ABSTRACT
The theory guiding the clinical work presented derives specifically from a paper of Winnicott’s, ‘The Split-Off Male and Female Elements to be found clinically in Men and Women-Theoretical Inferences’. The whole debate about what distinguishes psycho-analytic treatment proper from psychotherapy is often sterile because of its emphasis that the choice lies with the analyst as to what role he is going to adopt. In the author's experience, what one decides depends entirely on the demand of the patient’s need and motivations, which are different again from the nature or character of the illness entailed. The patient who seeks analytic treatment proper is trying to find a setting and a relationship where he can gradually explore and discover the inner realities of his personality and resolve their conflicts and contradictions. Winnicott gave the concept of dissociation a new and novel dimension in terms of the early processes of psychic development in infancy.
