The constitution of the psychic world in Winnicott’s conception: a contribution to the clinical treatment of psychosis

Over the last few years, the importance of Winnicott’s work for psychoanalysis has been reaffirmed together with its growing interest to the field of psychosis. The purpose of the present study was to present the theoretical basis of this approach, which is one of the most fecund for the understanding of the psychic phenomenon, not only in pathological conditions but also in normal developmental conditions. This is a conceptual framework that allows us to reflect about problems resulting from non-oedipal organization of the psychic apparatus, which incidence in contemporary clinical practice is increasingly frequent. Major emphasis is placed on the genesis of psychotic organization, on its relations to the constitution of the inner world and the structuring role played by the object, and the illusory experience in the psychic development of the human being.

Psychoanalysis; winnicottian approach; transitional object; psychic reality; psychosis