The Problem of Constructivism in Psychoanalysis: A Winnicottian Perspective

Abstract: While this article begins by noting the positive role that constructivism has played in the development of psychoanalytic theory over the past 50 years, it also points to the limitations of the approach and argues they must be corrected. For at the same time as constructivism’s criticisms of biologism and essentialism have provided powerful weapons for combating psychoanalytic conservatism, an exclusively constructivist approach has also made it difficult, if not impossible, to address an essential issue for psychoanalysts: namely, the normative basis of the enterprise and the goal(s) of development and treatment. The author claims that Winnicott’s theory provides a way out of this difficulty. For although Winnicott is often construed as a strict constructivist owing to his introduction of the notion of the environment, it is argued that his concept of “inherited potential” retains biological foundation for psychoanalysis while avoiding the dangers of essentialism.