The Clinical Paradigms of Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott: Comparisons and Dialogues

This:
- introduces the distinctive psychoanalytic basic principles of both Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott;
- compares and contrasts the way in which their concepts evolved; and
- shows how their different approaches contribute to distinctive psychoanalytic paradigms.

The aim is twofold – to introduce and to prompt research.

It consists of five parts, each with two chapters, and one by each author that describes the views of Klein and of Winnicott on five chosen issues: basic principles, early psychic development, the role of the external object, the psychoanalytic concept of psychic pain, and conclusions on divergences and convergences. Each of the five parts concludes with a dialogue between the authors on the topic of the chapter.

This book is an essential read for those new to psychoanalytic ideas— offering an introduction to both of these schools of British Object Relations psychoanalysis— and for experienced psychoanalysts who wish to develop an understanding of how the conceptualizations of these two schools might be compared and contrasted.