Case B: the perfect mother and the constitution of the self
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59539/1679-432X-v4n1/2-1229Keywords:
maturing; environmental failure; self; false self; case study.Abstract
From the perspective of Winnicottian psychoanalysis, human beings are constituted as such in their relations with the environment. It is from the mother-baby relation that Winnicott understands the constitution of a human being as a trajectory that, when healthy, allows an individual to attain an identity, an integrated self. Throughout our development, we tread a path that goes from absolute dependency – a period in which the role of the environment is extremely important – to relative independence. The failures in maternity, when occurring at an early stage of maturing, impair an individual precisely in his or her feeling of being, in the constitution of a self that recognizes itself as such. In this paper, a specific kind of maternal failure is approached: the need for the mother's perfection. We then reflect about the mother-baby relation in those conditions and how it unfolds throughout the maturing process. To this end, we discuss case B – whose analysis was reported by Winnicott – specifically in regards to matters concerning the constitution of an integrated self.References
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