Taking Oneself Playfully: Narrative of a Psychoanalyst

Taking Oneself Playfully is a fascinating journey into the life and work of Marta Badoni, a highly respected adult and child training analyst in Italy and France.

The book is mainly formed of a collection of essays written in different moments of her life, skilfully woven together to recount Badoni’s life in parallel with the evolution of her thinking and her clinical work. Drawing on influences from Winnicott and Bion, we explore the importance of the body and of the dialogue between analyst and patient in Badoni’s theoretical and clinical development. The book offers a remarkable interplay of personal reflection and confidence with theoretical insight and illuminating clinical material. This is the first book in English to explore Badoni’s full contribution to psychoanalysis.

Offering a playful yet deep exploration of the making, life and work of a psychoanalyst, this is key reading for all psychoanalysts.

Marta Badoni (1938-2024) has been a child and adolescent neuropsychiatrist, child analyst, full member and training analyst of the Italian Psychoanalytical Society, of which she has been national secretary and vice-president, and a member of the International Psychoanalytical Association.