Francois Levy - Psychoanalysis with Wilfred R. Bion

Psychoanalysis with Wilfred R. Bion is the product of Franois Lvys efforts over a period of twenty years to represent clearly the classical elements and the innovatory propositions of the thought and work of Bion, who offers both new and modified ways of practising and thinking about the psychoanalytic experience.

Bions thought, methodical and intuitive, gave rise to profound modifications in the approach to the psychology of groups, clinical work with psychoses, and the conception of the genesis of thought. Some of his original notions psychic growth, processes of thinking, transformations, alpha-function, maternal reverie constitute valuable tools for rethinking psychoanalytic practice. This book places Bions thought within a filiation that is faithful to those of Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein. It shows the parallels that exist between Bions formalisations and those of Lacan. It also lays emphasis on the mechanisms of thought arising from the negative (Andr Green), from logic (Lewis Carroll), from causalist philosophy (David Hume), from literature (Milton, Blanchot), and from the physical sciences (Stephen Hawking). Finally, Lvy underlines the importance of placing individuals within the collective from which they have originated.

Psychoanalysis with Wilfred R. Bion will appeal to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists looking to draw on the ideas of one of the most important and influential figures in the history of psychoanalysis.

Franois Lvy is a psychoanalyst and member of the Socit de Psychanalyse Freudienne (SPF), Paris, France. He has authored many articles as well as the preface for the French edition of Bions Clinical Seminars. He has run a teaching seminar on Bions work for more than two decades in Paris.

Howard B. Levine, MD

Series Editor

Editorial Advisory Board: Nicola Abel-Hirsch, Joseph Aguayo, Avner Bergstein, Lawrence J. Brown Judith Eekhoff, Claudio Laks Eizerik, Robert D. Hinshelwood, Chris Mawson, James Ogilvie, Elias M. da Rocha Barros, Jani Santamaria, Rudi Vermote

The contributions of Wilfred Bion are among the most cited in the analytic literature. Their appeal lies not only in their content and explanatory value but in their generative potential. Although Bions training and many of his clinical instincts were deeply rooted in the classical tradition of Melanie Klein, his ideas have a potentially universal appeal. Rather than emphasizing a particular psychic content (e.g. Oedipal conflicts in need of resolution; splits that needed to be healed; preconceived transferences that must be allowed to form and flourish), he tried to help open and prepare the mind of the analyst (without memory, desire, or theoretical preconception) for the encounter with the patient.

Bions formulations of group mentality and the psychotic and non-psychotic portions of the mind, his theory of thinking and emphasis on facing and articulating the truth of ones existence so that one might truly learn first-hand from ones own experience, his description of psychic development (alpha-function and container/contained), and his exploration of O are non-denominational concepts that defy relegation to a particular school or orientation of psychoanalysis. Consequently, his ideas have taken root in many places and those ideas continue to inform many different branches of psychoanalytic inquiry and interest.

It is with this heritage and its promise for the future developments of psychoanalysis in mind that we present The Routledge Wilfred Bion Studies Book Series. This series gathers together newly emerging and continually evolving contributions to psychoanalytic thinking that rest upon Bions foundational texts and explore and extend the implications of his thought. For a full list of titles in the series, please visit the Routledge website at: www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Wilfred-Bion-Studies-Book-Series/book-series/RWBSBS.

Franois Lvy

First published in English 2020

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

The first French edition was published in 2014

2020 ditions Campagne Premire

The right of Franois Lvy to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised 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.

This book is a translation of a work previously published in French by ditions Campagne Premire, Paris, France, as La psychanalyse avec Wilfred R. Bion (2014).

English language translation Andrew Weller, 2020

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN: 978-0-367-33334-8 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-367-33336-2 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-429-31927-3 (ebk)

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For Laura

Julien and Lilas

Pierre and Claire

Dalva and Victor

Lola and Amaia

Working with Franois Lvy in Paris for nearly 20 years, I have been able to appreciate his profound knowledge of Bions writings that is witnessed now by the book published in its English translation. I recommend it to all interested in a deeper understanding of Bions work.

Gianna Williams, former Director, Observation Course, Tavistock Clinic

Franois Lvy conveys readers his enthusiasm for breaking into the Bionian universe, an expanding universe that has its starting point in Freud and Kleins ideas. For the author, the justification of the book is to represent a container with the purpose of revealing the content that made it. It is undoubtedly an important contribution to those interested in Bions ideas.

Celia Fix Korbivcher, member, Brazilian Society of Psychoanalysis; author, Autistic Transformations: Bions Theory and Autistic Phenomena (Routledge, 2013)

I would like to express my thanks to all those who participated in bringing this book to fruition:

• Marie Lacte, for her efficiency in conducting bibliographical research and resolving all the technical questions;
• Louise L. Lambrichs, for her attentive rereading of the manuscript and suggestions as to how to render things more elegantly;
• Alain Gillis, a former medical director of the Medical Educational Institute (IME) Michel de Montaigne at Chelles, near Paris, and a long-standing friend of more than fifty years, for his help with the cover illustration;