The Psychology Book

118

IT IS NOTORIOUSLY

INADEQUATE TO

TAKE AN ADOPTED

CHILD INTO ONE’S

H O M E A N D L O V E H I M

D O N A L D W I N N I C O T T (1896 –1971)

M

any people believe that

if a child has suffered

an upbringing that was

lacking in love and support, he or

she will be able to settle and

flourish with a new family that

provides what is needed. However,

while stability and acceptance

help to give a foundation in which

a child can grow and find a healthy

state of being, these qualities

make up only one part of what

is required.

As the first pediatrician in

England to train as a psychoanalyst,

Donald Winnicott had a unique

insight into the mother-infant

relationship and the developmental

process of children. He was

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

Psychoanalysis

BEFORE

1900s Sigmund Freud

suggests that neurotic

conflicts (and the superego)

arise in the Oedipal period—

between ages three and six.

1930s Melanie Klein claims

that a primitive form of the

superego develops during the

first year of life, and that love

and hate are inherently linked.

AFTER

1947 Psychologist and play

therapist Virginia Axline

develops her eight principles

of play therapy, which

include: “Accept the child

as she or he is.”

1979 Swiss psychoanalyst

Alice Miller says in The Drama

of the Gifted Child that we are

encouraged to “develop the art

of not experiencing feelings.”