These newly discovered clinical seminars of Wilfred Bion, which include supervisions, personal case presentations, and lectures on psychoanalytic theory, represent his initial foray into many years of work that have inspired South American analysts for nearly a half a century.The clinical and theoretical work of Bion arguably ranks rather high in the current psychoanalytic firmament-as national and international conferences convene regularly to continue discussing the contemporary relevance of his work. His work has served as a source of inspiration to contemporary psychoanalysts in all three regions of the International Psychoanalytical Assocation-Ronald Britton, Antonino Ferro, Giuseppe Civitarese, Thomas Ogden, James Grotstein, and Paolo Sandler, just to name a few. These newly discovered clinical seminars from work Bion conducted in Buenos Aires in 1968 help us to further fill out the picture of his versatile gifts. In these seminars, we find lectures on Bion's elaborations on his epistemological research-still on-going in the 1960s when he went to Buenos Aires; a lecture on the Grid and its clinical relevance.

Introducing the Clinical Work of Wilfred Bion takes a fresh approach to this much revered analyst, focusing on the unique contributions to be found in his analytical and supervisorial work and developing of received Kleinian theory. Starting from his childhood in India and his schooldays, through his experience in the Great War and later life, this book considers the way in which Bion’s personal experience informed his later work as an analyst. Aguayo looks at how Bion’s loyalty to Kleinian theory, especially in his work on psychosis, and how the subsequent in-fighting rife within the psychoanalytic community impacted his approach. Aguayo also considers the epistemological work done by Bion in the early 1960s while President of the British Psychoanalytical Society, as well as his seminars from Los Angeles and Buenos Aires. The book concludes by proposing that the spate of recently published Clinical Seminars, fresh with new clinical examples from Bion’s analytic and supervisory work, now represent a potential for a ‘new wave’ of interest among analysts and scholars alike. Aguayo also engages the work of important contemporary specialists in Bion studies, such as: Ron Britton, Giuseppe Civitarese, James Grotstein, Robert Hinshelwood, Betty Joseph, John Steiner and Rudi Vermote. As Bion’s clinical work continues to inform contemporary psychoanalysts, this book will be essential reading to all analysts interested in Bion’s work and the legacy it holds in contemporary psychoanalysis.

This collection illuminates the legacy of Wilfred R. Bion in Brazil, illustrating Bion’s continued influence on the work of the São Paulo Psychoanalytic Society (SBPSP), how Bionian ideas are applied in contemporary psychoanalysis, and how current practice has evolved over time. Evelise de Souza Marra and Cecil José Rezze bring together theoretical and clinical approaches to provide a thorough perspective on Bionian work in Brazil. The book includes chapters by senior analysts, well-respected teachers and analytic clinicians in contemporary Brazilian psychoanalysis, each of which explores a topic central to Bion’s formulations. With discussion of key themes including turbulence, emotional experience, transference, caesura and mental pain, this book demonstrates how Wilfred R. Bion’s thought has been developed, transformed and applied in Brazil since his visits there in the 1970s. Bion’s Legacy in São Paulo will be of great interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training, particularly those looking to understand Bion’s influence in more depth, and for anyone interested in the practice of psychoanalysis in Latin America.

Bion, Intuition and the Expansion of Psychoanalytic Theory illuminates how Bion’s work on intuition has changed the landscape of contemporary psychoanalysis through his understanding of its supra-scientific and non-sub-scientific condition. Based on the work of the biannual Bion conference, this book includes contributions from the most eminent voices on Bion’s work. The global cohort of contributors in this volume examine topics such as dream work, the Infinite Unconscious, the Spectral model of the mind, the realm of the minus and observation and intuition. Each chapter explores different elements arising from Bion’s insistence on learning from experience and establishing the difference between knowing and becoming as an experiential process of the mind as a container in relation to its contents of sensations, feelings, dreams and thoughts. This book will be of key interest to analysts and analytic therapists of all schools and is an essential resource for those that follow the work of Bion.

Bion and Intuition in the Clinical Setting focuses on Bion’s investigation of the intuitive approach to clinical data and lays out how Bion’s method encouraged constant effort by the analysts to relinquish its reliance on sensory and conceptual-verbal faculties to make room for intuition. Based on the work of the biannual Bion conference, this book includes contributions from the most eminent voices on Bion’s work. Spanning topics such as the primordial mind, intuitive comprehension and desire, the contributors in this volume illustrate how they incorporate the concept of intuition in their own clinical developments. Each chapter examines different elements of how Bion’s research approaches the difficulties faced by analysts in the approach and discrimination of primitive emotional levels in the patient-analyst communication. This book will be of key interest to analysts and analytic therapists of all schools and is an essential resource for those that follow the work of Bion.

Bion's life spanned key events in the twentieth century. Born in India in 1897, he came to boarding school in England aged 8 and at 18 fought in the tanks in World War One. He trained as a doctor between the wars and, in his World War Two work for the army, he was an innovator. After the war, he became a patient of Melanie Klein, qualified as a psychoanalyst, and was part of an extraordinary period in psychoanalysis of work with psychotic mechanisms in patients. In the late 1950s, he identified the configuration container/contained as being at the heart of human development. He looked outside of psychoanalysis to philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, and even theo-mystical thinkers. His work evolved radically throughout the 1960s and, at age 70 when many would be thinking of slowing down, he emigrated to California and began to travel internationally, giving lectures and supervisions across three continents. After Freud, Bion appears to be the most quoted psychoanalyst of our time and this book provides the opportunity, even for those familiar with his work, to gain insight into its sheer breadth, showcased so brilliantly in this slim volume. As author of Bion: 365 Quotes, Nicola Abel-Hirsch's immersion in Bion's vast oeuvre has enabled a comprehensive introduction to Bion and his work. Her lightness of touch, whilst retaining the necessary depth, makes it a joy to read. Bion and his work can be somewhat enigmatic but Abel-Hirsch's understanding offers the ideal introduction to the man and his work.

Wilfred Bion described "O" as "the unknowable and the unreachable ultimate truth". In this fascinating collection, a range of authors offer their own theoretical, clinical and artistic approaches to exploring this enduring but mysterious idea. Drawn from contributions from the 8th International Bion Conference in 2014, the book examines how "O" can be experienced in all aspects of internal and external reality and within all relationships, from an individual relating to the mother to their emotional relationship with their self. It features insights into "O" drawn from the area of faith as well as its manifestations in clinical practice, while also included is a chapter exploring the links between Bion’s ideas and those of Winnicott, Lacan, Green and Freud. Featuring contributions from some of the world’s leading Bion scholars, this will be essential reading for any psychoanalyst interested in exploring the concept of "O", as well as scholars in philosophy and theology.