This book will be of great interest not only to social workers but to all clinicians who are trying to make use of psychoanalytic ideas in settings other than that of private practice. Applegate and Bonovitz award Winnicott a central place in unfolding post-classical theories and methods, where the experience of the therapeutic relationship is itself deemed a powerful mutative factor. Not only do the authors explicate clearly Winnicott's sometimes puzzling metaphorical and poetic language, but they provide us with what is so often lacking in such texts?a rich array of clinical cases from agency-based social work practice, demonstrating anew the ever-widening scope of psychoanalytic thought... -- Jean B. Sanville
Social workers and helpers from similar professions have increasingly been recognizing that D. W. Winnicott's ideas are extremely useful to practice, but these ideas have been scattered throughout numerous papers and books. In pulling together and explaining the entirety of Winnicott's work, Applegate and Bonovitz have done us all a major service. The work is very readable and the application through extensive case material makes it ideal for both experienced practitioners and as a text for beginning students. It is particularly welcome as a reminder that the overly technique-oriented pressures from managed care result in a loss of an essential understanding of the client's inner life... -- Carolyn Saari
Drs. Applegate and Bonovitz have written a book about real patients: sullen, regressed, messy, frightened, and often resourceless. Their therapeutic approach is unabashedly pragmatic, at times innovative, and always unmistakably humane. While largely based upon Winnicott's ideas, their work is more than an exposition. They skillfully synthesize his views with those of Klein, Mahler, Kohut, Anzieu, Bollas, and Stern. More important, they succeed in achieving the risky but precious balance between individual psychotherapy and environmental intervention that is needed by many despondent and helpless individuals. Truly a superb work!!! -- Salman Akhtar, MD, is professor of psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and training and supervising analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
