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International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 34:89-97 Transitional…
International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 34:89-97
Transitional Objects and Transitional PhenomenaA Study of the First Not-Me Possession D. W. Winnicott
Introduction: It is well known that infants as soon as they are born tend to use fist, fingers, thumbs in stimulation of the oral erotogenic zone, in satisfaction of the instincts at that zone, and also in quiet union. It is also well known that after a few months infants of either sex become fond of playing with dolls, and that most mothers allow their infants some special object and expect them to become, as it were, addicted to such objects. There is a relationship between these two sets of phenomena that are separated by a time interval, and a study of the development from the earlier into the later can be profitable, and can make use of important clinical material that has been somewhat neglected.
The First Possession: Those who happen to be in close touch with mothers’ interests and problems will be already aware of the very rich patterns ordinarily displayed by babies in their use of the first not-me possession. These patterns, being displayed, can be subjected to direct observation. There is a wide variation to be found in a sequence of events which starts with the newborn infant’s fist-in-mouth activities, and that leads eventually on to an attachment to a teddy, a doll or soft toy, or to a hard toy. It is clear that something is important here other than oral excitement and satisfaction, although this may be the basis of everything else.
The five features Winnicott lists are the object’s:
1. The nature of the object.
2. The infant’s capacity to recognize the object as ‘not-me’.
3. The place of the objectoutside, inside, at the border.
4. The infant’s capacity to create, think up, devise, originate, produce an object.
5. The initiation of an affectionate type of object relationship.
I have introduced the terms ‘transitional object’ and ‘transitional phenomena’ for designation of the intermediate area of experience, between the thumb and the teddy bear, between the oral erotism and true object-relationship, between primary creative activity and projection of what has already been introjected, between primary unawareness of indebtedness and the acknowledgement of indebtedness (‘Say: ta!’). By this definition an infant’s babbling or the way an older child goes over a repertory of songs and tunes while preparing for sleep come within the intermediate area as transitional phenomena, along with the use made of objects that are not part of the infant’s body yet are not fully recognized as belonging to external reality.
ACTIVITY: Playing with Transitional Objects as a Creative Search for the Self
Winnicott introduces transitional phenomena with a declaration of “the central position of Winnie the Pooh” (xvi).
à Pooh bear is the first object in this text that swiftly demonstrates the arc of the “transitional object” (from first personal “not-me” object to the cultural icon that A. A. Milne created). Suggestion: recall/draw your own 1st “not-me” object (screen memory attached).
The first possession: (the not-me) “There is a wide variation to be found in a sequence of events that starts with the newborn infant’s fist-in-mouth activities, and leads eventually on to an attachment to a teddy, a doll or soft toy, or to a hard toy” (2).
After listing further “qualities” of the infant’s relationship to the object, Winnicott asserts that his “subject widens out into that of play, and of artistic creativity and appreciation, and of religious feeling, and of dreaming, and also of fetishism, lying and stealing, the origin and loss of affectionate feeling, drug addiction, the talisman of obsessional rituals, etc.” (7). (Notice the shift from the good to the bad half way through the sentence).
TRANSITIONAL OBJECT enables “the infant’s journey from the purely subjective to objectivity” … So the transitional object (piece of blanket, etc.) is what we see of this journey of progress towards experiencing” (8).
Example of “prefect transitional object”:
“My Twinn, a company that sells dolls “individually crafted to look like your daughter”. Johnson writes, “The proud parent is invited to choose among skin tones, eye colours … to diagram birthmarks, moles, and freckles” (see p. 240) and remarks, “Wouldn’t the doll require a kind of protection that is the very model for enslavement to the ideal I?”
Religious/Food example: “if we consider the wafer of the Blessed Sacrament, which is symbolic of the body of Christ, I think I am right in saying that for the Roman Catholic community it is the body, and for the Protestant community it is a substitute, a reminder, and is essentially not, in fact, actually the body itself. Yet in both cases it is a symbol” (8). [A symbol over which some people have been killed, we should point out!]
Illusion vs. Disillusionment
à “The mother’s eventual task is gradually to disillusion the infant, but she has no hope of success unless at first she has been able to give sufficient opportunity for illusion” (15). So, “the mother’s main task (next to providing opportunity for illusion) is disillusionment. This is preliminary to the task of weaning, and it also continues as one of the tasks of parents and educators” (17).
THEORIST KEY CONCEPTS Examples Image
Julia Cameron
Lisa Heldke
Jacques Lacan
Abraham Maslow
Donald Winnicott
YOGIC PATH IDEA
Patanjali List the 8 limbs
Mandala
Creation
Personal Notes: Here I encourage you to think of personal connections to the texts above.
Vision Board Reflection Questions:
How hierarchical (rigid) or not (fluid) is your organization of human needs?
What did you learn from your group discussion of how your subjective views differ or align with other’s views on human needs and satisfactions of those needs?
Did anything surprise you about the images or the discussions that were generated?
How did you feel during the process of making the Vision board?
Give a description of specific needs you think to be essential based on Maslow’s theory
