Transitional Bear

Written By Lasca Bird

Research shows:

  1. "Transitional objects become attached to the ego organizers of the psyche that soothe a child’s anxieties. At bedtime, when a child is falling asleep and his or her mother is not present in the room, the transitional object relieves the child of anxiety because it reminds him or her of the constant or integrative emotional presence of the absent mother. By alleviating perceived threats to the child’s ego control during this time, transitional phenomena provide a necessary and unique bridge between the inner and the outer worlds, and between reality and fantasy." 

Source: A Child’s Use of Transitional Objects in Art Therapy to Cope With Divorce Courtney McCullough, Mahopac, NY)

  1. "In the conventional definition, transitional objects are “transitional” in that they are among the tools that many children use to gradually establish autonomy and self-regulation. They are, in this sense, the manifest evidence of the process of internalization; that is, the healthy child’s effort to shift the security experienced in the care of his or her parents into himself or herself. Whereas the infant cannot calm without a caregiver’s sensitive and responsive intervention, transitional objects make that intervention portable and immediate. Why wait for mother to respond to a cry if Fluffy the stuffed animal is right there offering familiar warmth and comfort? Transitional objects are thus a first step toward developing the ability to regulate and manage one’s own emotional experiences.

Transitional objects are more broadly transitional in the sense that they help the child to bridge the transition between caring experiences. They enable a needy or distressed or regressed child to manage the gap between direct caregiving experiences. That could mean helping a 3-year-old tolerate falling asleep on her own in the family’s new apartment, a 5-year-old to manage the shift from one parent’s care into the care of another, or a 12-year-old to walk in the door of his new classroom." 

Source: For the Love of Fluffy: Respecting, Protecting, and Empowering Transitional Objects in the Context of High-Conflict Divorce, Benjamin D. Garber (2019), Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 60:7, 552-565, DOI: 10.1080/10502556.2019.1586370)

Lasca Bird