著者

石谷 真一 Shinichi ISHITANI

雑誌

論集

巻号頁・発行日

vol.52, no.2, pp.103-123, 2005-12-20 (Released:2015-07-17)

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This report tried to study on imaginary companions from the viewpoint of the Depth psychology. Imaginary companions are invisible imaginary object, which children sometimes play with or talk with. In this report first, the author surveyed post studies on imaginary companions. Second, the author compared imaginary companions with stuffed objects which were found and played by children, on which he has investigated toward female university students by inquiring their favorite objects in childhood. In consequence, imaginary companions were found out to have analogy with stuffed toys, and thought to be a part of general imaginative activity in childhood. In the latter half of this paper, the author discussed about imaginary companions in the viewpoint of the Depth psychology, especially the psychoanalytic theories and the theory of analytical psychology. Imaginary companions were considered to be symbolic expressions of children's unconscious phantasy, especially to be projection of their internal object in Kleinian psychoanalytic theory. Imaginary companions were also considered to be transitional objects in Winnicottian theory, or to be a selfobject in Kohutian theory. Furthermore, in Jungian perspective, the relation with imaginary companions were sometimes analogous with active imagination, so that it was thought to be an interaction with unconscious psyche. In consequence of the comparative study and the theoretical study on imaginary companions, imaginary companions are thought not to be mere fantasy but an imaginative activity accompanied with unconscious. Imaginary companions are adaptive and healthy, but are often used to dissolve inner confliction, to relieve inner pain, or to facilitate ego development of children.