Loewald and Winnicott / Can the Center Hold?

Publication Announcement by Joyce Slochower (USA)

Loewald and Winnicott’s Theoretical Convergence

Slochower, J. (2026). Loewald and Winnicott’s theoretical convergence. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 74 (3), 321–346.

This essay aims to identify some fascinating overlaps in Loewald’s and Winnicott’s perspectives on the emergence of autonomy in tandem with a capacity for genuine two-person engagement. Comparing Loewald’s “The Waning of the Oedipus Complex” and Winnicott’s “The Use of the Object and Relating through Identifications,” I address the striking similarities (and some differences) in the two theorists’ developmental and clinical visions. Each moved psychoanalytic theorizing away from a one-person perspective on development and toward one lodged in mutuality.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00030651261460321

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Can the Center Hold? Responding to Our Socio-Political Surround

Slochower, J. (2026). Can the center hold? Responding to our socio-political surround. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 36 (2), 143–155.

This is a period of massive political and social upheaval. Not only can our once-to-be-counted-on democracy no longer be counted on, there’s been a breakdown in the social norms that for decades served as a reliable background support. Many confront a fractured nation and fractured world, and the consequences are terrifying. How can we encompass what we fear we’re losing – democratic process, communal care for the other, a livable planet? To grieve but not be crushed by existential losses that reside outside the arena of the personal, we need to move beyond the analytic dyad.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10481885.2026.2636500

Joyce Slochower