Transitional Object

Category: Insight, Play

When the young child begins to separate the ‘me’ from the ‘not-me’ and evolves from complete dependence to a stage of relative independence, it uses transitional objects. An infant sees himself and the mother as a whole. In this phase the mother ‘brings the world’ to the infant without delay which gives him a ‘moment of illusion’, a belief that his own wish creates the object of his desire which brings with it a sense of satisfaction.- Wikipedia

Key attributes of the transition object include:

The infant has total rights over it.

The object may be cuddled, loved and mutilated.

It must never be changed, except by the infant.

It has warmth or some vitality that indicates is has a reality of its own.

It exists independently of ‘inside’ or ‘outside’ and is not a hallucination.

Over time, it loses meaning and becomes relegated to a kind of limbo where it is neither forgotten nor mourned.

Other Resources
- Playing and Reality by D. Winnicott

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