Introduction: Winnicott's Collected Works, Volume 11

Judith Yanof's engaged and insightful review of Volume 11 is focused on Winnicott's account of his work with a young patient, nicknamed Piggle by her parents, and also called by her name, Gabrielle. She lives in this review—as in Winnicott's essay—with this double identity, playing and suffering. Precocity and trouble interweave in this clinical report for, as Yanof cogently notes, Winnicott is also engaged in his use of conflict and creative engagement with the clinical practices of play and interpretation. At this final stage in Winnicott's career, play is no longer simply a window into the child's unconscious but has become the very engine of therapeutic action, the generator of experiences that allow the child to feel alive, known, and present. Yet Yanof notes that paradoxically, at the beginning of this treatment, Winnicott occasionally offers Kleinian-tinged “deep” interpretations, which overwhelm his young patient. This form of interpretation fades as the treatment progresses and Gabrielle/Piggle and Winnicott learn to play together. Perhaps the nature of play is different for each child, such that even Winnicott himself must learn how to play with this particular child. As Winnicott slowly relaxes into the ease of play, his anxious need to interpret dissipates. In one of his concluding works, Winnicott shows us how the ability of patient and analyst to learn, over time, how to play with each other lies at the very heart of the therapeutic endeavor. Even here, close to the end of Winnicott's career and life, he is still functioning as outsider, as outlier, as maverick.

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