Transitional Objects

The term transitional object was coined in 1951 by Donald Winnicot as a designation for any material object (typically something soft—a piece of cloth, say, or part of a plush toy) to which an infant attributes a special value and by means of which the child is able to make the necessary shift from the earliest oral relationship with the mother to genuine object-relationships.

Winnicot studied the transitional object as an emotional substitute to replace the mother in her absence such as a blanket to suck on while the breast is not there. Such a blanket can be talked to, it can be loved and cuddled; and it can be hit and kicked when the emotions are ambivalent – and it survives. Art products can become transitional objects which may become imbued with meaning beyond what they are in reality (Malchiodi, 2003 p. 54).

A transitional object in Work at the Clay Field acts like a totem that provides security and permanence. Such objects can be:

·     Toys such as hand puppets, teddy bears or dolls, which can represent a more accessible authority figure than the therapist. The teddy bear will then sit at the side of the field on the table and can be asked for advice whenever necessary.

·     Hand puppets that act out an aggressive impulse; the crocodile is a favorite. In this case the crocodile is angry, not the child, which might help the child to delegate an otherwise inacceptable emotion.

·     Animals the child or therapist shape from clay as substitute parental figures. Such figures can then be hit, killed, hurt, pummeled and cop the child’s anger about the parent’s divorce for example. This shifts the unbearable and unsafe loyalty conflict onto a secondary authority figure.  It allows the child to release emotions and act out the age specific death wish of “gone - there”.

·     Animals the child or the therapist shape as a substitute for the child, such as a ‘mouse that is afraid’ – and which subsequently will need food, shelter, nurturing, which the child can then provide.

·     Animals that as proxies undergo the trauma the child has experienced. Such animals have accidents, falls, get hurt, die, have operations, move house, loose parents etc.

·     Animals the child or therapist shape as a carrier for a specific emotion in order to assist release.

·     Children (and adults) might create spheres or objects that are deemed as precious and that are placed outside of the box or with the therapist for safe-keeping while they release negative emotions in the field. It is important that such special objects survive while the client “falls apart”. After the cathartic event the object can be integrated into a now discharged field.  

For some children it might be important that such a transitional object “survives” in-between sessions and thus provides a continuum. In this case the art therapist has to find means to keep the transitional object intact, which sometimes can be tricky, if such an object is made of clay and is likely in danger to dry out or fall apart in-between sessions.

 Strictly speaking and certainly in working with adults, the Clay Field is the ultimate transitional object. It provides the reliable continuum that survives every session, all the client’s emotions and actions, it can be hit and battered, and will again be there in the next session.  

Cornelia Elbrecht AThR

Institute for Sensorimotor Art Therapy

cornelia@sensorimotorarttherapy.com;   www.sensorimotorarttherapy.com