Harry Guntrip: A Contemporary Introduction

Author(s) : Loray Daws

Part of Introductions to Contemporary Psychoanalysis series - more in this series

Harry Guntrip: A Contemporary Introduction

Book Details

  • Publisher : Routledge
  • Published : April 2026
  • Cover : Paperback
  • Pages : 162
  • Category :
    Psychoanalysis
  • Catalogue No : 98582
  • ISBN 13 : 9781032831275
  • ISBN 10 : 1032831278
Paperback
£34.99
Usually despatched within 4-5 working days
Free UK Delivery over £25
Add to basket
Add to wishlist

There are currently no reviews
Be the first to review

Leave a review

Harry Guntrip: A Contemporary Introduction traces Guntrip's early years, his theological and psychological studies, his formation as a psychoanalyst, and his various contributions to pre-Oedipal developmental arrest.

In this concise yet informative volume, Loray Daws takes the reader on a journey into the life and work of the important, yet often overlooked, British psychoanalyst, Harry J.S. Guntrip. Daws looks at how, as a clinical pioneer in the area of conceptualising and treating pre-Oedipal developmental arrest, Guntrip's prolific work has furthered psychoanalysis's understanding of the regressed ego and the schizoid dilemma. From his humble beginnings as a Methodist minister to his groundbreaking contributions on the theory of Object Relations, Daws provides insight into the profound impact of Guntrip's work on early relationships of the human psyche. Vast in scope and accessible in style, this volume is a much-needed introduction to the vital work of Harry Guntrip and its continued relevance in contemporary practice.

This book is an illuminating read for all practicing analysts, as well as students of psychology, psychiatry, psychiatric nursing, clinical and counseling psychology, psychoanalysis, and those specialising in both conceptual psychoanalysis and the treatment of the disorders of the self.

Reviews and Endorsements

With the utmost brilliance, poetic sensitivity and care, Daws introduces the reader to Guntrip, a deeply sensitive, curious, brilliant, soulful man in search of working through his trauma of unelatedness. Daws viscerally brings out the lifetime pain of Guntrip’s schizoid existence as if you are bearing witness to it in real time. Daws portrays Guntrip’s schizoid personality structure with empathy and compassion, while bringing into focus challenges and successes Fairbairn and Winnicott faced while analyzing Guntrip. Daws, similar to Winnicott and Guntip, argues for a relational, humanistic approach to such patients, for only through this approach will these patients feel loved and cared for, thus enabling them to heal and interact in a relatable relational dyad. Drawing on Masterson, Winnicott, Fairbairn, his own theories and work with his patients, Daws succinctly introduces therapeutic approaches to treat schizoid patients.’
Keri S. Cohen, Co-editor Toxic Nourishment and Damaged Bonds in the Work of Michael Eigen, Co-editor Healing, Rebirth and the Work of Michael Eigen

A beautiful, moving introduction to Guntrip's work and life, at once feeling and thoughtful as was Guntrip himself. We get a sense of the co-mingling of disaster anxiety and going on being, soul contraction and rebirth that touched his work with Fairbairn and Winnicott and his own being, opening for us psychic doors we are still entering. Many thanks to Loray Daws for his appreciation of psychic possibilities.
Michael Eigen, The Psychotic Core, Contact With the Depths, The Sensitive Self. The Psychoanalytic Mystic

Harry Guntrip: A Contemporary Introduction is much more than an introduction. Loray Daws weaves several themes into a compelling narrative about the nature of the schizoid dilemma. He revives insights that Guntrip gleaned from his own life experience. Daws brings alive the personalities of Fairbairn and Winnicott and how they helped Guntrip come alive emotionally through psychoanalytic treatment. This approach gives a felt sense of the inner world of the schizoid personality. Furthermore, Daws provides a meditation on the treatment of schizoid states, drawing on contemporary figures who have developed Guntrip's seminal insights. I found this a surprisingly moving discussion that highlights the significance of Guntrip's view of personal relations, which remains deeply relevant to our current world. Indeed, there are ideas here that require revisiting and extension. Daws skillfully guides the reader to a reflective reconsideration of the importance of schizoid phenomena.
Jeffrey Eaton, Author of A Fruitful Harvest: Essays after Bion

Despite Sutherland’s description of Harry Guntrip as one of the “psychoanalytic immortals” I feel that Guntrip is somewhat overlooked. So, I am delighted that Dr. Loray Daws has written Harry J. S. Guntrip, A Contemporary Introduction. This book will be useful to both students and seasoned psychoanalysts. Dr. Daws covers concisely and accurately the two important analyses and gives a detailed picture of the schizoid dilemma. Having moved from Freud’s basis in biology and instincts to one of personal relations, the School of Object Relations, was criticized by some as being ‘woolly-minded’. Having met Guntrip, I cannot think of anyone less ‘woolly-minded’! Dr. Daws obviously thinks the same.
Valerie Hazell, wife of Jeremy Hazell, author of various works of Harry Guntrip

Table of Contents


1. Introducing the work of Harry Guntrip

Part 1: Guntrip’s ontological search for a related self and his analyses with Fairbairn and Winnicott
2. Paradise Lost and Nimrod as Organizing Childhood Narrative - Growing away and Guntrip’s otherworldly self (1901-1920)
3. The University Years, The Ipswich and Salem Pastorates (1921-1947), and the Beginning of Dream Analysis
4. In Search of a Vital Self: Part 1- Analysis with Ronald Fairbairn
5. In Search of a Vital Self: Part 2 -Analysis with Donald Winnicott

Part 2: Theoretical and Clinical Guntrip
6. A Guntripian Psychoanalytic Description of the Schizoid State of Being
7. Clinical and Therapeutic Approaches to the Schizoid Dilemma
8. Guntrip and the Search for an Ontological Psychoanalysis

About the Author(s)

Loray Daws is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst currently in private practice in British Columbia, Canada. He is founding member of the South African and British Columbia Masterson Institutes as well as a faculty member of the International Masterson Institute in New York where he completed a post-graduate training program in the disorders of the self. He has published articles on dreaming, psychosomatic disorders (burning mouth syndrome and eating disorders) and the disorders of the self in journals such as the International Journal of Psychotherapy, Issues in Psychoanalytic Psychology, South African Rorschach Journal, and Clinical Counselling and Contemporary Psychotherapy. He has supervised and taught in South Africa, Canada, the United States, Australia and Turkey and currently serves as assistant editor for the Global Journal of Health Sciences.

More titles by Loray Daws

Customer Reviews

Our customers have not yet reviewed this title. Be the first add your own review for this title.

You may also like

Navigating Racial Landscapes: Wholeness and Wounds

Navigating Racial Landscapes: Wholeness and Wounds

Aileen Alleyne

Price £22.49

save £2.50

One Hundred Years of Psychoanalysis: A Timeline: 1900-2000

One Hundred Years of Psychoanalysis: A Timeline: 1900-2000

Elisabeth Young-Bruehl

Price £22.50

The Relational Revolution in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

The Relational Revolution in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

Steven Kuchuck

Price £19.79

save £2.20

Sign up for our new titles email   Sign up to our postal mailing list   Sign up for postal updates