Regression to dependence: the transference of need

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to illustrate the innovation embodied by Winnicott’s concept of regression to dependence with regard to psychoanalysis as mirrored by clinical consequences. Comparing with traditional psychoanalysis, the emphasis is on the therapeutic process of this new way of working the transference of need. Through attention to the patient's maturational need, wewill see that the use of regression to dependence enabled some successful therapies for psychotic patients, both of schizoid and borderline types, traditionally considered incurable by psychoanalysis, as the latter did not meet requirements prior to the formation of a unitary ME. Thus, Winnicott, when referring to the pre-Oedipal phase of the individual, suggests a true transformation in clinical practice.