10/05/2026
Understanding Donald Winnicott: Theory and Technique
(From the Maturational Process to Clinical Practice)
🔘Training Content and Objectives
This training is grounded in an in-depth understanding of the work of Donald Winnicott, approached through the maturational process rather than through isolated conceptual exposition.
🔘The program aims to:
* Trace the emergence of the psyche from absolute dependence to the formation of the self
* Understand the role of the environment (mother/therapist) as a condition for psychic existence
* Move from the domain of “being” to “relating” and eventually to the emergence of the self
* Translate these theoretical concepts into a technical stance within the clinical setting
🔘The training includes:
* A progressively structured theoretical framework consistent with Winnicott’s internal logic
* Precise clinical applications
* Direct articulation between theory and technique
🔘Skills Acquired:
* Thinking in terms of developmental process rather than descriptive diagnosis
* Differentiating between disorders of “being” and conflict-based disorders
* Understanding states of fragmentation, non-integration, and existential discontinuity
* Using holding rather than premature interpretation
* Managing regression as a therapeutic process
* Identifying manifestations of the true self / false self within the session
🔘Teaching Methods:
* Progressive psychoanalytic lectures
* Applied clinical case discussions
* Verbatim session material
* Dynamic group discussions
* Developmental diagrams
🔘Target Audience:
* Psychologists and psychotherapists
* Psychiatrists
* Advanced psychology students
* Individuals interested in contemporary psychoanalysis
🔘Duration and Program Structure:
12 hours of training divided into four sessions (3 hours each)
🟣Session One (3 hours)
The Maturational Process: From Non-Integration to Being
This session establishes the ontological foundation of the psyche in Winnicott’s theory, where the self is not given but gradually emerges through development.
Content includes:
* Absolute Dependence
* Absence of differentiation between self and object in the beginning
* Processes of:
* Integration
* Personalization
* Realization
* Going-on-being
* Primitive agonies
Clinical focus:
Working with patients presenting:
* Fragmentation
* Loss of sense of existence
* Pre-symbolic disturbances
🟣Session Two (3 hours)
The Environment as a Condition for the Psyche: Holding, Illusion, and Transition
This session demonstrates that the environment is not external, but rather a condition of possibility for psychic life.
Content includes:
* Holding Environment
* Good-Enough Mother
* Adaptation vs Impingement
* Illusion and the gradual process of disillusionment
* Transitional Object
* Transitional Space
* Play as a condition for mental health
Clinical focus:
* Patients unable to play or symbolize
* Rigid or empty psychic functioning
* Restoring transitional space within the therapeutic setting
🟣Session Three (3 hours)
The Emergence of the Self and Technique: From Survival to Authenticity
Following the establishment of the maturational process and environmental function, this session addresses the emergence of the self and clinical technique.
Content includes:
* Emergence of the self through the spontaneous gesture (Spontaneous Gesture)
* True Self versus False Self
* Degrees of false self organization
* Use of the Object
* Destruction and survival
* Regression to Dependence
The therapist’s technical position:
* Prioritizing holding over interpretation
* Surviving the patient’s attacks without defensive retaliation
* Emphasis on timing rather than interpretative intensity
* Working at the level of “being,” not only “meaning”
🟣Session Four (3 hours)
A comprehensive clinical case illustrating:
* False self organization
* Phases of treatment
* Gradual emergence of the true self
This session includes:
* Verbatim material
* Step-by-step clinical analysis
* Articulation between theory and technique
* Discussion of therapist positioning and interventions
🔘Trainer
Dr. Elie Youssef Abou Chacra, licensed clinical psychologist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist.
PhD in Clinical Psychology and Psychopathology from Saint Joseph University of Beirut.
President of the Psychotherapy Schools Committee at the Lebanese Order of Psychologists.
Head of the Training Department at Nafsanyoun Center.
Member of the International Society of Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (ISTFP).
🟣Training Details:
• Hybrid training format (in-person and online) extending over 12 hours
• Participants may attend in person at our center in Badaro or online via ZOOM
• Participants will have access to the recorded sessions and may watch them at any time
• The training begins on Saturday, May 23, from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM, and continues every Saturday at the same time
⭕️ Training fee: $50, certificate included
⭕️ This training is free for Nafsanyoun members
For inquiries and registration:
009613638911 / 0096181917028
