An American psychoanalyst, Deborah Anna Luepnitz, first came in contact with British psychotherapist, Gabrielle, due to a shared dedication to helping homeless individuals. During their conversation, Gabrielle disclosed that she had been treated by the renowned psychoanalyst, Donald Winnicott, years ago from age 2 to 5 years. In fact, he had fondly nicknamed her “The Piggle.” The treatment, which was documented in a book by that same name published in 1977, had become his most famous child case. Intrigued by this discovery, Luepnitz secured permission to interview Gabrielle about her memories of Winnicott and their interactions. Gabrielle’s recollections also suggested ways that his object relational theories and techniques evolved over those years. Later, Luepnitz’s insights were included as a chapter in a book compiled and edited by her colleague, Corinne Masur, PhD. Other chapters included new details that emerged from archival research and a critical reexamination of this fascinating case study, along with alternative views of the treatment through the lens of contemporary psychoanalytic frameworks.      

Deborah Anna Luepnitz, PhD, is a psychologist-psychoanalyst in private practice in Philadelphia and a faculty member at the Institute for Relational Psychoanalysis of Philadelphia. She previously was on faculty at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for over 30 years. In 2005, she founded Insight for All, which connects homeless individuals with psychoanalysts willing to work pro bono. Her publications include The Family Interpreted: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and Family Therapy (1988) and Schopenhauer’s Porcupines: Five Stories of Psychotherapy (2002), along with contributions to the Cambridge Companion to Lacan. Dr. Luepnitz received the Distinguished Educator Award from the International Forum for Psychoanalytic Education in 2013. 

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