ABSTRACT
Contrary to the transitional object, the notion of potential space, which is at the core of the transitional process described by D. W. Winnicott, has always been difficult to integrate within the psychoanalytic theory and practice because it is neither an object nor an agency. This chapter discusses the environmental conditions which facilitate or hinder the existence of the individual potential space. It explores the applications of this notion to the social context, differentiating designed potential spaces from spontaneous ones through a series of examples. If potential space lies between the symbol and the symbolized, it requires threeness or an interpretive self to allow for creativity and what Ogden calls a “dialectic process”. Individual potential space and collective transitional spaces have always been the worst enemies of authoritarian leaders and totalitarian regimes. According to Winnicott, individual psychotherapy is typically a potential space between the therapist and the patient, even if its effects don’t always demonstrate its transitional role.
