Ferenczi and Winnicott: The intersubjective, the third and the mother in psychoanalysis

“This paper explores the theories of Sandor Ferenczi and D. W. Winnicott across three major themes of intersubjectivity, a “third” and the mother in psychoanalysis. Through an analysis of concepts including Ferenczi's autoplastic and alloplastic adaptation and Winnicott's concepts of psychic disintegration and unintegration, each theorist's contributions in moving psychoanalysis beyond the Freudian emphasis of the intrapsychic realm toward an intersubjectivity are highlighted. Ferenczi's enlargement of the scene of trauma to include three presences and Winnicott's third area of experiencing destabilizes the Freudian binary of me/you, internal/external and presents psychoanalysis with a novel “third” as grounding to pioneer aspects of psychoanalysis that are conceived of as traditionally feminine, including the elastic technique and tact, devotion, and care. This centralizes the previously marginalized mother role in psychoanalysis and challenges the phallocentrism of Freudian theory and technique. The clinical and technical impacts of these destabilizations and innovations in psychoanalytic theory are explored in both theorist's work with infants/patients and signals an advancement in the philosophy of psychoanalysis toward horizontality and relationality.”

You can access this paper, published in The International Forum of Psychoanalysis (2025) here. If you do not have institutional access, please feel free to contact me for a copy.