Wilfred R. Bion

Bio: Wilfred R. Bion is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Psychoanalytic theory & Memoir. The author has an hindex of 36, co-authored 55 publications receiving 15781 citations.

The Tavistock Seminars

Abstract: Previously unpublished lectures from Wilfred Ruprecht Bion. The book consists of eight talks Bion gave at the Tavistock Clinic between 1976 and 1979. Topics explored include the importance of observation; dreams; art and psychoanalysis; and the significance of time in psychoanalysis. In addition, this volume includes an illuminating interview of Bion by Anthony G. Banet in 1976.'In your practice you will find yourself under pressure. You say whatever you have to say, and then there is an entirely new situation. You don't really know what is going on because it is an entirely new situation, things will not be the same. It is likely enough that the patient will say, "Why don't you say something?" Or if not the patient, the relatives - "Why don't you do something?" So you are always under pressure prematurely and precociously to produce your idea. Poor little thing! Pull it up by the roots and have a look at it - it hasn't got a chance. So you have to act as a sort of parent to the idea - protect it and give it a chance to grow in spite of these pressures; you have to be able to tolerate this state of ignorance.'- W.R. Bion

Clinical Seminars and Other Works

Abstract: This selection of clinical seminars held by Wilfred Bion in Brasilia (1975) and Sao Paulo (1978) is the nearest we shall ever get to experiencing his application of his theories and views to consulting-room practice. It is also likely to be the only printed record of this area of his work. As those who underwent analysis with Bion will testify, nothing can approach the experience of the thing itself, but, failing that, these seminars may help to fill the gap now that his voice can only be heard through his published writings and lectures. Other works included are 'Four Discussions' and 'Four Papers'.The reader will find here no jargon, dogma or theoretical exposition; Bion knew that the enormous difficulties involved in communicating verbally this infinitely complex subject are only compounded by the use of what is often nothing more than "psychobabble". His intentional choice of simple language, accurately and consistently used, can come as a surprise; a presenting analyst says "Your suggestion of what to say to the patient seemed much simpler than what is usually said by the analyst." He described analysis as a "tough job", "a dangerous occupation", and the analytic experience as "potentially nasty both for the analyst and the analysand ...like being at sea - it is as stormy for both people." To the question of whether it is the analyst's function to help the patient, he gives this illuminating reply: "...we are trying to say: 'I will help you to know yourself...I am trying to be a mirror to reflect back to you who you are, so that you can see in what I say to you an image of your self.'"Throughout these seminars (and the following discussions and papers) runs the thread of Bion's penetrating insight, his recognition of truth, and his fascination with the human character. In observing the patient he believed that the analyst must combine the disciplined curiosity of the scientist, the warmth of the humanist, the wisdom of the philosopher, and the sensitivity of the artist. A tall order indeed, but one to which this remarkable man came very close to fulfilling.

Taming Wild Thoughts

Abstract: Taming Wild Thoughts brings together previously unpublished works from two different periods of the author's life which are linked, as the author says in her introduction, by the concept of classifying and conceptualizing thought. The first paper, "The Grid", dates from 1963 and is a discussion of great clarity about one of the author's most widely-used conceptual tools; it predates his more discursive paper of the same title (published in Two Papers) by several years. As a teaching paper on this topic, this version of "The Grid" is without parallel, and will doubtless be of great value to all students of his work. The second part of the book consists of transcripts of two tape-recordings made by Bion in 1977. They underline his interest in "wild" or "stray" thoughts; and they provide an insight into his extraordinary sensibility at the time of A Memoir of the Future.

Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work

Abstract: This study began with the premise that people can use varying degrees of their selves, physically, cognitively, and emotionally, in work role performances, which has implications for both their wor...

Developmental sequence in small groups.

Abstract: 50 articles dealing with stages of group development over time are separated by group setting: therapy-group studies, T-group studies, and natural- and laboratory-group studies. The stages identified in these articles are separated into those descriptive of social or interpersonal group activities a

An Assessment of the Scientific Merits of Action Research.

Abstract: December 1978, volume 23 This article describes the deficiencies of positivist science for generating knowledge for use in solving problems that members of organizations face. Action research is introduced as a method for correcting these deficiencies. When action research is tested against the criteria of positivist science, action research is found not to meet its critical tests. The appropriateness of positivist science is questioned as a basis for judging the scientific merits of action research. Action research can base its legitimacy as science in philosophical traditions that are different from those which legitimate positivist science. Criteria and methods of science appropriate to action research are offered.

Time and Transition in Work Teams: Toward a New Model of Group Development

Abstract: This study of the complete life-spans of eight naturally-ocurring teams began with the unexpected finding that several project groups, studied for another purpose, did not accomplish their work by progressing gradually through a universal series of stages, as traditional group development models would predict. Instead, teams progressed in a pattern of “punctuated equilibrium,” through alternating inertia and revolution in the behaviors and themes through which they approached their work. The findings also suggested that groups' progress was triggered more by members' awareness of time and deadlines than by completion of an absolute amount of work in a specific developmental stage. The paper proposes a new model of group development that encompasses the timing and mechanisms of change as well as groups' dynamic relations with their contexts. Implications for theory, research, and practice are drawn.