New Library of Psychoanalysis Webinar

W.R. Bion as Clinician by Bob Hinshelwood

Steering Between Concept and Practice

Saturday 25th November 3:00pm - 4:30pm GMT

Online via Zoom
Recording available

Bob Hinshelwood will be in dialogue with Nicola Abel Hirsch & Rudi Vermote

Anne Patterson, Editor of the New Library of Psychoanalysis, will introduce the book.

A chance to hear authors discuss their work, find out more about recently published books and revisit classic texts and best sellers.

These conversations will be of interest to clinicians working in psychiatry, psychology, psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, and other areas of mental health.

• Seventh of the series
• Attendees can tune in live, or access a recording any time over the following week, enabling viewing at their own convenience. (After this time, the recording will no longer be available)
• Signing up for this webinar provides attendees with a code to obtain a 20% discount on the book discussed.

Underpinned by rigorous close readings of his oeuvre, this book provides a comprehensive guide to the development, practice and evolution of Wilfred Bion’s clinical psychoanalytic work.

Starting with the significance of Kant during Bion’s years as a student, the author traces the key influences on Bion in his psychoanalytic and personal development, progressing through Bion’s particularly productive pre-psychoanalytic work based on social field theory, his well-known elaboration of Klein’s schizoid mechanisms known as the theory of containment, all the while with his deeply thoughtful clinical approach inspired latterly by an understanding of literary creativity. Extending this unique emphasis on Bion’s clinical work, rather than his theory, Hinshelwood also explores how Bion’s early traumatic experiences helped shape his attitudes and approach to effective clinical work.

With comprehensive coverage of the key tenets of Bion’s work, this should be essential reading for psychoanalysts and psychotherapists in practice and in training who seek a clear guide to the practical applications of his theory.

Bob Hinshelwood is professor emeritus at the University of Essex, UK; previously director of the Cassel Hospital, London. He is a fellow of the British Psychoanalytic Society, and a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He has written widely on psychoanalysis including The Dictionary of Kleinian Thought (1989), and Research on the Couch (2013), as well as editing with Nuno Torres Bion’s Sources (2013).

Nicola Abel-Hirsch is a Training Analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society. She is the editor of Hanna Segal's last book Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (2007), and the author of Bion 365 Quotes (2019) and Bion: An Introduction (2023). Under the auspices of Understanding Primitive Mental States NYC she chairs an ongoing series of seminars on Bion's later lectures, seminars and supervisions. She works in full-time psychoanalytical practice in London and online.

Rudi Vermote, M.D., Ph.D., is a training analyst, past president of the Belgian Society of Psychoanalysis and Professor Emeritus at the University of Leuven. He has published and lectured on Bion's work and is a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Honorary Member of the Psychoanalytic Center of California.

Anne Patterson is a Fellow of the British Psychoanalytical Society, retired consultant psychiatrist in psychotherapy in the NHS for 22 years, co-President of the Balint Society and editor of the New Library of Psychoanalysis. She is also the co-director of the European Psychoanalytic Film Festival and co-organiser of the monthly film club at 10 Windsor Walk.

Registration for this event will close an hour before the live event begins.

REFUND POLICY: Tickets are fully refundable until 14 days before the event, after which time no refunds will be issued.

Concession tickets are available, for students, BPAS candidates and trainees. Please email outreach@iopa.org.uk if you are unsure if you qualify for a concession ticket. 

Views and opinions expressed by speakers are their own and do not represent the views or opinions of the Institute, event organisers or other speakers. We expect delegates to respect the confidentiality of clinical material discussed in our events. The content must not be recorded, conveyed or disseminated in any format and participants must not share access to the event with non-registered participants.