| In order to "cure" emotionally disturbed children the therapist's awareness of the conscious and unconscious thoughts and feelings found in the child and one's self, as well as his or her reliability, containing presence, and interpretations of the child's utterances and artistic productions, is crucial. When these qualities are "noticed" by the child the child may identify his or her therapist as a magician. This is the beginning of what I call the magician phase. This magician phase is understood in this thesis as a normative position in the child's relationship to his or her mother or father that is replicated in the child's relationship to the therapist due to the aforementioned qualities of the therapist. British psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott's play therapy technique, the Squiggle Game, is one method that can be used by therapists with children to form a relationship where the magician phase may emerge. To deepen our understanding of this process the Squiggle Game will be explored using the terms of The Consciousness---Existence Grid, a tool I created to realize the significance of becoming aware of the realities and phantasies which exist in relationships between children and their therapists. |
