ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that there is an implied theory of desire in Winnicott’s work in which he distinguishes between needs and wishes. This theory is explored in relation to a case study of a female patient whose fear of analysis was inextricably linked with her fear of dependency. Winnicott had latterly proposed that the fear of WOMAN was rooted in the fear of dependency and in reference to the patient’s desire to become a woman the clinical example illustrates the way in which psychic survival-of-the-object operates. Analytic technique offers each patient a new experience that the author suggests facilitates the stunted surviving object to grow.
