On the analyst's survival

Abstract

The article starts by showing that Winnicott, by considering the practice of institutional assintance, was able to find what was therapeutic for the children involved and to formulate principles upon which these therapeutic effects were based, putting them in the context of the theory he began to develop: the theory of personal development. One of these principles is survival, which is also the key concept for characterizing maternal and therapeutic care. After making that point, the article studies various essential aspects of the capacity of survival of both mothers and analysts.