Bion in Buenos Aires: Seminars, Case Presentation and Supervision

201 Pages·2017·2.922 MB·English

by  Wilfred R. Bion

Bion in Buenos Aires

Bion in Buenos Aires
seminars, Case Presentation,
and supervision
Edited by
Joseph Aguayo, Lia Pistiner de Cortinas,
and Agnes Regeczkey
First published in 2018 by
Karnac Books Ltd
118 Finchley Road
London NW3 5HT
Copyright © 2018 to Joseph Aguayo, Lia Pistiner de Cortinas, and Agnes
Regeczkey.
The rights of Joseph Aguayo, Lia Pistiner de Cortinas, and Agnes Regeczkey to
be identified as the authors of this work have been asserted in accordance with
§§ 77 and 78 of the Copyright Design and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A C.I.P. for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN-13: 978-1-78220-520-3
Typeset by Medlar Publishing Solutions Pvt Ltd, India
Printed in Great Britain
www.karnacbooks.com
ContEnts
Acknowledgements ix
About the editors xiii
Foreword xvii
by r. d. hinshelwood
introduction xxi
by Joseph Aguayo and lia Pistiner de cortinas
PART I: BIoN’S CLINICAL SeMINARS
First seminAr
A case vignette—countertransference—the analyst’s subjectivity
as a factor in clinical technique—abandonment of memory
and desire—audience questions 3
v
vi Contents
second seminAr
The nature of internal and external objects—the psychoanalytical model of
Melanie Klein—projective identification—theory of container/
contained—the mystic and the establishment— Science
and Christianity—audience questions 17
third seminAr
The Grid as an instrument to assess deterioration as well
as evolution of thinking—how the Grid is used—the Grid’s use as
a tool for discovering latent content—the analyst’s own Grid—doubts
and scepticisms about the Grid— audience questions 29
Fourth seminAr
Questions regarding normal development, civilised and primitive
urges within a cultural container—the patient’s self-definition
vis-à-vis the analyst’s definition of the problem—the survival
of psychoanalysis—audience questions 47
PART II: BIoN’S oWN ANALyTIC CASe PReSeNTATIoN
FiFth seminAr
Borderline patient with paranoid hysteria—negative therapeutic
reaction—the question of transformations—role of interpretation—a
victim of envy 67
PART III: HoRACIo eTCHeGoyeN’S
SuPeRvISIoN WITH BIoN
sixth seminAr
the initial phase of mr b’s psychoanalytic treatment
The patient’s background history—initial phase of the analysis—first
dreams—the patient’s internal anal universe—Bion’s assessment
of the patient’s current state of mind—audience questions 85
seventh seminAr
mr b’s psychoanalytic treatment in the following year
The problem of excessive projective identification—further dream analysis—
the difference between the patient’s own model of mind vis-à-vis the
analyst’s model of the patient’s mind—Mr B’s difficulties in paying
for his analysis—audience questions 99
Contents vii
PART Iv: BIoN’S FuRTHeR SuPeRvISoRy WoRK
WITH oTHeR ARGeNTINIAN ANALySTS
eighth seminAr
An “in-the-moment” presentation of an adult analysand, all with
no orienting background history—audience questions 115
ninth seminAr
The continuation of the case presentation—audience questions 131
tenth seminAr
Bion’s Analytical Supervision: Jorge, an adolescent analysand—
audience questions 137
eleventh seminAr
The continuation of an adolescent case presentation—
audience questions 145
PART v: BIoN’S DIALoGue WITH THe AuDIeNCe
oN QueSTIoNS ABouT SuPeRvISIoN
twelFth seminAr
Dr Bion’s supervisory comments—on the analyst’s capacities for
observation, formulation, and interpretation—audience questions 155
thirteenth seminAr
Dr Bion’s supervisory comments—on questions regarding the
patient’s repetition compulsion—symbiotic relationships—the
analytic contract—audience questions 161
index 165

ACknowLEdgEmEnts
The rescue of lost but valuable manuscripts that illuminate the history
of our field is a communal endeavour. In this effort, it was occasioned by
Agnes Regeczkey’s Christmas holiday visit to Buenos Aires in December
2015, one that led to a meeting with Lia Pistiner de Cortinas. She had
in hand a small surprise, namely the manuscript of Wilfred Bion’s 1968
clinical seminars in buenos Aires. originally recorded in english, these
clinical seminars were in turn faithfully translated into Spanish by Lia’s
colleague and dear friend, elizabeth Tabak de Bianchedi. While these
seminars had not been in wide circulation among Argentinian analysts,
upon Agnes Regeczkey’s return to Los Angeles, we immediately sought
out help from Karnac Books in London. We owe oliver Rathbone a debt
of gratitude in so far as he saw the value of these recovered seminars,
and through his intercession we procured the rights to publish them
courtesy of Nicola Bion and the Marsh Agency. He was also instru-
mental in having the Spanish text capably translated in its entirety into
english by Beatrice Sadovy. To my cousin, Dr Luis Arevalo, we also
owe a profound debt for his generosity in re-reading and translating
difficult passages of this Bion manuscript. I would also like to thank
ix