ABSTRACT
Fear is a natural developmental stage, particularly around four to six years old, when a child’s imagination is becoming very vivid, and at the same time they can think more deeply. At times, young children are convinced that there are monsters lurking in cupboards, under beds, or behind the stairs, just waiting for them – waiting to come out and pounce. This is quite natural. Objects and people can suddenly take on monster-like qualities – the eerie face found in the curtain material, the shadow cast by a jacket hanging on the back of the door. A 20-month-old infant screamed with terror on seeing a shoe with a floppy sole. Fifteen months later she was able to say to her mother in a frightened voice: ‘Where are Mummy’s broken shoes?’ Her mother hastily said she had given them away and the child commented, ‘They might have eaten me right up’ (Segal, 1985, p34).
