The Pocket Dictionary of Winnicott: Essential Concepts of the True Self, False Self, Holding and Human Development

D. W. Winnicott transformed psychoanalysis by asking what makes it possible to feel real. From decades of paediatric and analytic work, he developed an enduring language of holding, good-enough care, transitional objects, play, creativity, concern, object use, and the true and false self. The Pocket Dictionary of Winnicott offers a precise, accessible map of that body of thought.

Written in clear American English, the book presents 225 alphabetized entries on emotional maturation, the facilitating environment, dependence, psyche-soma, primitive agony, breakdown, the antisocial tendency, regression, noncommunication, potential space, cultural experience, and clinical technique. It also introduces Winnicott's major papers and books, his paediatric and wartime contexts, and key interlocutors in British object relations.

Every entry combines definition, theoretical or historical context, cross-references, and a critical clinical note. The book resists turning memorable concepts into slogans: good enough does not mean careless, holding does not erase boundaries, and the true self is not a fixed essence. It is Volume 5 of The Pocket Psychoanalysis Library from ABRAFP International Press.