Sometimes I bring stuffed bears to thearpy. I normally carry pretty large purses and these bears are rather small, so they fit inside nicely. I usually hold the bear if I am feeling little and sometimes, in a way, it is like holding onto T. Then when the bear comes home with me (even though he is my bear to begin with) he becomes a transitional object because I have "assigned" him meaning-- he is now a therapy bear.

I addressed my feelings, with T, about feeling silly for being a 27 year old who brings stuffies to therapy. T said that he admired me because I am the only client he has seen who is brave enough to get that in touch with an inner part of the self-- to bring the safety object in, integrate it into session, and to feel comfortable doing that.

If you bring your bear in, integrate him into therapy (he probably needs therapy anyway, since he lost his eyeballs-- tough deal, you know? lol) That way you can address any feelings that you have about the signifcance of bringing him along.

One time I brought my green bear to therapy and T and I ended up having some sort of rupture. That bear ended up being tossed on my livingroom floor when I got home, and would you know-- I didn't pick him up for about a week. And I told H to leave him there, too.

When we make an object transitional, it becomes so powerful.