The Squiggle Foundation’s aims are:
- To study the work of Dr. Donald Woods Winnicott (1896-1971) .
- To spread his ideas to a wide audience and put them into everyday use in today’s world.
The word “squiggle” comes from a method Winnicott used to facilitate communication with a child.
He would take turns with the child to make a small squiggle mark on a sheet ?of paper and each would then extend the other’s squiggle into a simple drawing of personal significance. Playing with a scribble drawing was one way in which Winnicott led the child to a better sense of self.
His writings revolve around three main issues:
- The mother-infant relationship.
- Transitional phenomena, most clearly recognised in a child’s ?intense possessive feelings for a special blanket or toy.
- The importance of play and primary creativity.
D.W.W., as he was popularly known, was a paediatrician ?and ‘psychoanalyst who built on Freud’s discoveries of ?how the mind works. His main emphasis was on the ?genuine flourishing of the ‘person’ and the nurturing by the ‘other’ of a ‘sense of self’. Winnicott once said ?his concern was with ‘living persons, whole living and ?loving’. His therapeutic aim was to enable his patients to live in a creative and authentic way.
The Trust
The Squiggle Foundation’s aims are to study and disseminate the work of Winnicott, with a particular emphasis on application. It was registered as a charity in 1981 (number 283858).
Who We Are
Patrons: Christopher Bollas, Jennifer Johns, Brett Kahr, Adam Phillips, Kenneth Wright
Trustees: Tessa Dalley (Chair), Angela Joyce, Joanne Young, Dr Peter Shoenberg, Dr. Michaela Edwards, Mike Tait, Marigemma Rocco (Treasurer), Dr. Craig Fees.
Director: Search in Progress
Squiggle Fellow: Prof Adrian Sutton
Friends of the Squiggle Foundation Committee: Ellen McCoy, Jenny Davids, Pamela George, Gaby Marks, Michael Schacter, Dr Sharon Stekelman
Administrator: Di Sutton
Become a Member:
As a Student, Individual, or Family member of the Squiggle Foundation, you will have unrestricted access to all members’ resources, including D.W. Winnicott’s Collected Works and the Squiggle Talks Library – a growing digitised archive of over 400 audio and video talks presented at Squiggle events reaching back to 1982, a quarter of which are already available to members online. You will be able to join the Squiggle members’ email discussion group, will have discounts on Squiggle events, and receive regular Squiggle updates and newsletter.
As a Squiggle member you will also have a standing invitation to share ideas on what other facilities and initiatives the charity could develop in order to benefit its members; and are invited to explore ways and means to contribute to the charity’s work and events.
Memberships are annual. Student membership, which is available for full and part time students in any discipline or field, including trainees of UKCP and BCP trainings, is £35 per annum. Individuals are £60.
Join
Contact
The Administrator,
The Squiggle Foundation,
Woodbine Farm, Glutton Bridge, Longnor, Staffordshire, SK17 0PU
The mailbox is checked regularly but not daily, so please take this into account when you correspond with us. In the lead-up to events we do check more frequently.
