The Piggle: An Account of the Psychoanalytic Treatment of a Little Girl Edited by Ishak Ramzy

Contents

Preface

This book presents verbatim excerpts from a psychoanalyst's notes on the treatment of a young child. The reader has the rare opportunity of being admitted to the intimacy of the consulting room and of studying the child and the therapist at work. While it will be of special value to those professionally involved with children, it will also be of interest to anyone concerned with children and their development.

The Piggle will be of particular interest to those familiar with the writings of the late Dr. Winnicott. His comments and other occasional notes for the reader describe the treatment as it develops, and give his theoretical understanding of what is happening. At the same time the text of what he said, and how he said it, illustrates vividly his contributions to psychoanalytic theory and technique in the treatment of children. But this is not a heavy textbook. It is a lively account of two people working and playing together with purposeful intensity and enjoyment. In Winnicott's view “it is not possible for a child of this age to get meaning out of a game unless first of all the