A basic understanding of psychoanalytic or psychodynamic concepts is recommended. 

Participants are expected to engage with theoretical material, clinical case discussions, and session based material throughout the training.

This training offers an in depth exploration of Donald Winnicott’s theory and clinical technique through the lens of the maturational process, rather than as a collection of isolated concepts.

The program traces psychic development from absolute dependence and non integration toward a sense of being, relating, and the emergence of the self. Particular attention is given to the role of the facilitating environment first represented by the mother and later, clinically, by the therapist as a fundamental condition for psychic development.

Throughout the training, Winnicott’s theoretical contributions are directly linked to clinical practice, with a focus on holding, regression, fragmentation, transitional phenomena, true and false self organization, the use of the object, and the therapist’s capacity to survive and respond to the patient without premature interpretation.

The training is designed for psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, advanced psychology students, and individuals with a serious interest in contemporary psychoanalysis.

Teaching Methods

The training combines:

• Progressive psychoanalytic lectures following Winnicott’s developmental logic
• Applied clinical case discussions
• Verbatim session material
• Step-by-step analysis of therapeutic processes and interventions
• Dynamic group discussions
• Developmental diagrams linking theory to clinical technique

Training Duration and Schedule

Total Duration: 12 hours

Structure: Four sessions of 3 hours each

Session 1 

The Maturational Process: From Non-Integration to Being

Theoretical Content:

• Absolute dependence
• Early non differentiation between self and object
• Integration
• Personalization
• Realization
• Going-on-being
• Primitive agonies

Clinical Focus:

• Fragmentation
• Disturbances in the sense of existence
• Pre-symbolic disturbances
• Clinical manifestations of failures in early integration

Session 2 

The Environment as a Condition for the Psyche: Holding, Illusion, and Transition

Theoretical Content:

• The holding environment
• The good enough mother
• Adaptation and impingement
• Illusion and the gradual process of disillusionment
• Transitional objects
• Transitional space
• Play and the capacity to play
• Play as a condition for psychic health

Clinical Focus:

• Patients who experience difficulties with play and symbolization
• Rigid or empty psychic functioning
• Failures in environmental provision
• Restoring transitional space within the therapeutic setting

Session 3 

The Emergence of the Self and Technique: From Survival to Authenticity

Theoretical Content:

• The spontaneous gesture
• The emergence of the self
• True self and false self
• Degrees of false self organization
• The use of the object
• Destruction and survival
• Regression to dependence

The Therapist’s Technical Position:

• Prioritizing holding over premature interpretation
• Surviving the patient’s attacks without defensive retaliation
• Attending to the timing of interventions
• Working at the level of “being,” not only “meaning”
• Understanding regression as a potentially therapeutic process

Session 4 

Clinical Integration: From False Self Organization to the Emergence of the True Self

Comprehensive Clinical Case:

• False self organization
• Phases of treatment
• Gradual emergence of the true self
• Verbatim session material
• Step-by-step clinical analysis
• Therapist positioning
• Therapeutic interventions
• Articulation between theory and technique

By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

• Understand psychic functioning through a developmental and maturational perspective rather than descriptive diagnosis alone
• Differentiate disturbances related to the continuity of being from primarily conflict based disorders
• Recognize clinical manifestations of fragmentation, non integration, primitive agonies, and existential discontinuity
• Understand the clinical functions of holding, transitional space, play, and environmental provision
• Identify manifestations and different degrees of true self and false self organization
• Understand regression to dependence as a potentially meaningful therapeutic process
• Determine when holding may be clinically more appropriate than interpretation
• Apply Winnicott’s concepts to therapist positioning, timing, and intervention within the clinical setting