicott
CHAPTER TWO
On holding as metaphor: Wirmicott and the figure of St Christopher John Forrester
Vi
CONTENTS
CHAPTER THREE
"So rare a wonder'd father":
Winnicott's negotiation of the paternal
John Fielding
CHAPTER FOUR
Alone among three: the father and the Oedipus complex Graham Lee
CHAPTER FIVE
"If father could be home ..."
Val Richards
REFERENCES
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Editors wish to thank the following people for their valuable
support and advice:
Editorial Committee: Jan Abram, Sheila Ernst, Nina Farhi,
Wille Henriques, Amelie Noack, Rosie Parker, Margaret
Walters, Lindsay Wells
The Trustees of The Squiggle Foundation
Karnac Books: Cesare Sacerdoti, Graham Sleight
vii
CONTRIBUTORS is Head of English at the Lycee Fran^ais, with a
particular interest in teaching and directing the plays of Shake­
speare and in the overlap between literature and psychoanalysis.
He has been associated with the Squiggle Foundation from its
beginning and is a regular presenter at its seminars and public
events.
JOHN FIELDING
is Reader in History and Philosophy of the Sci­
ences at the University of Cambridge. He has written extensively
JOHN FORRESTER
on psychoanalysis, including Language and the Origins of Psycho­
analysis (1980), The Seductions of Psychoanalysis: Freud, Lacan and
Derrida (with Lisa Appignanesi, 1990), Freud's Women (1992), and
Dispatches from the Freud Wars—Psychoanalysis and Its Passions
(1997). The author also co-translated and edited Lacan's Seminars I
and II. His latest book, Truth Game: Lies, Money and Psychoanalysis,
will be published in late 1997.
G R A H A M L E E is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and an Associate
Member of the Association for Group and Individual Psycho­
ix
X
CONTRIBUTORS
therapy. As a complement to his private practice, he acts as a
consultant to organizations, drawing on psychodynamic ideas
within his approach to business psychology and management
development.
V A L R I C H A R D S is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, the editor of
Winnicott Studies, and an Assistant Director of the Squiggle
Foundation. She is a Member of the Institute of Psychotherapy
and Social Studies and the Guild of Psychotherapists and teaches
on various trainings. Her publications include "The Lac-king" (in
Shakespeare and the Changing Curriculum, 1990), book reviews in the
British Journal of Psychotherapy, and papers in previous Winnicott
Studies.
FATHERS, FAMILIES, AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD