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Donald Woods Winnicott

Donald Woods Winnicott Books

Psychoanalyst

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“However, it can't be helped; mothers, if they do their job properly, are the representatives of the hard, demanding world and it is they who gradually introduce reality which is so often the enemy of impulse. There is anger with mother and hatred is somewhere even when there is absolutely no doubt of love that is mixed with adoration.”

IfsWorldHardRealityJobsMotherEnemyDoubtHatredImpulseNo DoubtIntroducingRepresentativesRealismAdoration
Author:Donald Woods Winnicott
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“If mothers are told to do this or that or the other,... they lose touch with their own ability to act.... Only too easily they feel incompetent. If they must look up everything in a book, they are always too late even when they do the right things, because the right things have to be done immediately. It is only possible to act at exactly the right point when the action is intuitive or by instinct, as we say. The mind can be brought to bear on the problem afterwards.”

IfsFeelsMindLooksBookDoneProblemActionMotherLosesAbilityBearsLateInstinctRight ThingLook UpToo LateIntuitiveIncompetent
Author:Donald Woods Winnicott
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“What is a normal child like? Does he just eat and grow and smile sweetly? No, that is not what he is like. The normal child, if he has confidence in mother and father, pulls out all the stops. In the course of time, he tries out his power to disrupt, to destroy, to frighten, to wear down, to waste, to wangle, and to appropriate . . . At the start he absolutely needs to live in a circle of love and strength (with consequent tolerance) if he is not to be too fearful of his own thoughts and of his imaginings to make progress in his emotional development.”

IfsNeedsTryingChildrenDoeMotherCoursesFatherGrowsProgressEmotionalDevelopmentWasteNormalToleranceCirclesAppropriateFearfulHave ConfidenceMother And FatherStrength And LoveEmotional Development
Author:Donald Woods Winnicott
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“The mother gazes at the baby in her arms, and the baby gazes at his mother's face and finds himself therein... provided that the mother is really looking at the unique, small, helpless being and not projecting her own expectations, fears, and plans for the child. In that case, the child would find not himself in his mother's face, but rather the mother's own projections. This child would remain without a mirror, and for the rest of his life would be seeking this mirror in vain.”

ChildrenWould BeFacesMotherCasesPlansBabyArmsUniqueExpectationsMirrorsSeekingVainNarcissismHelplessProjection
Author:Donald Woods Winnicott
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