ABSTRACT
Winnicott was twice a president of the British Psychoanalytic Society and he was equally prominent in the medical and paediatric worlds: but if his colleagues treated him with respect, there was also a thinly disguised position of antagonism. Winnicott saw an enormous number of children and, above all, he knew how to engage them. The author's impression is that Winnicott is being adopted as a gifted prescriber of theories and techniques. Winnicott and most child therapists focus their helping programme on exploring the child's unconscious fantasies and helping him to achieve a better, more realistic view of himself and of the people around him. The advantage of adopting the interactive model is that when parents understand the true nature of the child's problems and are able to change their approach to the child, they can be recognized as effective therapists who can help the child.
