Wilfred Bion: biography and most relevant works

Wilfred Bion was born in Mattura on September 8, 1897 and died in Oxford on August 28, 1979. He trained as a doctor, but in practice he was seduced by the ideas of psychoanalysis. His work resulted in a theory about the way of thinking of human beings.

Bion stood out for the work he did as a psychoanalyst in patients with psychotic disorders. Initially it was based on the studies of Melanie Klein and Sigmund Freud. He later generated his own theoretical field and even expanded concepts previously established by Klein.

Besides, His work with soldiers affected by the Second World War was the basis of one of his main contributions, that which has been so important in the framework of group psychology. Keep reading and you will discover why Bion is one of the most important figures in the history of psychoanalysis.

About the life of Wilfred Bion

Wilfred Bion was born and lived until he was 8 years old in India. He grew up in a wealthy family, whose main income came from the colonization of those lands, then under the rule of the British Empire.

Subsequently, His parents sent him to boarding school in England., where he stood out for being a great athlete, especially in swimming and water polo. Furthermore, Bion remembers that during his stay at boarding school he missed his parents and India.

Bion participated in both world wars. In fact, he participated as a volunteer in World War I, for which he was awarded a distinguished service decoration and the French Legion of Honor. On the other hand, during World War II he worked as a military psychiatrist at Northfield Hospital.

In his work as a psychiatrist he came into contact with the theories of Melanie Klein, and with that of other prestigious psychoanalysts. In fact, he also worked with Donald Winnicott and Herbert Rosenfeld. All this, thanks to his work at the Tavistock clinic. Bion’s work was so important that he became president of the British Psychoanalytic Association.. In recent years he dedicated himself to working in California, and to disseminating his theories on the treatment of psychosis.

Bion and his theory of thought

Wilfred Bion postulated that we have an innate tendency to know. It would be that spark that lights the fuse that encourages us to learn new things, both about ourselves, others and the world.

According to Wilfred Bion, he Thought is gradually transformed into a thinking machine., thanks to the accumulation of perceptions, sensations and experiences. This is the continent content theory. The baby experiences sensations and emotions that she does not tolerate and expels, the mother or whoever fulfills her role is in charge of taking and processing them.

The mother then shares these elaborations with the baby in a way that he is able to handle or understand. Then the baby internalizes those thoughts and forms her own thought system.

Finally, you will be able to form your own impressions, giving meaning to the experiences you live. This would be the engine of psychological development according to Bion.

However, primitive elements will take hold if the baby or person is not able to elaborate, giving things meaning, due to the anguish that this emptiness produces. Distress that the child would tend to manifest and that would be when symptoms such as: hallucinations, somatizations, etc.

However, The therapist’s role could be that of a container, because it collects the anguish that the patient brings. In this way, the patient’s psychic structure needs support to be able to work through its deep-rooted primitive issues. The therapist would be the facilitator who would make it possible.

Major works of Wilfred Bion

Wilfred Bion wrote two relevant works both for what they represent in their thinking and for what they have meant for the evolution of psychoanalysis. These works were:

Group experience. This work is a new contribution on the conception of groups from a psychoanalytic perspective. Presents Kleinian concepts such as the defense mechanism of projective identification. Also, it emphasizes what is and is not said during therapy, including silences, which allows an understanding of behaviors that are apparently difficult to decipher during the consultation. Additionally, he talks about the concept of group mentality.Learning from experience. In this book Wilfred Bion emphasizes experience and learning and related problems. He suggests in this work that the act of knowing causes suffering, due to the emotional experience. He reflects on the importance of restructuring ideas about the origin and nature of thought. Additionally, he explores the thought process in psychotic patients, based on his experience, from psychoanalysis.

In this book he shows his original theory on thinking. At the beginning he talks about the formation of thought in people with psychosis. To do this, Bion explores his own works. And, even showing self-criticism, which rescues the fact of the limitations that the analyst may have.

To talk about Bion is to talk about an author who, with the originality and depth of his studies, managed to give a new perspective to psychoanalysis . Today, a growing number of analysts, psychologists and psychiatrists take his legacy into account. Thus, their contributions continue to be a reference in the current in which they were developed.

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