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Myriad themes are featured in Volume 7 of The Collected Works of D. W. Winnicott. In her thoughtful introduction to the volume, Anna Ferruta notes that the period it covers overlapped with his second term as president of the British Psychoanalytical Society. During the Controversial Discussions of 1942-1944, Winnicott was determined to avoid being assimilated by any of the three designated groups. Ferruta points out that Winnicott preferred to listen to the debates first and subsequently write letters explaining his personal views. He was clear that he did not wish to create a new school of thought. Nevertheless, one of the most striking aspects of this volume is the polemical tone he adopts in much of the discourse.
On the other hand, he also saw himself as an educator of the public. Far from being a critic of mothers and/or families, Winnicott was a strong advocate for them. Also noteworthy in this volume is that many of the contributions Winnicott offered were in response to requests by nonpsychoanalytic organizations. Ferruta suggests that it was a challenge for Winnicott to explain his usual independent thinking, while at the same time making a major effort not to come across as intolerant or detached.
The Winnicott letters in Volume 7 paint a somewhat painful picture of D.W.W.—one that reveals a vulnerability to feeling slighted by colleagues. His correspondence makes it clear that he often felt bypassed, unread, left out, misunderstood, and discounted. While colleagues spoke of his jovial nature, I have been struck by the opposite in studying Winnicott photographs over the years. He often appears haunted and distressed. I realize I am seeing a man who felt wounded by colleagues in the British Society. In his response to a letter from John O. Wisdom (CW 7:1:11), he makes the following comment: “You relate Bion's work to