A Beam of Intense Darkness

Wilfred Bion's Legacy to Psychoanalysis

James Grotstein, James S. Grotstein

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9781032391601
• eBook ISBN:
  9781003804284
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Written by pioneering analyst and creative thinker, James Grotstein, A Beam of Intense Darkness offers a thorough overview and illuminating insight into the often-complex work of W. R. Bion.

This psychoanalytic classic sees Grotstein introduce over 30 key Bionian theories, comprehensively explaining them to the reader before offering his own insight and commentary. Grotstein first encountered Bion as his analysand and, later, as his friend. This book offers a level of insight only possible through such a close relationship, and offers a dialogue between Bion and Grotstein as they delve into the inner workings of the human psyche. Throughout, Grotstein offers his own original thoughts on topics such as projective transidentification, transcendent position and the truth drive.

With a new introduction from Nicola Abel-Hirsch, this book is an essential read for anyone interested in Bion's work and legacy.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Introduction to Classic Edition
• Acknowledgements and Sources of Information
• About the Author
• Prelude and prologue
• 1 An introduction
• 2 What kind of analyst was Bion?
• 3 What kind of person was Bion?
• 4 Bion’s vision
• 5 Bion’s legacy
• 6 Bion’s metatheory
• 7 Bion on technique
• 8 Clinical vignette encompassing Bion’s technical ideas
• 9 Bion, the mathematician, the mystic, the psychoanalyst
• 10 The “Language of Achievement”
• 11 Bion’s discovery of O
• 12 The concept of the “transcendent position”
• 13 The quest for the truth, Part A: the “truth drive” as the hidden order of Bion’s metatheory for psychoanalysis
• 14 The quest for the truth, Part B: curiosity about the truth as the “seventh servant”
• 15 Lies, “lies”, and falsehoods
• 16 The container and the contained
• 17 “Projective transidentifcation”: an extension of the concept of projective identifcation
• 18 Bion’s work with groups
• 19 Bion’s studies in psychosis
• 20 Transformations
• 21 Psychoanalytic functions and elements
• 22 Points, lines, and circles
• 23 The Grid
• 24 Fetal mental life and its caesura with postnatal mental life
• 25 What does it mean to dream? Bion’s theory of dreaming
• 26 Dreaming, phantasying, and the “truth instinct”
• 27 “Become”
• 28 P-S ↔ D
• 29 L, H, and K and passion
• 30 Faith
• 31 Bion’s discovery of zero (“no-thing”)
• Epilogue
• W. R. Bion Bibliography
• References
• Index