A afetividade fundamental: um diálogo entre Michel Henry e Donald Winnicott

Abstract

The theme of this study stems from the interest on the part of this researcher to carry out approaches and dialogues between phenomenological philosophy and psychology. Winnicottian thought in dialogue with phenomenology has been the focus of interest for some years now. In this work, the phenomenology of affections raised in the clinical encounter is discussed here and it is understood that there is a closeness between Michel Henry and Donald Winnicott in this context. In this line of thought, we understand that there is a possibility of dialogue between Winnicott and Michel Henry, since both point to a fundamental opening to otherness through affections that are present and inherent in every human being, and that are extremely important for life.Both take the issue of affectivity as a central element in human life and thematize them according to their specific theoretical elaborations. In Michel Henry, the dimension of affections is originating, being, therefore, a condition of possibility for any human relationship. While for Winnicott, affection makes being possible, that is, it is the fundamental element in human contact that favors the meaningful encounter, which allows the development and continuity of being. In this sense, a classic text by Winnicott called: "Hate in countertransference" is used to provide this dialogue and carry out the discussions proposed in this work to achieve the proposed objectives.For this, we use Gadamer's hermeneutic method as a methodological presupposition for reading and analyzing the questions proposed here. The objectives of this work are to reflect on the importance of affectivity in human development and in the clinical situation and to discuss the therapeutic potential of valuing affective processes within the clinical event. Phenomenological thinking and winnicottian psychoanalysis form the school of thought that guides our clinic. And, in order to respond to the objectives proposed in this research, we present the clinical principles that weave our work that come from this dialogue between the two authors that influence us in the clinic we exercise and we also present the clinical work that we have been doing at the Mental Health Office of USP , through a case attended by us to exemplify our way of putting into practice the clinical conception we developed from the dialogue we make between phenomenology and Winnicottian psychoanalysis. From it, we reach the conclusion that the potential of the human encounter, fostered by the affectivity that constitutes it, bears fruit in care. A care that configures itself as a home, and that allows the experience of a human encounter that is significant in its effects and that enables the opening of paths that lead patients to find not only the other with whom they share the world, but also to himself, as a living being, who has in life his existential condition, and affectivity as his essential foundation.