Contemporary Freudian Society

The Ties that Bind: The Necessity of Dependence for the Evolution of the Self
Presenter: Lesley Caldwell, MA, PhD, FIPA

Sunday, April 12, 2026 — 10:00 am - 12:00 pm EST (16:00 - 18:00 CET)
Hybrid: In-person and Zoom
2 CEUs Available

This paper proposes that being the object of another’s concern in infancy, and later in analysis, is fundamental to the capacity for intimacy. If the initial encounter with the environment has been distorted in some way wishes for attachment and closeness may be subsumed into a fear of rejection, restriction and denial. The encounter with the other, both real and imagined, is feared as a takeover, rather than enabling the growth of the self. In such a constellation, the self and its precarious existence can disappear in the need to attend to the other’s imagined wishes and demands. The gradual creation of a space for trust in the transference counter transference dynamic and the patient’s acceptance of it can encourage some presence of that self in the analysis, and the patient’s capacity to recognize it in the analytic space, a space of dependence on another. I approach these questions through a discussion of Winnicott’s clinical addition to his paper “‘Transitional objects and transitional phenomena”, Andre Green’s account of the same patient, and a patient of my own to whom I am grateful for permission to use some of her analytic material. The paper also raises the topic of decisions of the analyst and their analytic implications.

Presenter:

Professor Lesley Caldwell, MA, PhD, FIPA, is a member, retired, of the British Association, a Clinical Associate of the British Society, Honorary Professor in the Psychoanalysis Unit at University College London, and Visiting Professor at the Winnicott Centre, University of Rome, La Sapienza. She was the European representative on the Executive Committee of the IPA (2023–2025) and a Board member from 2021- 2025. She was an Editor and Trustee for the Winnicott Trust from 2002 to 2016 and its Chair of Trustees from 2008 to 2012. With Helen Taylor Robinson she is Joint General Editor of The Collected Works of Donald Winnicott (Oxford University Press, 2016) which won The American Board & Academy of Psychoanalysis book prize (History section) in 2017, and which is celebrating its tenth anniversary in Autumn 2026. She has been working on themes of analytic communication and of being as central to clinical practice. Articles associated with these issues appear in the Rivista di Psicoanalisi (2018), the British Journal of Psychotherapy (2018), and in JAPA (2024). As Director of the Squiggle Foundation (2000 to 2003) and Editor of its Winnicott Studies monograph series (Karnac & Squiggle Foundation, 2000–2008) Prof. Caldwell published Art, Creativity, Living (2000), The Elusive Child (2003), Sex and Sexuality: Winnicottian Perspectives (2005) and Winnicott and the Psychoanalytic Tradition (2007). With Angela Joyce she published Reading Winnicott for the New Library teaching series (2011).  is a member, retired, of the British Association, a Clinical Associate of the British Society, Honorary Professor in the Psychoanalysis Unit at University College London, and Visiting Professor at the Winnicott Centre, University of Rome, La Sapienza. She was the European representative on the Executive Committee of the IPA (2023–2025) and a Board member from 2021- 2025.

She was an Editor and Trustee for the Winnicott Trust from 2002 to 2016 and its Chair of Trustees from 2008 to 2012. With Helen Taylor Robinson she is Joint General Editor of The Collected Works of Donald Winnicott (Oxford University Press, 2016) which won The American Board & Academy of Psychoanalysis book prize (History section) in 2017, and which is celebrating its tenth anniversary in Autumn 2026.  She has been working on themes of analytic communication and of being as central to clinical practice. Articles associated with these issues appear in the Rivista di Psicoanalisi (2018), the British Journal of Psychotherapy (2018), and in JAPA (2024).  

As Director of the Squiggle Foundation (2000 to 2003) and Editor of its Winnicott Studies monograph series (Karnac & Squiggle Foundation, 2000–2008) Prof. Caldwell published Art, Creativity, Living (2000), The Elusive Child (2003), Sex and Sexuality: Winnicottian Perspectives (2005) and Winnicott and the Psychoanalytic Tradition (2007). With Angela Joyce she published Reading Winnicott for the New Library teaching series (2011).

Program Fee:
IN-PERSON: General: $100 | CFS Members: $85 | All Candidates: $35
VIA ZOOM: General: $95 | CFS Members: $80 | All Candidates: $30
Registration closes at 5:00 pm on April 11^th.
Cancellation within 7 days of the program.

A recording of this event will be available to those who register.
However, CE credits will only be granted to those who attend in-person or via Zoom.

In-Person Location:
New York Psychoanalytic Society
247 E 82nd Street
New York, NY 10028

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References:
Anderson, J. 2014. How DW Winnicott Conducted Psychoanalysis in Psychoanalytic Psychology 31( 3) 375-395
Balint, E 1963. On being empty of one self in IJP 44, 470-48
Caldwell, L. (2024). Approaching the Unconscious Through the Psyche-Soma: A Winnicottian Perspective. Canadian Journal of Psychoanalysis 32:91-110
Caldwell, L. (2022). A Discussion of Three Versions of Donald Winnicott’s ‘Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena’, 1951-1971. British Journal of Psychotherapy 38:42-60
Caldwell, L. (2024). Communicating and Not Communicating with Self and Other. Words, Silence and the Incommunicado Self. The American Journal of Psychoanalysis 84:570-582
Dinnage, R. 2012. The Long Vacation London: Brook
Green, A. The Intuition of the Negative in Playing and Reality in the IJP vol78, 6, December 1071-184 Winnicott, DW 1959a Classification: is there a psycho -analytic contribution to psychiatric classification CW 4:5:5 445-460
Winnicott, DW 1959b Counter transference in CW 4:5:20 505-515 Winnicott, DW 1970 Cure Home is Where we start from in CW 9:2:8 191-198 Winnicott, DW 1971 Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena in Playing and Reality and in CW 9:3:5265-288

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this seminar, participants will be able to:
1. Discuss Winnicott’s clinical work through a focus on the importance of dependence.
2. Discuss the centrality of the analyst’s own assumptions for the transference counter transference dynamic.
3. Identify the different kinds of work done by the analyst and discuss how they all depend on what Winnicott calls the professional attitude.

CFS Scientific Program Committee:
Cornelius Dufallo (Chair) • Baiyu Chen • Umi Chong • Jennifer Grant • Michael Krass • Kristin Lee • Jessica Reik • Janet Schiff

Who Should Attend: The instructional level for this activity is advanced. Mental Health Professionals (psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, licensed professional counselors, e.g. LPs, LCATs, and pastoral counselors) and those with an interest in psychodynamic and psychoanalytic thinking and clinical applications.

CE credits will only be granted to participants with documented attendance of the entire program and completed online evaluation form. No partial credit will be offered. It is the responsibility of the participants seeking CE credits to comply with these requirements. Upon completion of this program and online evaluation form, participants will be granted credits.

Important Disclosure Information: None of the planners and presenters of this program have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Click here for more information and to register