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In this article I look at the Northfield experiments from the point of view of field theory as it was introduced by John Rickman and Wilfred Bion in 1943. The novelty of the experiments that arose has been an inspiration to the understanding of group and social dynamics ever since. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hanna Segal's original paper in 1957 on symbol‐formation is a classic. It makes clinical observations of concrete symbolic equation and theorized the contrast with normal representation. In the process of developing the most accurate and most useful theory of symbol‐formation that psychoanalysis possesses, Segal brought the psychoanalytic symbol into connection with the wider meaning of symbols in linguistics and other academic disciplines. It is less well known that she modified the theoretical conceptualization of her observations in the light of Bion's development of the theory of container‐contained. Perhaps because of the clinical usefulness, little serious criticism has been made of either the original theory or its modification. In this paper, an appraisal will be made of these major conceptualizations. This paper looks again at the theory she used to make the distinction between normal symbols ‘proper’, or representations, and the concrete symbolic equation associated with the primitive or psychotic defences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is intended to offer a foundation for comparison of the approaches of Wilfred Bion and Donald Winnicott. In particular, I try to plot the oscillation of Bion's clinical method from his early Group period at the Tavistock Clinic (up to around 1950) when he emphasized countertransference; his part‐object interpretation method in the 1950s after his analysis with Klein when he and colleagues were experimenting with the psychoanalysis of people in psychotic states (1953–59); and then his return to his investigation of the intuitive approach to clinical data, around 1965–70. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans and animals communicate in various non-linguistic modes of communication. This multi-channelled form of communication seems to be characteristic of humans, and involves facial expression, calls/gestures, music and dance, as well as symbolic language; and seems likely to depend, in part, on the psychological mechanisms of projection and projective identification. This article attempts to reflect on the relation between these evolved forms of human communication, both linguistic and non-verbal, in terms of the unconscious as discovered by Freud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to set out the conceptual history of countertransference and intersubjectivity. I will attempt to show the different histories that have occurred within British object relations compared with the developments in the post-ego-psychology era in North America. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents the author's views on psychodynamic thinking on group psychotherapy and mental health. The author explains the dynamics of care institutions and the anxiety-defence structure of professional carers as well as the need to take great care in the structure and function of a mental health. The author also cites the coherence function and group psychotherapy in mental health services in which radical forms of cooperation within a contextual paternalism is required.

In this article I discuss the way that aspects of school and teaching have unconscious roots. Where anxiety about the process, for teachers and children, is high then there is the risk that unconscious defensive processes may occur resulting in institutionalized phenomena. These take the form of cultural attitudes and common practices which may not necessarily enhance the work and in some cases may actively interfere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article will examine how the psychoanalytic idea of containing can be used in group therapy to form a conceptual bridge such that the group dynamics are not simplistically reduced to individual dynamics, nor that the individual is lost in the "group-as-a-whole" concept. I take the concept of "containing" as versatile in the sense that Bion (1970) meant it to be-that is, the psychological phenomenon of containment is manifest at various system levels: intrapsychic, interpersonal, group, and societal. This article will explore how far this "bridging concept" can be pursued to understand groups theoretically. The article will review various forms of containing following Bion's ideas, and in particular a therapeutic, or flexible, form in contrast to rigid and fragile forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An attempt is made to compare two psychoanalytic concepts which by ‘belonging’ to different psychoanalytic groups have come to be defined and used differently. The paper is also an inquiry into the possibility of a comparative psychoanalytic method. The two concepts are ‘repression’ and ‘splitting of the ego’ and an examination is made of the semantic similarities and differences. Some clinical material is offered that adds indicative clinical evidence to test the semantic comparison. The aim is to answer the question: Are the terms simply alternative ones for similar clinical phenomena? The paper offers one method which could provide an answer. It represents a general method for clarifying and maybe reconciling the differing points of view of competing psychoanalytic schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five pages of notes were found in the Melanie Klein Archives at the Wellcome Library that concern her views on countertransference in 1953. Because of the paucity of references to countertransference in Klein's published writings these Notes fill in our knowledge. Her views were provoked by the work her students were doing in their experimental analyses of schizophrenic patients. Apocryphal stories suggest that Klein remained aligned with Freud's view of countertransference as simply interference. The Notes confirm that, whilst there is some truth in that, she did have a more sophisticated and nuanced view of the unconscious relations between analyst and analysand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes the concept of the group-as-a-whole as used by Foulkes and by Bion. The differences are noted and their different applications to group therapy and to larger working institutions. The relation of Foulkes's ideas to the work at the wartime military hospital in Northfield dominated by Bion's work is highlighted in a short letter from Ronald Hargreaves, discovered in the Foulkes's archives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychoanalysis cannot explain social phenomena directly, but the human responses to social, economic and historical forces can be described. In this paper I want to look at the interaction between the underlying psychology of the unconscious of individuals in groups, and to theorize how that provides a basis upon which social forces may act. Certain aspects of racism and national identity serve as useful illustrations of how the social phenomena interact with the psychology of individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a study which opposed the theory of Freud on the continuity of human mind from pathology to normality. Andreas de Block claimed that Freud's theory was irrelevant to psychoanalysis as it was a simple philosophical concept and that philosophy and psychoanalysis are both opposite with each other. De Block however, opened the possibility that Freud's evolutionary theory could suggest a theory of mind as he knew that philosophy involved a scientific investigation of the human mind.

The article discusses several topics related to psychotherapy. Philosophers before failed to consider the man's subjective or emotional side in the field of therapy. John Callender as inspired by modern therapist Aaron Beck looked beyond the concept of cognition and considered the man's mental and emotional side in therapeutics. Callender experimented in measuring psychotherapy against art criticism.

looks into the study of emotions in psychology. Definition of cognitive reason; Discovery of the motivating unconscious part of the mind; Discussion of the process of representation.

The authors describe the history and underlying ideas of a project to observe health-care organizations. Staff in medical and psychiatric institutions are faced with major anxieties in their work with ill people and these may be dealt with in various more or less defensive ways. It is argued that institutional observation can be a tool to detect and understand the dynamics, defensive techniques and culture of a health-care organization, and that for those working in such institutions it can be a useful learning instrument. Two observations, of a mental health hostel and a medical ward, are described in some detail. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies the social relations of institutions involved in the care of those diagnosed as mentally ill. Ethical relations; Social relations to health production; Therapeutic relations; Responsible choice and action related to the social context.

This article examines the ideas of S. H. Foulkes and W. R. Bion concerning the field of group psychoanalysis. The article first looks at the formative influences of both Foulkes and Bion. It is noted that despite their very diverse experiences, the two pioneers had a common interest in applying psychoanalytic thinking to groups and group therapy. They also had a common starting point in academic psychology. It is also said that for Foulkes and Bion, the notion of the "group-as-a-whole" came from German Gestalt psychology. Bion's group ideas began at the War Office where he devised a group approach to officer selection. Foulkes' approach, on the other hand, was to transfer a psychoanalytic form of practice into a group setting. Foulkes argued that if free association is the central plank of individual analysis, then groups must do the equivalent, a "free-floating discussion."

The author reflects on two general categories of characteristic responses of people with severe personality disorder or chronic schizophrenia in their attendants. He remarked that psychiatrists typically retreat emotionally from their difficult patient and from their experience. The author also cited some instances where the attitudes of patient and the mental health professional interact in downward spirals, to the detriment of patient and discomfort of staff.

SUMMARY The socially constructed concept of the countryside' varies in different periods of history. These various pictures of 'the countryside' can be plotted quite accurately on various unconscious phantasies active within the minds of individuals, and discerned by psycho-analysis. This paper explores this correspondence between the individual and the social (the collective) from several aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY This paper describes one form of psychodynamic formulation. Three areas of object-relations (the current life situation, the early infantile relations and the transference relationship) are focused upon to derive a common pattern. From these core object-relationships a point of maximum pain can be hypothesised and the attendant defensive relationships. The paper also discusses the central importance of testing hypotheses with interpretation even in the assessment interview, and the prime interest of the psychodynamic formulation in assessing other factors in the suitability of a patient for psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study about the evidence for a birth order factor in schizophrenia. It examines the incidence of the last-but-one position, in consideration of the effects of the biases described by the evidence for a birth order in schizophrenia of a negative kind. It also attempts to resolve a paradox concerning the distortions in birth order distribution occurring in schizophrenic patients. An evidence for an over-representation of the last-but-one position in schizophrenic samples is also discussed.

Information about several papers presented at the panel discussion, at the 47th Congress of the International Psychoanalytic Association, Mexico City, Mexico, from 3 to 6 August, 2011, on Melanie Klein's theory and ideas are presented. The panel included David Taylor and David Bell both of the British Psychoanalytical Society and Albert Mason of the Psychoanalytic Center of California. Mason presented a paper related to systematic account of the cohorts of psychoanalysts.

Information about several papers presented at the panel discussion, at the 47th Congress of the International Psychoanalytic Association, Mexico City, Mexico, from 3 to 6 August, 2011, on Melanie Klein's theory and ideas are presented. The panel included David Taylor and David Bell both of the British Psychoanalytical Society and Albert Mason of the Psychoanalytic Center of California. Mason presented a paper related to systematic account of the cohorts of psychoanalysts.

Looks into the study of psychology as it emerged from determinism. Claim of philosophy that should grow from psychoanalysis; Assumptions in psychiatry; Determinism of American psychoanalysis from the 1950s to 1980s.