uld be said that Charlie’s use of the transitional phenomena is a way of evoking the feelings she has about feeling separated from her mother as she begins to come to terms with the outside world.

From the transitional phenomenon comes the concept of transitional objects, which may be a blanket or soft toy. The parent respects the right of their child to make the object their own and it is not challenged (Winnicott, 1971: 4).

“The object represents the infant’s transition from a state of being merged with the mother to a state of being in relation to the mother as something outside and separate” (Winnicott, 1971, 14).

My own transitional object illustrates why Winnicott’s theory resonates so much. A red bear stayed with me as I grew from baby to child and despite holes appearing in its body and it’s eyes falling out, I recall nursing it with bandages, not wanting to give it up. I kept it in a bedside cupboard and it was only when I entered adolescence that I was able to say goodbye. As Winnicott says, “it becomes not so much forgotten as relegated to limbo” (1971: 5) I now wonder if covering the bear in plasters represented how I felt about earlier losses I experienced or was it representing the hurt I was feeling at being alone in hospital? In fact Winnicott reminds us that just prior to loss, or when feelings of anxiety are prominent, we may see exaggerated use of the transitional object. (1971: 15). I was able to experience the bear as a transition between my imagination and all that the outside world entails; something Winnicott argued is essential for good mental health in later life along with a sense of creative satisfaction,

“Throughout life (it) is retained in the intense experiencing that belongs to the arts and to religion and to imaginative living, and to creative scientific work” (Winnicott, 1971: 14).

Winnicott’s theories cement the power of play through the relationships children have symbolically with objects, whether physical or something less tangible. Being aware of this in the therapeutic environment is valuable. My experience of experiential work has shown me the power of play and what we unknowing