Definition excerpted with permission from Ginger, Serge International Glossary of Gestalt Psychotherapy (Seven languages including English. Order from FORGE at 183 rue Lecourbe; 75015 Paris, France) Paperback 1995.
- in Winnicott, an object invested with feelings by the child and used as a mother substitute, which has a self-calming function (e.g. a soft toy or the corner of a blanket or pillow). In the wider sense (used in Gestalt), an object symbolising an absent person to which one is attached.
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