Article written in collaboration with @dott.ssaantonellatroccoli Abstract This article explores the clinical potential of the picture book as a psychotherapeutic mediator in work with adult populations. Drawing on Winnicott's (1971) theoretical contributions on transitional space, Bion's (1962) concept of the alpha function, and Stern's (1985) work on implicit memory, an integrated reading of the illustrated page is proposed as a device capable of bypassing the adult's ratio