Most colleagues will no doubt agree that Bion's theory of thinking has become an integral part of psychoanalytic theory today, shifting the focus from the content of unconscious manifestations to their actual psychic processing. His early model opened new treatment perspectives, especially in the treatment of severe pathology. However, Bion's later work, with its focus on 'O' and its recommendation of a clinical attitude of 'no memory, no desire, no coherence, no understanding' has evoked many mixed reactions, ranging from criticisms of the theory for its foolishness to an almost religious zeal for its profound insight.

In the morning session, Dr. Vermote will explore the shift in Bion's work from his early period in London to his late period in Los Angeles, highlighting a change in clinical emphasis from transformations in knowledge while working in the differentiated zone of psychic functioning, T(K), to transformations in O while working in the undifferentiated zone of psychic functioning, T(O). Using clinical material, he will show how transformations in O might reveal themselves in actual analytic sessions and the ensuing qualitative shifts both in the treatment atmosphere and in the patient's long-term psychic functioning. With this approach, it becomes possible to use, in combination, two models that are outlined in the 'early' and the 'late' Bion to produce a dual track model of psychic change.

In the afternoon panel, Drs. Vermote, Aguayo, and Malin will further explore Bion's later work in Los Angeles with an eye for clinical application. Excerpts from audiotapes of Bion's 1967 lectures and supervisions in Los Angeles will be used to demonstrate Bion's developing views on treatment, particularly as they relate to the analytic attitude of 'no memory, no desire.' We hope that these live encounters with Bion himself, as well as the conference panel, will serve as a stimulating springboard for the afternoon discussion.

Joseph Aguayo, Ph.D. is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of California in full-time private practice in West Los Angeles. Awarded a number of research fellowships from the IPA's Research Advisory Board, he has merged his clinical and research interests by numerous publications in the history of Kleinian and Bionian psychoanalysis. Today's paper, Bion's Notes on Memory and Desire, is based on archival materials and will also be presented at both the British and Barcelona Psychoanalytical Societies next month. With Barnet Malin, Dr. Aguayo co-edited the book, Wilfred Bion: Los Angeles Seminars and Supervision (Karnac, 2013), which is available for sale and signing at today's conference.

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