DOCSLIB.ORG

The Clinical Thinking of Wilfred Bion

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Clinical Thinking of Wilfred Bion The Clinical Thinking of Wilfred Bion Wilfred Bion (1897–1979) is considered a provocative and illuminating contributor to the debate on the nature of psycho-analysis. His understanding of the processes involved constitutes a radical departure from all conceptualizations which preceded him. In a move to recognize the importance of Bion’s revolutionary thinking, Joan and Neville Symington define his contribution not in terms of a theory, but as a descriptive analysis. They locate difficulties in understanding Bion’s work within the conflicting theories and preoccupations which readers naturally bring with them and which they encourage the reader to set aside. The Clinical Thinking of Wilfred Bion concentrates on key concepts such as the Grid in relation to clinical practice. Each chapter examines an important theme and describes the part it has to play in Bion’s revolutionary model of the mind. This book aims to define the ground-breaking nature of Bion’s work and make it accessible to both clinicians and anyone who wishes to understand the main contours of his thinking. Joan and Neville Symington are psychoanalysts in private practice, Sydney, Australia. The Makers of Modern Psychotherapy Series editor: Laurence Spurling This series of introductory, critical texts looks at the work and thought of key contributors to the development of psychodynamic psychotherapy. Each book shows how the theories examined affect clinical practice, and includes biographical material as well as a comprehensive bibliography of the contributor’s work. The field of psychodynamic psychotherapy is today more fertile but also more diverse than ever before. Competing schools have been set up, rival theories and clinical ideas circulate. These different and sometimes competing strains are held together by a canon of fundamental concepts, guiding assumptions and principles of practice. This canon has a history, and the way we now understand and use the ideas that frame our thinking and practice is palpably marked by how they came down to us, by the temperament and experiences of their authors, the particular puzzles they wanted to solve and the contexts in which they worked. These are the makers of modern psychotherapy. Yet despite their influence, the work and life of some of these eminent figures is not well known. Others are more familiar, but their particular contribution is open to reassessment. In studying these figures and their work, this series will articulate those ideas and ways of thinking that practitioners and thinkers within the psychodynamic tradition continue to find persuasive. Also in this series: John Bowlby and Attachment Theory Jeremy Holmes Frances Tustin Sheila Spensley Heinz Kohut Allen Siegel Forthcoming title: R.D. Laing Zbigniew Kotowicz The Clinical Thinking of Wilfred Bion Joan and Neville Symington London and New York First published 1996 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 © 1996 Joan and Neville Symington All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Symington, Joan, 1939– The clinical thinking of Wilfred Bion/Joan and Neville Symington p.cm. – (Makers of modern psychotherapy) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1.Bion, Wilfred R. (Wilfred Ruprecht), 1897–1979. 2.Psychoanalysis. 3.Psychodynamic psychotherapy. I.Symington, Neville. II.Title. III.Series. RC438.6.B54S96 1996 616.89’ 17–dc20 95–31603 ISBN 0-415-09352-X (hbk) ISBN 0-415-09353-8 (pbk) ISBN 0-203-13014-6 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-21976-7 (Glassbook Format) For Andrew and David Contents Acknowledgementsix Preface xi The structure of the book xiii The Grid xv 1 The theoretical disjunction between Bion and Freud/Klein 1 2 Bion: his character 14 3 The emotional catalyst 27 4 The Grid 31 5 Myth and the Grid 45 6 Container/contained 50 7 Alpha function 59 8 A diagnosis of thought 73 9 Psychic reality 85 10 The growth of thought 92 11 Transformations 106 12 The study of groups 125 13 The phenomenology of psychosis 143 14 Without memory or desire 166 15 Ultimate reality, the mystic and the Establishment 175 Epilogue 179 viii Contents Chronology 185 Publications by Wilfred Bion 187 Bibliography 190 Index 192 Acknowledgements In struggling to grasp and understand the thinking of Wilfred Bion we have sought the advice and help of a number of colleagues and friends. There are four people whom we should like to thank in particular: Bill Stewart, Sydney Klein, Bob Gosling and Francesca Bion. Bill, an Australian philosopher, has taken a special interest in our project and has gone to the trouble to write us long letters and to put Bion into a philosophical context, which has been invaluable. Sydney Klein has given great encouragement to persevere in investigating our ideas when they have been opposed or challenged. His independence from group pressures and ability to see the special contribution of Bion in contemporary analytic theory has been a source of inspiration to us. It is particularly valuable to be able to be informed by one of Bion’s analysands. Bob Gosling was most generous to us in his willingness to impart information about his experience of being in analysis with Bion, which gave us an understanding of Bion not available elsewhere. Francesca Bion met with one of us, gave freely of information about her late husband and continued to send us material which she thought would be of interest. We also want to thank Elliott Jaques, who clarifed for us Melanie Klein’s attitude to philosophy and religion; Willie McIntyre, who threw light on aspects of Bion which had not occurred to us; Isabel Menzies- Lyth – another analysand – who told us of her experiences in a group conducted by Bion; Isca Wittenberg and Frances Tustin who both gave us generous accounts of their experiences of being analysed by Bion; Albert Mason, who recounted several anecdotes and let us have his own writing on Bion; and Edwina Welham, who commissioned us to write this book and who waited patiently for our manuscript to arrive. x Acknowledgements Lastly we would like to thank Bion himself. We had the good fortune to attend several of his workshops at the Tavistock and also at the Institute of Psycho-Analysis and were inspired by the depth of his mind and the clarity of his expression. He has enriched our understanding very considerably. We hope in this book that we can pass on a small portion of it. The list of ‘Publications by Wilfred Bion’ was first published in Bion’s Cogitations, London: H. Karnac (Books) Ltd, 1992, pp. 381– 4 and is reprinted here, with amendments, by kind permission of the publishers. The extract from the ‘The Thought-Fox’ by Ted Hughes is reproduced from The Hawk in the Rain by kind permission of Faber & Faber Ltd. Preface We all desire to exist, said Bion in a seminar. Life, said Bergson, is the tendency to act on matter. Human beings have evolved from apes, apes from monkeys, monkeys as a branch of mammals, mammals from reptiles and so on. Evolution marks the path along which the élan vital has travelled in its journey. Human beings are not the finished product; the élan vital is still in process. When we have demonstrated the pathway, we have not explained life itself. The pathway has an identity in virtue of a chain of causal connections, but these do not tell us about life itself. Life thrusts we know not where. In our inquiry into Bion’s thinking, we desire to be faithful to his mode of investigation. Therefore, our mode of thinking about him will not follow a causal line. We wish to grasp the thinking itself and not the pathway along which he arrived at it. You cannot see life itself but you can see manifestations of it. A man fell off his horse, which then rolled on him and he lay motionless on the ground. People gathered around and said he was dead, but he just managed to raise his little finger, which was a signal large enough to tell the bystanders that he was alive. The rising finger was a manifestation of life, not life itself. Our method, then, is to take themes, each of which is a manifestation of Bion’s thought but not the thing-in-itself. Each manifestation bears a connection with another which is not causal but interdependent. We can explain things as best we can, clear away as much rubbish as we can, point to those manifestations which seem most crucial, but only you, the reader, can grasp the thought itself – life’s representation. We believe that this method is faithful to what is central to Bion, in that he was concerned to comprehend the life of the mind itself. This is in contrast to those analytical schools of thought whose focus has xii Preface been upon pathological processes, diverting attention thereby from the mind’s own life. We have decided on this rather than following the chronological development of his ideas. This would have required scholarly research for which we have neither the time nor the ability. We are aiming this book at the educated reader who wants to understand the main contours of Bion’s thinking, rather than the specialist.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Sacred Psychoanalysis” – an Interpretation Of
    “SACRED PSYCHOANALYSIS” – AN INTERPRETATION OF THE EMERGENCE AND ENGAGEMENT OF RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOANALYSIS by JAMES ALISTAIR ROSS A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham July 2010 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT From the 1970s the emergence of religion and spirituality in psychoanalysis is a unique development, given its traditional pathologizing stance. This research examines how and why ‘sacred psychoanalysis’ came about and whether this represents a new analytic movement with definable features or a diffuse phenomena within psychoanalysis that parallels developments elsewhere. After identifying the research context, a discussion of definitions and qualitative reflexive methodology follows. An account of religious and spiritual engagement in psychoanalysis in the UK and the USA provides a narrative of key people and texts, with a focus on the theoretical foundations established by Winnicott and Bion. This leads to a detailed examination of the literary narratives of religious and spiritual engagement understood from: Christian; Natural; Maternal; Jewish; Buddhist; Hindu; Muslim; Mystical; and Intersubjective perspectives, synthesized into an interpretative framework of sacred psychoanalysis.
    [Show full text]
  • Projective Identification As a Form of Communication in the Therapeutic Relationship: a Case Study
    PROJECTIVE IDENTIFICATION AS A FORM OF COMMUNICATION IN THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP: A CASE STUDY. MICHELLE CRAWFORD UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE 1996 A minor dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of Masters of Arts in Clinical Psychology http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEN1ENTS ABSTRACT 11 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER TWO THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP 6 2.1 Introduction 6 2.2 Donald Winnicott's concept of the "holding environment" as a metaphor for aspects of the therapeutic relationship 7 2.3 Wilfred Bion's concept of the "container and contained" as a metaphor for the therapeutic relationship 8 2.4 Transference 9 2.4. l Freud's Formulation: 9 2.4.2 Subsequent historical developments and debates around transference and its interpretation: 12 2.5 Countertransference 21 2.5.1 Freud's Formulation: 21 2.5.2 Subsequent historical developments and debates around countertransference and its usefulness: 22 2.6 Review 28 CHAPTER THREE PROJECTIVE IDENTIFICATION 30 3.1 Introduction 30 3.2 Freud's Contribution 30 3.3 Melanie Klein's definition of Projective Identification 32 3.4 Subsequent theoretical and technical developments of Projective Identification 35 3.5 Review 42 http://etd.uwc.ac.za/ CHAPTER FOUR CHILD PSYCHOTHERAPY 44 4.1 Introduction 44 4.2 Freud's contribution to child psychotherapy 45 4.3 Melanie Klein's play technique 48 4.4 Anna Freud's approach to child psychotherapy 52 4.5 Donald Winnicott's formulations around play and child psychotherapy 54 4.6 Review 55 CHAPTER FIVE MEI'HODOLOGY
    [Show full text]
  • Lacan and Foulkes1
    Volume 1 (Issue 2), 2012 GROUP ACTS AND MISSED ENCOUNTER: LACAN AND FOULKES1 Erica Burman Prologue The theme of action outside speech typically does not gain positive treatment in psychoanalytical contexts, with all such action vulnerable to being designated “acting out”, or at best “acting in”. But the question “how to act” transcends such false oppositions between acting and not acting, to topicalise instead ethical responsibility and social engagement. In this paper these themes are explored in terms of the relations between Lacanian psychoanalytic and Foulkesian group analytic ideas. The assertion of the priority of one model over the other, or the assimilation of one to the other is not aimed at here, but rather this paper seeks to highlight, and perhaps indicate, some potential evaluations of how each approach attempts to engage with the question of action. While Lacanian psychoanalysis often draws a strong boundary around the analytic space, resisting the generalization of psychoanalytic phenomena outside the clinic, the social model of the psyche to which group analysts are committed, means that no such absolute distinctions can be maintained. Paradoxically, group analysts seem rather more reluctant than Lacanians to discuss questions of ethics, preferring to talk about questions of democracy, although both models share an understanding of analytical process in terms of the 1 This article is a version of a paper delivered at APPI’s 17th Annual Congress (2010) entitled; How to Act – Ethics and the Psychoanalytic Clinic in a Culture of Suppression and Demand. 22 23 Lacunae promotion of (if also the impossibility of) free speech. The challenge therefore, is to find ways of both analyzing and intervening in, the contexts that give rise to analysis.
    [Show full text]
  • Countertransference and Reflexivity in Research
    Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs Emotional experience plus reflection: countertransference and reflexivity in research Journal Item How to cite: Hollway, Wendy (2016). Emotional experience plus reflection: countertransference and reflexivity in research. The Psychotherapist, 62 For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 2016 Unknown https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Accepted Manuscript Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: https://issuu.com/ukcp-publications/docs/the_psychotherapist_spring_web Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk 1 REFERENCE: Hollway, W. (2016) ‘Emotional experience plus reflection: countertransference and reflexivity in research.’ Special issue ‘The creative use of self in research: explorations of reflexivity and research relationships in psychotherapy.’ The Psychotherapist 62 (Spring) 2016. 19-21. Emotional experience plus reflection: countertransference and reflexivity in research. ABSTRACT Psychoanalysis is informed by a radically alternative theorisation of knowing from the cognitive one that underpins dominant research methodology. Here, I show how psychoanalytic approaches to knowing, captured in the idea of transference-countertransference dynamics, can inform qualitative research methods and expand the practice of research reflexivity. The approach is summed up as emotional experience plus reflection, based on Wilfred Bion’s theory of thinking. I trace parallels in the history of the concepts of reflexivity and countertransference and then provide brief examples taken from recent research using psychoanalytically informed interviewing and observation.
    [Show full text]
  • A Critical Examination of Bion's Concept of Containment And
    A critical examination of Bion’s concept of containment and Winnicott’s concept of holding, and their psychotherapeutic implications by Richard Parry 1 Declaration: A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA by Coursework and Research Report in the field of Clinical Psychology in the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa, 22nd November 2010. I declare that this research project is my own, unaided work. It has not been submitted before for any other degree or examination at this or any other university SIGNED ....................................................... DATE ...................................................... Word Count: 18 990 2 Abstract: Wilfred Bion’s concept of the container/contained and Donald Winnicott’s concept of holding are two concepts that have had a profound influence on the development of psychoanalysis over the last half century. They are frequently used interchangeably in the literature and are often seen as denoting essentially the same clinical practice. It is the author’s contention that there are substantial differences between the two concepts and the models of mind that underpin them, and how they are translated into clinical practice. The models of mind and developmental trajectories that underpin the concepts of containment and holding are explicated fully, demonstrating some of the clear differences between the foundations of these two concepts. Further, through the use of clinical vignettes,
    [Show full text]
  • Bion's Ideal Society: Germinating the Seed of a Social Psychoanalytical
    HAFSI：Bion’s ideal society Bion’s ideal society: Germinating the seed of a social psychoanalytical theory Med HAFSI* Abstract Unlike Freud who was widely read, used and abused by sociologists and social scientists, Bion is known in the psychoanalytical field for his theoretical and clinical work on psychosis and small groups, but is practically unknown to sociologists and social psychologists. The reasons behind this are the difficulty of his ideas and the way he expresses them in writing and speech. Nevertheless, Bion’s legacy contains a large number of concepts and theories that have important implications for the understanding and study of large groups and societies. In the present study the author has gathered these Bionian concepts, theories, or, metaphorically speaking, seeds allowing them to germinate into an embryonic or rudimentary social theory. He concluded that, according to this theory, society functions at two levels, namely, work group level and the basic assumption group level. Social stability depends on the interaction between these two group levels. A stable society is characterized by a psychosocial state wherein the work group coexists in harmony with the basic assumption group. Social stagnation, deterioration, madness is the result of psychosocial state wherein the work group is entirely dominated by the basic assumption group. Moreover, a stable society is one that is capable of containing positively its members. The present study discusses in detail the basic social requirements, conditions and functions included in positive containment. Key words: Wilfred Bion, basic assumption group, social containment, links Introduction Before becoming a psychoanalyst, Bion after World War I studied history or the study of the past of human race as a large group.
    [Show full text]
  • The Therapist's Container in Practice
    The therapist’s container in practice Natalia Petrovna Solovieva Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of Master of Health Science School of Psychotherapy Auckland University of Technology September 2007 This dissertation is dedicated to my partner Mark Bond whose love, encouragement and commitment to my work made this writing possible i CONTENTS CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................................I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.....................................................................................................................IV ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................... V INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................... 6 CLINICAL PROBLEM .................................................................................................................................. 6 STUDY BACKGROUND : PERSONAL ACCOUNT ............................................................................................ 6 STUDY BACKGROUND : PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNT ..................................................................................... 7 STUDY BACKGROUND : CONCEPTS AND THEORY . THE THERAPIST ’S CONTAINING CAPACITY .................... 9 TAKING THEORY ONE STEP FURTHER : THE THERAPIST ’S ATTACK ON LINKING AND CONTAINING
    [Show full text]
  • A Quaker Connection in the Tavistock Clinic's Development
    History of the Human Sciences 24(2) 82–102 ‘The dangers of ª The Author(s) 2011 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav this atmosphere’: a DOI: 10.1177/0952695111398570 Quaker connection in hhs.sagepub.com the Tavistock Clinic’s development Sebastian Kraemer Whittington Hospital, UK Abstract During the Second World War, through innovations in officer selection and group therapy, the army psychiatrists John Rickman and Wilfred Bion changed our understanding of leadership. They showed how soldiers under stress could develop real authority through their attentiveness to each other. From contrasting experiences 25 years earlier each had seen how people in groups are moved by elemental forces that undermine judgement and thought. This article arose from my experiences as a trainee at the Tavistock Clinic, where the method of reflective work discussion, giving individuals seated in a circle the choice to speak or to remain silent, seemed similar to a Quaker meeting. Many decades later I found that this association had a basis in fact. Among other influences on Bion – a childhood in India, distinguished service in the First World War, and a surgical apprenticeship with Wilfred Trotter – there is a little- acknowledged Quaker source, in John Rickman, for Bion’s radical work in the army that led to new methods of training and organizational consultancy in the postwar Tavistock. Keywords army psychiatry, Wilfred Bion, group relations, psychoanalysis, Quakers, John Rickman, Tavistock Clinic Corresponding author: Sebastian Kraemer, Child and Family Psychiatric Service, Jenner Building, Whittington Hospital, London N19 5NF, UK. Tel.: 020 7288 5356 Email: [email protected] Kraemer 83 Introduction A principal theme of this article is the influence on Wilfred Bion of the Quaker psychoanalyst Dr John Rickman who, after serving as a conscientious objector in Russia during the First World War, had trained with Freud and Ferenczi in the 1920s.
    [Show full text]
  • A Classified Bion Reading List 2
    A CLASSIFIED BION READING LIST 2. Journal articles, etc. Alexander, R.P. (1993) Bion on Groups JMKOR 11 Amrhein, C. (2002) Thinking about Reverie in Bion’s Theory of the Mind AJP 64 Ancona, L. (1981) The “Field-relationship” between S. Freud and W.R. Bion Rivista di Psicoanalisi XXVII Anderson, R. (1997) Introductory Notes on Wilfred Bion BJP 14 Anzieu, D. (1989) Beckett and Bion IRP 16 Armstrong, D. (1992) Names, Thoughts and Lies; The Relevance of Bion’s Later Writings to the Understanding of experience in groups. FA 26 Armstrong, D. (1995) Making Absences Present: the Contribution of W.R. Bion to Understanding Unconscious Social Phenomena (available on line at HTTP:humannature.com/hraj/Armstrong.html Armstrong, D. (2003) The Work Group Revisited: Reflections in the Practice pf Group Relations FA 53 Armstrong, D. (2005) Entertaining Meaning: on Reading Building on Bion OSD 5 Azevedo, A. de (2000) Substantive Unconscious and Adjective Unconscious: the Contribution of Wilfred Bion JAP 45 Bain, A. (1999b) On Socio-Analysis S-A 1 Bain, A. & J. (2002) A Note on Primary Spirit S-A. 5 Banet, A.G. (1976) Interview with W.R. Bion Group and Organization Studies 1 Baruzzi, A. (1981) Bion on Self-expression Rivista di Psicoanalisi XXVII Bell, D. (1992) Hysteria – a Contemporary Kleinian Perspective PAQ 74 also in BJP 9 Bezoari, M. et al (1994) Listening, Interpreting and Psychic Change in the Psychoanalytic Dialogue IFP 3 Bianchedi, E.T.de (1991) Psychic Change: The ‘Becoming’ of an Inquiry IJP 72 Bianchedi, E.T.de (1993) Lies and Falsities JMKOR 11 Bianchedi, E.T.de (1997) From Objects to Links: Discovering Relatedness JMKOR 15 also read at the XXXIX IPA.
    [Show full text]
  • I Ayurvedic and Bionian Theories of Thinking
    Ayurvedic and Bionian Theories of Thinking: Mental Digestion and the Truth Instinct by Jenna Labbe-Watson B.A., The Evergreen State College, 2002 M.S., Antioch University New England, 2018 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Psychology in the Department of Clinical Psychology at Antioch University New England, 2020 Keene, New Hampshire i ii Department of Clinical Psychology DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PAGE The undersigned have examined the dissertation entitled: AYURVEDIC AND BIONIAN THEORIES OF THINKING: MENTAL DIGESTION AND THE TRUTH INSTINCT presented on April 8, 2020 by Jenna Labbe-Watson Candidate for the degree of Doctor of Psychology and hereby certify that it is accepted*. Dissertation Committee Chairperson: Theodore Ellenhorn, PhD Dissertation Committee members: Vincent Pignatiello, PsyD E. Porter Eagan, PsyD Accepted by the Department of Clinical Psychology Chairperson Vincent Pignatiello, PsyD 4/15/2020 iii Copyright © 2020 by Jenna Labbe-Watson All Rights Reserved iv Dedication For my beloved parents, Janie and Gerard Labbe, who suffused my childhood with loving reverie and thus made it possible for me to think these wild thoughts. For my husband, Jesse Labbe-Watson, who walked alongside me through every step of this journey, reminding me of who I am and casting loving gazes and extending warm caresses when I was weary. For my daughter, Scarlet Labbe-Watson, who ignites my passion for consciously “becoming.” It is an honor to receive and pre-digest all that you cannot contain alone. My love and gratitude for each of you is boundless. v Acknowledgements As I have embarked on this journey, I have leaned on countless others to encourage, cajole, and support me, my work, and my family.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 This Is an Accepted Manuscript of an Article
    This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in the Transactional Analysis Journal, Vol.46, #2, 2016, 136-148. available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0362153714559921 In Conflict and Community: A century of coming to terms with working and living in groups William F. Cornell Working draft submitted to Transactional Analysis Journal, 8/15 You do not know what wars are going on Down there where the spirit meets the bone (Miller Williams, 1999) Abstract: This article examines the century-long pairing of international wars with periods of resurgent interest in group psychotherapy and community based treatment. The group-centered theories of Freud, Burrow, Bion, Foulkes, and Berne are discussed and used to examine the qualities of group process and structure that enhance the capacity of members to work with conflict, difference, and societal projection. Key words: group psychotherapy, group-analysis, transactional analysis, Freud, Burrow, Bion, Foulkes, Berne, war, community War: The rending and reviving of societal relations There is a powerful and rather surprising pairing of the outbreak of major wars followed by experiments in group and community treatment. Though the international violence over the past century has often severed civilized ties, these periods of violent slaughter have then often engendered efforts of redress and restoration through group and community life. Through my many years of teaching and training in the mental health field, I have come to see the importance of studying the historical contexts within which the theories that inform our practices developed. I have also come to believe that the theories that form our work are efforts of marginalized individuals and their communities to make the unbearable bearable and to create spaces and places of belonging.
    [Show full text]
  • Routledge Handbook of Psychoanalytic Political Theory
    This article was downloaded by: 10.3.98.104 On: 30 Sep 2021 Access details: subscription number Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG, UK Routledge Handbook of Psychoanalytic Political Theory Yannis Stavrakakis, Stephen Frosh, Lynne Layton, Dany Nobus Jacques Lacan Publication details https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315524771-4 Dominiek Hoens Published online on: 23 Sep 2019 How to cite :- Dominiek Hoens. 23 Sep 2019, Jacques Lacan from: Routledge Handbook of Psychoanalytic Political Theory Routledge Accessed on: 30 Sep 2021 https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315524771-4 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR DOCUMENT Full terms and conditions of use: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/legal-notices/terms This Document PDF may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproductions, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The publisher shall not be liable for an loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. 3 JACQUES LACAN Dominiek Hoens If a political scientist were to look in a rather naïve way for a theory of the human being in Lacan’s works—for example, to obtain a precise idea of what that being that lives in common with others is—he or she may end up with both less and more than expected.
    [Show full text]