Abstract
Bion (1970) saw his concept of ‘O’ as the central psychoanalytic perspective. It is a waking dream state, seen also as an essentially “religious” or spiritual perspective. While religious ideas may seem far afield in a discussion of fundamental elements of psychoanalysis, the word “spiritual” here refers simply to metaphysical matters of the spirit, mind, or personality, three terms used interchangeably by Bion. This essential experience of ‘O’ is seen as a selfless state, which the author clearly distinguishes from pathological states of selflessness, mindlessness, or nothingness often seen in patients who suffered early emotional trauma. Philosophical ideas about being and non-being help to clarify the difference. The challenges in finding an effective language to communicate verbally with pre-verbal states are explored through detailed clinical examples of working with often intractable states of resistance to being.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bair, D. (1964). Samuel Beckett: A biography. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1978.
Barrie, J. M. (1904). Peter Pan, or the boy who wouldn’t grow up. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Beckett, S. (1948–1949). Waiting for Godot. New York: Grove Press. 1989.
Berman, E. (2007). Call of the wild. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 67, 211–220.
Bion, W. R. (1959). 25 July 1959. In Cogitations (pp. 37–38). London: Karnac. 1992.
Bion, W. R. (1961). Experiences in groups and other papers. London: Tavistock.
Bion, W. R. (1962a). The psychoanalytic theory of thinking. (A theory of thinking). International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 43, 306–310. Also in Second thoughts: Selected papers on psychoanalysis (pp. 110–119). London: Heinemann. 1967.
Bion, W. R. (1962b). Learning from experience. New York: Basic Books.
Bion, W. R. (1963). Elements of psychoanalysis. New York: Basic Books.
Bion, W. R. (1965). Transformations. London: Karnac.
Bion, W. R. (1970). Attention and interpretation. London: Tavistock.
Bion, W. R. (1977a). Seminar two: 4 July 1977. In The Tavistock Seminars (pp. 13–18). London, Karnac. 2005.
Bion, W. R. (1977b). Private seminar. Los Angeles: Home of Wilfred Bion.
Bion, W. R. (1977c). Lecture. Los Angeles: UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute.
Camus, A. (1955). The myth of Sisyphus. New York: Vintage Books/Random House.
Deutsch, H. (1942). Some forms of emotional disturbances and their relation to schizophrenia. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 11, 301–321.
Deutsch, H. (1965). Neuroses and character types: Clinical psychoanalytic studies. New York: International Universities Press.
Dickinson, E. (1959). In R. N. Linscott (Ed.), Selected poems and letters of Emily Dickinson. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books.
Dupont, J. (1988). Introduction. In S. Ferenczi (1932): The clinical diary of Sándor Ferenczi. J. Dupont (Ed.), M. Balint & N.Z. Jackson (Trans.) (pp. xi–xxvii). Cambridge, Mass. & London: Harvard University Press. 1988.
Eshel, O. (2019). The emergence of analytic oneness. Into the heart of psychoanalysis. New York: Routledge.
Ferenczi, S. (1929). The unwelcome child and his death instinct. In Final contributions to the problems and methods of psychoanalysis (pp. 102–106). London: Karnac Books. 1994.
Ferenczi, S. (1932). The clinical diary of Sándor Ferenczi. J. Dupont (Ed.), M. Balint & N.Z. Jackson (Trans.) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1988.
Ferenczi, S. & Groddeck, G. (1982). Correspondence 1921–1933. J. Dupont (Ed.). Paris: Payot.
Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams. Standard Edition, Vols. 4–5 (pp. 1–626). London: Hogarth.
Freud, S. (1912–1913). Totem and taboo. Standard Edition, Vol. 13 (pp. 1–161). London: Hogarth.
Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. Standard Edition, Vol. 19 (pp. 1–161). London: Hogarth.
Freud, S. (1933). New introductory lectures on psycho-analysis. Standard Edition, Vol. 22 (pp. 3–182). London: Hogarth.
Freud, S. (1937). Analysis terminable or interminable. Standard Edition, Vol. 23 (pp. 209–253). London: Hogarth.
Groddeck, G. (1923). The book of the it. London: Vision Press. New York: Vintage Books. 1961.
Groddeck, G. & Freud, S. (1974). Briefe über das Es [Letters about the it] Hg. von Margaretha Honegger. München: Kindler Verlag.
Grotstein, J. S. (1990). The “black hole” as the basic psychotic experience: Some newer psychoanalytic and neuroscience perspectives on psychosis. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 18(1), 29–46.
Grotstein, J. S. (2007). A beam of intense darkness: Wilfred Bion’s legacy to psychoanalysis. London: Karnac.
Hawking, S. (1988). A brief history of time. London: Bantam Books.
Hristeva, G., & Poster, M. F. (2013). Georg Groddeck’s maternal turn: Its evolution and influence on early psychoanalysts. American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 73, 228–253.
Jerusalem Bible. (1966). Genesis 11:9-10. New York: Doubleday & Company.
Keats, J. (1817). Letter to George and Thomas Keats, 21 December 1817. In The selected poetry of Keats (pp. 328–329). New York: Signet Classic, New American Library. 1966.
Meltzer, D. (1984a). Dream life: The generative theatre of meaning. Dream life: A re-examination of the psycho-analytical theory and technique (pp. 86–113). Perthshire: Clunie Press.
Meltzer, D. (1984b). Dreams as unconscious thinking. Dream life: A re-examination of the psycho-analytical theory and technique (pp. 51–70). Perthshire: Clunie Press.
Miller, I., & Souter, K. (2013). Beckett and Bion: The (im)patient voice in psychotherapy and literature. London: Karnac.
Mitrani, J., Mitrani, T., & Tustin, F. (1997). Encounters with autistic states. A memorial tribute to Francis Tustin. New Jersey: Jason Aronson.
Paul, M. I. (1997). Before we were young: An exploration of primordial states of mind. Binghamton: Esf Publishers.
Nietzsche, F. (1883–1885). In R. J. Hollingdale (Ed.), Thus spoke Zarathustra. A book for everyone and no one. Middlesex, England: Penguin Classics. 1985.
Overbye, D. (2008). John Wheeler, visionary physicist and teacher, dies at age 96. New York Times, April 14, 2008.
Reiner, A. (2008). The language of the unconscious: Poetry and psychoanalysis. The Psychoanalytic Review, 95(4), 587–624.
Reiner, A. (2009). The quest for conscience and the birth of the mind. London: Karnac.
Reiner, A. (2012). Bion and being: Passion and the creative mind. London: Karnac.
Reiner, A. (2017a). Ferenczi’s “astra” and Bion’s “O”: A clinical perspective. In A. Reiner (Ed.), Of things invisible to mortal sigh Celebrating the work of James S. Grotstein (pp. 131–148). London: Karnac.
Reiner, A. (2017b). Beckett’s Endgame: The collapse of mental life. In H. Levine & D. Power (Eds.), Engaging primitive anxieties of the emerging self: The legacy of Frances Tustin (pp. 221–239). London: Karnac.
Rosenfeld, H. (1987). Impasse and interpretation: Therapeutic and anti-therapeutic factors in the psycho-analytic treatment of psychotic, borderline, and neurotic patients. London: Tavistock.
Rudnytsky, P. (2002). Reading psychoanalysis. Ithaca, NY: Cornell.
Sartre, J. P. (1943). Being and nothingness. New York: Washington Square Press. 1966.
Stein, G. (1935). What are masterpieces and why are there so few of them? In J. C. Oates (Ed.), The best American essays of the century (pp. 131–138). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1997.
Tustin, F. (1981). Psychological birth and psychological catastrophe. Autistic states in children (pp. 96–110). London: Routledge.
Tustin, F. (1990). The protective shell in children and adults. London: Karnac.
Wilde, O. (1887, Feb. 22 and Mar 2). The Canterville ghost: Fantastic story of action and adventure. The Court and Society Review.
Winnicott, D. W. (1960). Ego distortions in terms of true and false self. In: The maturational processes and the facilitating environment (pp. 140–152). London: Karnac. 1965.
Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Playing and reality. London: Penguin Books.
Winnicott, D. W. (1974). Fear of breakdown. International Review of Psycho-Analysis, 1, 103–107.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Annie Reiner, L.C.S.W., Ph.D., Faculty and Training Analyst, The Psychoanalytic Center of California, Los Angeles; Fellow, International Psychoanalytic Association. In private practice in Beverly Hills.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Reiner, A. What Language Are We Speaking? Bion and Early Emotional Life. Am J Psychoanal 81, 6–26 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-021-09281-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s11231-021-09281-3