One of Winnicott's greatest theoretical and clinical achievements was the identification of the third area, a transitional zone which lay between what Segal had pointed out, were two highly distinct methods of relating to an object, the first via a symbolic equation and the second via the true symbol (Segal, 1957; Winnicott, 1958). Winnicott's concept introduced the notion of a dimension or continuum of the level of symbol formation involved in any piece of a patient's play, phantasy or behaviour. The clinical relevance of such thinking cannot, I think, be overestimated. It is absolutely essential to our daily work. The content