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Seminar Series on Wilfred Bion:

Prompts for Teachers.
At the end of this series the student should have an understanding of:
Bions place in the evolution of psychoanalytic thought, including (very
broadly) his debt to philosophical and literary sources.
familiarity with his pre-psychoanalytic writings, particularly his theory
of group functioning: Work Group, Basic Assumption Group functioning
etc.
his innovative writings up to and including his Theory of Thinking in 1962,
including his development of concepts of twinning, tropism, Links and
valences, psychotic and non-psychotic parts of the personality, reverie,
projective identification, dream work alpha, alpha function, alpha and
beta elements, the constitution of the contact barrier, and the importance
and uses of mythology.
the ways in which his thinking recasts some basic concepts in
psychoanalytic theory such as the nature and constitution of the
Unconscious. This also includes his contributions to questions of analytic
technique, including the (in)famous exhortation to be without memory or
desire as well as the importance of Negative Capability etc.
some familiarity with his later theoretical developments including The
Grid (integral to the theory of thinking), Caesura(s), O, Transformations,
and the aesthetic dimension of psychoanalysis.
(briefly) his attempts to find a new mode of theoretical and clinical
exposition through science-fictions and literary means.
(very briefly) some of the various ways his work has been developed
latterly, and by whom. That includes his place in the pantheon of
psychoanalytic thinkers.

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(Developed by Wayne Featherstone for and behalf of the Training Committee of the VAPP, April 2014.)

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READINGS FOR BION SEMINARS:

Background:
Gerard Bleandonu
Wilfred Bion: His Life and Works 1897 1979 Free
Association Books 1996
This is a good biography, organised by chapters into stages of his work.
I suggest Chapters 1-4 concerning Bions early development as background.

Bions own account of his life, covering approximately the same period, can be
found in:
Wilfred R Bion The Long Weekend 1987 1919: Part of a Life Free Association
Books 1986

James Grotstein, as an analysand of Bion, has some interesting perspectives to

offer in:
James S Grotstein
A Beam of Intense Darkness: Wilfred Bions Legacy to
Psychoanalysis Karnac 2007

Also of interest:
Nicky Glover Psychoanalytic Aesthetics: An Introduction to the British School
Karnac 2009 C 4 The Legacy of Wilfred Bion pp. 103 -135.

Dictionaries: See the Bibliography for two dictionaries of Bions terminologies by

P.C. Sandler and R.E. Lpez-Corvo.

If you want to buy books, I suggest Second Thoughts as first choice, followed by
Two Papers. If you can find it online second hand, Seven Servants includes
Learning From Experience, Elements of Psychoanalysis, Transformations, and
Attention and Interpretation. Experiences in Groups is a classic and also
worthwhile, especially the final chapter.

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Bion - From Psychiatrist to Psychoanalyst:

Week 1:
W R Bion Experiences in Groups and Other Papers
Routledge 2000 (First published 1961 by Tavistock Publications)
Re-view: Group Dynamics pp. 141 191.
Other reading of interest:
Hinshelwood, R. D Group Mentality and Having a Mind in Building on Bion:
Roots (Ed) Lipgar & Pines 2003
Week 2:
W R Bion The Imaginary Twin
Second Thoughts C 2. pp. 3-22. (with the Commentary pp. 120-138).
Week 3:
J Mitrani Taking the Transference Some technical implications in three papers by
Bion IJPA. 82. pp. 1085-1104.
Mitrani references two of Bions papers specifically:
Bion, W. R, Evidence in Clinical Seminars and Four Papers
Bion, W.R, Notes on Memory and Desire in Melanie Klein Today, Vol.2, Ed:
Bott Spillius, E

Bion - the Kleinian (?) Analyst - Innovations:

(Note that his eldest daughter, Parthenope Bion-Talamo, who was herself an
analyst, argues that he is better thought of as a Freudian Innovator. See the
Bibliography for details.)
Week 4:
W R Bion Differentiation of the Psychotic from the Non-Psychotic Personalities
Second Thoughts C 5 pp. 43 64.

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Week 5:
W R Bion On Hallucination Second Thoughts C 6 pp. 65 -85.
Week 6:
W R Bion Attacks on Linking Second Thoughts C 8 pp. 93 109.

Bion Thinking About Thinking:

Week 7: W R Bion A Theory of Thinking Second Thoughts C 9 pp. 110 -119.

Other readings of interest:
OShaughnessy, Edna (1981) W.R. Bions theory of thinking and new techniques in
child analysis in Melanie Klein Today Vol. 2 E. Bott Spillius (Ed) 1994
Routledge pp. 177-190.
Skelton, R.M (1995)

Bions Use of Modern Logic IJPA 76: 389-397

Ogden, T On Holding and containing, being and dreaming IJPA 2004; 85: 13491364.

Week 8:
W R Bion The Grid Two Papers: The Grid and Caesura pp. 2 33.

Week 9: W R Bion Caesura Two Papers: The Grid and Caesura pp. 37 56.

Bion Searching for Another Mode of Expression:

Weeks: 10:
An examination of portions of Cogitations, the various Seminars, and A
Memoir of the Future.
Selected readings to be distributed.
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For those who are enthused and want to read more, here are a few other
suggestions, concentrating particularly on some developments of Bions work by
others working in the field defined by the intersection of clinical psychoanalysis
and aesthetics or with other strands of innovation such as Field Theory:

Parthenope Bion Talamo, Franco Borgogno, Silvio A Merciai

W R Bion: Between Past and Future
Karnac Books 2000
Antonino Ferro

- Psychoanalysis as Therapy and Storytelling

The New Library of Psychoanalysis Routledge 1999

- Seeds of Illness, Seeds of Recovery: The Genesis of Suffering
and the Role of Psychoanalysis
The New Library of Psychoanalysis Brunner-Routledge 2005
Meg Harris Williams - Bions Dream: A Reading of the Autobiographies
Karnac 2010
- The Aesthetic Development: The Poetic Spirit of
Psychoanalysis Essays on Bion, Meltzer, Keats
Karnac 2010
Lia Pistiner de Cortinas - The Aesthetic Dimension of the Mind: Variations on
a Theme by Bion
Karnac 2009
James Grotstein A Beam of Intense Darkness: Wilfred Bions Legacy to
Psychoanalysis
Karnac 2007
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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bion, W 2013, Wilfred Bion: Los Angeles Seminars and Supervision, Karnac,
London.
Bion, F (ed.) 1978, Four Discussions With W. R. Bion, Clunie Press, Strath Tay,
Perthshire.
Bion, F 1995, 'The Days of our Lives', Journal of Melanie Klein and Object Relations,
vol. 13, no. 1.
Bion, F (ed.) 1997, Taming Wild Thoughts, Karnac Books, London.
Bion Talamo, P 1981, 'PS<->D', Rivista Di Psiconalisi, vol. 27, pp. 626-628.
Bion Talamo, P 1997, 'Bion: A Freudian Innovator', British Journal of Psychotherapy,
vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 47-59.
Bion Talamo, P, Borgogno, F & Merciai, SA (eds.) 2000, W R Bion: Between Past
and Future, Karnac Books, London New York.
Bion, WR 1961, Experiences in Groups And Other Papers, Routledge, London and
New York.
Bion, WR 1962, 'The Psycho-Analytic Study of Thinking', International Journal of
Psycho-Analysis, vol. 43, pp. 306-310.
Bion, WR 1977, 'Learning From Experience', Seven Servants: Four Works by Wilfred
R Bion, Jason Aronson, Inc, New York.
Bion, WR 1977, 'Elements of Psychoanalysis', Seven Servants: Four Works by
Wilfred R Bion, Jason Aronson, Inc., New York.
Bion, WR 1977, 'Transformations', Seven Servants: Four Works by Wilfred R Bion,
Jason Aronson, Inc., New York.
Bion, WR 1977, 'Attention and Interpretation', Seven Servants: Four Works by
Wilfred R Bion, Jason Aronson, Inc., New York.
Bion, WR 1977, Seven Servants: Four Works by Wilfred R Bion, Jason Aronson,
Inc., New York.
Bion, WR 1979, 'Making the best of a bad job', in Bion, F (ed.), Clinical Seminars
and Other Works, Karnak Books, London.
Bion, WR 1984, Second Thoughts: Selected Papers on Psychoanalysis, Maresfield
Reprints, London.
Bion, WR 1985, All My Sins Remembered: Another Part of a Life The Other Side of

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Genius: Family Letters, Karnac Books, London and New York.
Bion, WR 1986, The Long Week-end 1897 - 1919: Part of a Life, Free Association
Books, London.
Bion, WR 1989, Two Papers: The Grid and Caesura, Karnac Books, London.
Bion, WR 1990, Brazilian Lectures: 1973 So Paulo and 1974 Rio de Janeiro/So
Paulo, Karnac Books, London.
Bion, WR 1991, A Memoir of the Future, Karnac Books, London and New York.
Bion, WR 1991, 'The Dream', A Memoir of the Future, Karnac Books, London. New
York.
Bion, WR 1994, Cogitations: New Extended Edition, Karnac Books, London.
Bion, WR 2000, Experiences in Groups and other papers, Routledge, London and
New York.
Bion, WR 2000, Clinical Seminars and Other Works, Karnac Books, London.
Bion, WR 2000, 'Emotional Turbulence', in Bion, F (ed.), W.R. Bion Clinical Seminars
and Other Works, Karnac Books, London
Bion, WR 2000, 'Evidence', in Bion, F (ed.), W.R. Bion Clinical Seminars and Other
Works, Karnac, London.
Bion, WR 2000, 'Making the Best of a Bad Job', in Bion, F (ed.), W.R. Bion Clinical
Seminars and Other Works, Karnac, London.
Bion, WR 2005, The Italian Seminars, Karnac, London and New York.
Bion, WR 2005, Cogitations: New Extended Edition, Karnac Books, London.
Bion, WR 2005, The Tavistock Seminars, H. Karnac (Books) Ltd., London and New
York.
Bion, WR, Rosenfeld, H & Segal, H 1961, 'Melanie Klein', International Journal of
Psycho-Analysis, vol. 42, pp. 4-8.
de Bianchedi, ET 1985, 'Creative Writers and Dream-Work-Alpha ', in Spector
Person, E, Figueira, SA & Fonagy, P (eds), On Freud's "Creative Writers and DayDreaming", Yale University Press, New Haven and london.

Emmanuel, R 2012, 'An application of Bion's theory of thinking and transformations

in Hallucinosis. An experience of supervision with Dr. Donald Meltzer.', Journal of
Child Psychotherapy, vol. 38, no. 3, December 2012, pp. 284-301.

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Grotstein, JS 2000, 'Notes On Bion's "Memory and Desire"', Journal of the American
Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, vol. 28, pp. 687-694.
Harris Williams, M 1983, ''Underlying Pattern' in Bion's Memoir of the Future',
International Review of Psycho-Analysis, vol. 10, pp. 75-86.
Karnac, H 2008, Bion's Legacy: Bibliography of Primary and Secondary Sources of
the Life, Work and Ideas of Wilfred Ruprecht Bion, Karnac Books Ltd, London.
Lpez-Corvo, RE 2005, The Dictionary of the Work of W.R. Bion, Karnac, London,
New York.
Lpez-Corvo, RE 2006, 'The Forgotten Self: With the Use of Bion's', Psychoanalytic
Review, vol. 93, pp. 363-377.
Matte Blanco, I 1981, 'Reflecting with Bion', Rivista Di Psiconalisi, vol. 27, no. 480492.
Miller, I and Kay Souter 2013, Beckett and Bion: The (Im)patient Voice in
Psychotherapy and Literature, Karnac Books Ltd., London.
Reiner, A 2012, Bion and Being: Passion and the Creative Mind, Kindle edn, Karnac
Books Ltd, London,
Sandler, PC 1997, 'The Apprehension Of Psychic Reality: Extensions Of Bion's
Theory Of Alpha-Function', International journal of Psychoanalysis, vol. 78, pp. 4352.
Sandler, PC 2005, The Language of Bion: A Dictionary of Concepts, Kindle edn,
Karnac, London,
Torres, N and Hinshelwood, R.D. 2013, Bion's Sources: the shaping of his
paradigms, Kindle edn, Routledge, London and New York,
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(Developed by Wayne Featherstone for and behalf of the Training Committee of the VAPP, April 2014.)