ABSTRACT
D. W. Winnicott's playful use of an oedipal challenge to this fatherless boy was a startling contrast to the exclusively interpretative approach to which author had been introduced at the Tavistock Clinic. As students of child psychotherapy, we were not expected in those days to initiate play with children. Perhaps Winnicott enjoyed having presented an unorthodox challenge to author as well as to his patient. Winnicott had observed that the development of play depends upon trust. Paddy's first venture into play with author must have been based on his growing confidence that author would continue to prove reliably friendly and emotionally available, able to respond to his spontaneous gestures. Playing denotes the ability to distinguish reality from fantasy and past from present, while giving playful rein to a creative imagination that is neither delusional nor literal. The cognitive aspects of the development are being explored by researchers on the "theory of mind".
