Winnicott on Jung: destruction, creativity and the unrepressed unconscious. 2011

William Meredith-Owen
Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK.

This paper considers Winnicott's critique of Jung, principally expressed in his review of Memories, Dreams, Reflections, which asserts that Jung's creative contribution to analysis was constrained by his failure to integrate his 'primitive destructive impulses', subsequent to inadequate early containment. It is argued that although Winnicott's diagnosis illuminates Jung's shadow, particularly his constraints vis-à-vis the repressed Freudian unconscious, it fails to appreciate the efficacy of the compensatory containment Jung found in the collective unconscious. This enigmatic relationship between destruction and creativity-so central to late Winnicott-is illuminated by Matte Blanco's bi-logic, and further explored in relation to William Blake. Winnicott's personal resolution through his Jung-inspired 'splitting headache' dream of destruction-previously considered in this Journal by Morey (2005) and Sedgwick (2008)-is given particular attention.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007602 Jungian Theory A theoretical psychoanalytical system centered around symbols of the unconscious with the unconscious material derived from two sources - the personal unconscious (repressed or forgotten experiences, thoughts and feelings) and the collective or objective unconscious (the universal inherited qualities which dispose individuals to behave in ways similar to their ancestors). Theory, Jungian
D011572 Psychoanalysis The separation or resolution of the psyche into its constituent elements. The term has two separate meanings: 1. a procedure devised by Sigmund Freud, for investigating mental processes by means of free association, dream interpretation and interpretation of resistance and transference manifestations; and 2. a theory of psychology developed by Freud from his clinical experience with hysterical patients. (From Campbell, Psychiatric Dictionary, 1996). Psychodynamic Analysis,Analyses, Psychodynamic,Analysis, Psychodynamic,Psychodynamic Analyses
D003405 Creativity The ability to generate new ideas or images. Creativeness,Innovativeness,Originality,Artistic Creativity,Creative Ability,Creative Thinking,Ability, Creative,Creative Abilities,Creativity, Artistic,Thinking, Creative
D004325 Dreams A series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep which are dissociated from the usual stream of consciousness of the waking state. Nightmares,Dream,Nightmare
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014473 Unconscious, Psychology Those forces and content of the mind which are not ordinarily available to conscious awareness or to immediate recall. Psychological Unconscious,Subconscious,Unconscious (Psychology),Psychology Unconscious,Unconscious, Psychological
D049673 History, 20th Century Time period from 1901 through 2000 of the common era. 20th Century History,20th Cent. History (Medicine),20th Cent. History of Medicine,20th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 20th Century,History of Medicine, 20th Cent.,History, Twentieth Century,Medical History, 20th Cent.,Medicine, 20th Cent.,20th Cent. Histories (Medicine),20th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 20th (Medicine),Cent. History, 20th (Medicine),Century Histories, 20th,Century Histories, Twentieth,Century History, 20th,Century History, Twentieth,Histories, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 20th Century,Histories, Twentieth Century,History, 20th Cent. (Medicine),Twentieth Century Histories,Twentieth Century History

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