85: On Hate and Aggression, Part I

Jan 11, 2025

Dive into the intriguing concept of aggression as explored through D.W. Winnicott's theories. The discussion uncovers how feelings of hate can be pivotal in familial and therapeutic settings. Emotional complexities in parenting, particularly in response to concealed identities, take center stage. Insights into childhood aggression reveal its role in development, seen not just as negative but essential to growth. The podcast encourages a deeper understanding of the interplay between aggression, love, and movement in human relationships.

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ANECDOTE

Alison Bechdel's Mother Memoir

Alison Bechdel's graphic novel "Are You My Mother?" explores her complex relationship with her mother through therapy and Winnicott's theories.
This narrative connects psychoanalytic theory with personal experience, illustrating deep emotional ambivalence in family dynamics.

INSIGHT

Winnicott on Hate and Aggression

Winnicott offers a compassionate, non-judgmental view on hate and aggression as fundamental human emotions.
He reframes aggression as essential developmental energy, challenging the typical moral negativity around it.

INSIGHT

Winnicott's Biography Shapes Theory

Winnicott's biography and clinical context deeply shape his understanding of aggression and development.
His experiences during war and with displaced children inform his unique psychoanalytic approach.

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Abby, Patrick, and Dan take up a topic that couldn’t be more relevant to the contemporary zeitgeist – aggression – as theorized by an unlikely source: the British analyst and pediatrician D.W. Winnicott. What did this beloved and famously gentle figure have to say about aggression, and our taboos and fantasies surrounding it? Where does aggression come from, and what is its function developmentally? And what role can acknowledging feelings of “hate” play in the family, in psychotherapy, and in everyday life? To answer all these questions, this episode – the first in a three-part series – sees Abby, Patrick, and Dan sketch out Winnicott’s biography, discuss his theoretical preoccupations, and unpack his approach to therapy, especially with severely distressed children and adults. Close-reading his essay, “The Roots of Aggression” (collected in the The Child, the Family, and the Outside World) they explore how, for Winnicott, the capacity to work with aggression implicates everything from our ability to move in physical space to our feeling deserving of love.

Robert Adès et al., editors. “Index of Available Audio Recordings.” The Collected Works of D. W. Winnicott: Volume 12, Appendices and Bibliographies, Oxford University Press, 2016:

https://doi.org/10.1093/med:psych/9780190271442.003.0011

“Winnicott: The ‘Good-Enough Mother’ Radio Broadcasts.” OUPblog, Dec. 2016:
https://blog.oup.com/2016/12/winnicott-radio-broadcasts/

Brett Kahr, “Winnicott’s ‘Anni Horribiles’: The Biographical Roots of ‘Hate in the Counter-Transference.’” American Imago, vol. 68, no. 2, 2011, pp. 173–211.

D. W. Winnicott, “Hate in the Counter-Transference.” The Journal of Psychotherapy Practice and Research, vol. 3, no. 4, 1994, pp. 348–56.

Winnicott, “Roots of Aggression.” The Collected Works of D. W. Winnicott: Volume 7, 1964 - 1966, edited by Lesley Caldwell and Helen Taylor Robinson, Oxford University Press, 2016:
https://doi.org/10.1093/med:psych/9780190271398.003.0018

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