Some personal recollections and impressions of Harry Guntrip. 1996

R Markillie

Harry Guntrip will be known to most readers, and a generation of students, as the author of 'Personality Structure and Human Interaction', and of 'Schizoid Phenomena, Object Relations and the Self'. These books are still an extremely clear and well argued presentation of the development of psychoanalytic theory. The first was an enormous labour of digesting, criticising and organising all the major psychoanalytic contributions into a theoretical whole that was a statement of faith by the author. The second linked some of the papers that continuously flowed from him throughout life. Both are a witness to his drive and his intellect. This paper is a memoir of almost thirty years' friendship, and shows something of the man and the therapist who made the books possible. It gives some picture of his life, his personality and his problems with health. In conclusion Guntrip's paper on his analysis with Fairbairn and Winnicott is discussed. The author considers that Guntrip's forte, an understanding of the schizoid problem, has its roots in a personal limitation revealed in his experience of analysis. He needed to be in intellectual control, and had great difficulty in emotional letting go.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007400 Interprofessional Relations The reciprocal interaction of two or more professional individuals. Etiquette, Medical,Medical Etiquette,Relations, Interprofessional
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
D011575 Psychoanalytic Therapy A form of psychiatric treatment, based on Freudian principles, which seeks to eliminate or diminish the undesirable effects of unconscious conflicts by making the patient aware of their existence, origin, and inappropriate expression in current emotions and behavior. Balint Psychoanalytic Therapy,Psychoanalytic Therapy, Balint,Psychoanalytical Therapy,Therapy, Balint Psychoanalytic,Therapy, Psychoanalytic,Psychoanalytic Therapies,Psychoanalytical Therapies,Therapies, Psychoanalytic,Therapies, Psychoanalytical,Therapy, Psychoanalytical
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
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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