Thinking about Winnicott and the origins of the self

Reading Rodman's "Winnicott: Life and Work" has induced some considerations in the author who for years has shared Winnicott's "research analysis" in the field of potential space. Among these considerations is the rarely remarked affinity between Erikson and Winnicott in their view of human nature as well as in their seeing basic trust as the essence of good growth. For Winnicott particularly maternal functions have great maturational value, facilitating the process which takes infants from their first sensory experiences to mentalization, where father will exist in reality. The significance of illusion at different maturational stages is briefly considered as opposed to reality. To the latter a distant origin (possibly in foetal movements, which in utero meet resistance) has been attributed by Winnicott as mentioned in one of his last letter. "Meeting resistance one feels real" was one of his sayings (Gaddini, 2003).