Happy #NationalTeddyBearDay
To a child, a teddy bear can represent a vital transitional object.
Coined by pediatrician and psychoanalyst #DonaldWinnicott, a #TransitionalObject bridges the gap between the familiar safety of a primary caregiver and the big, unfamiliar outer world.

Randomly, our morning conversation today happened to be about teddy bears, dollies, poppets and #Winnicott's idea of the #TransitionalObject: the child's first possession, treated as significant / sentient by caregivers. This forms the bridge between the inner fantasy life and consensual reality.