Contemporary Models: The Post-Bionion Work

of Betty Joseph, James Grotstein, Thomas Ogden, Antonio Ferro and Giuseppe Civitarese

An Online Study Group Facilitated by

Joseph Aguayo, PhD

Instructional Level: Intermediate to Advanced

A Note from the HPS Program Chair: Joseph Aguayo is an analyst/scholar and engaging teacher who has researched, written, and presented about the theoretical concepts and clinical work of Wilfred Bion and the post-Bionians. This seminar series will provide an overview of the post-Bionian approaches of the contemporary London Kleinians, American intersubjectivity, and further developments in Italian field theory. This information will be a helpful basis for upcoming panel presentations with Giuseppe Civitarese (4/5/25 & 5/17/25) and discussions of books that he authored or co-authored (11/21/24, 3/27/25 & 5/22/25). ***** JoAnn Ponder

In the aftermath of Wilfred Bion’s notable contributions to psychoanalysis, there have been succeeding generations of psychoanalysts who have addressed underdeveloped themes in his many papers and books. This seminar addresses the succeeding psychoanalysts, primarily in Europe and the United States who have devoted significant attention to Bionian themes in psychoanalytic theory and practice. We begin with an overview presentation of the various modes subsumed in the approaches of the contemporary London Kleinians, followed by American approaches to intersubjectivity—and finally, with the advances made by Italian Field Theory in the new millennium.  

One overarching theme in this course is the clinical and historical development of ideas on contemporary technique: we begin with how Betty Joseph took up many of Bion’s ideas, particularly on disturbed, ‘difficult-to-reach’ patients—and developed a tracking technique that followed carefully the patient’s subjective experience in analysis. We then turn to the work of James Grotstein and Thomas Ogden, American analysts working in California, who creatively amalgamated Klein, Winnicott and Bion in their theorizing and practice. Finally, we end with the work of Antonino Ferro and Giuseppe Civitarese, with its emphasis on a different conceptualization of the analytic field, notions of intersubjectivity and increased emphasis on the analyst’s deployment of his ‘waking-dreaming function,’ reverie and creative use of hallucinosis in the analytic situation. Here, an attempt is made to pull together psychoanalytic literature that has existed in separate analytic traditions that have cropped up in the UK, the United States and Italy.

The assigned articles will be sent to seminar participants. Supplemental and/or optional readings will be mentioned along with each week’s readings. Given that we do not plan to cap the registration, there may not be much opportunity for individuals to participate in group discussions in the event of a large class.  

Joseph Aguayo, PhD is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of California in West Los Angeles, USA. He is a Guest Member of the British Psychoanalytical Society in London. He holds doctorates from the University of California, Los Angeles in clinical psychology and modern European history. Dr. Aguayo has authored one book and co-edited three others about Bion: Wilfred Bion: Los Angeles Seminars and Supervision (with Malin, 2013); Bion in Buenos Aires: Seminars, Case Presentation and Supervision (with de Cortinas and Regeczkey, 2017); Introducing the Clinical Work of Wilfred Bion (2023), which also includes information about the post-Bionians and their work; and Bion in the Consulting Room: An Implicit Method of Clinical Inquiry (with Hinshelwood, Dermen, and Abel-Hirsch, 2024). Dr. Aguayo has authored papers about Bion’s ideas and the evolution of post-Bionian thought and clinical work, which have been published in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Quarterly.

Session 1 - Nov 5: British Kleinian work in the aftermath of Bion’s clinical innovations

Aguayo, J. (2011). The role of the patient’s remembered history and unconscious past in the evolution of Betty Joseph’s ‘here and now’ technique (1959-1989). International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 92: 1117-1136.

Objectives

1. Briefly summarize Betty Joseph’s ‘here and now’ technique, and describe how it differs from Klein’s technique.
2. Describe Michael Feldman’s additions to Joseph’s technique, and explain how the analyst attempts to effect psychic change.

Session 2 - Nov 12: American Kleinian/Bionian work after the death of W. R. Bion

Grotstein, J. (2009). Chapter 2, Psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, pp. 18-23. Chapter 3, The evolution of Kleinian through ‘post-Kleinian’ to ‘Bionian’ Technique, pp. 24-41. In: ‘…But at the Same Time, and on Another Level… Vol. I, Psychoanalytic Theory and Technique in the Kleinian/Bionian Mode….

Aguayo, J. (2020). On Jim Grotstein’s Method of Supervision. Unpublished paper. 

Objectives

1. Identify the Kleinian, Winnicottian, and Bionian roots in James Grotstein’s theorizing and clinical practice.
2. Briefly describe the major features of Grotstein’s method of supervision.

Session 3 - Nov 19: American intersubjective extensions of Bion’s work

Ogden, T. H. (1994). The analytic third: Working with intersubjective clinical facts. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 75: 3-19.

Ogden, T. H. (2004). On holding and containing, being and dreaming. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 85: 1349-1364.

Aguayo, J. (2024). On Thomas Ogden’s Bionian-themed contributions, 1979-2019. A paper in submission to the Psychoanalytic Quarterly.

Objectives

1. Briefly explain Thomas Ogden’s concepts of the analytic third and holding/containing.
2. Identify the Kleinian, Winnicottian, and Bionian roots in Thomas Ogden’s theorizing and clinical practice.

Session 4 - Dec 3: Italian field theory extensions of Bion’s work

Ferro, A. (2006). Clinical implications of Bion’s thought. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 87: 989-1003.

Civitarese, G. & Ferro, A. (2013). The meaning and use of metaphor in analytic field theory. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 33: 190-209.

Objectives

1. Explain the technical importance of Bion’s concept of the “waking dream thought” and describe some extensions of the concept and technique developed by Antonino Ferro and Guiseppe Civitarese.
2. Identify the origins and meaning of the field metaphor in analytic field theory.

Session 5 - Dec 10: Italian field theory extensions of Bion’s work (cont.)

Civitarese, G. (2008). Immersion versus interactivity and the analytic field. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 89: 279-298.

Objectives

1. Explain Ferro and Civitarese’s concepts and techniques of immersion and interactivity in the clinical process.
2. From the vantagepoint of Italian field theory, describe the major features of the analytic field, notions of intersubjectivity, and the analyst’s use of their “waking-dreaming function,” reverie, and creative use of hallucinosis.

Session 6 - Dec 17: The current state of the post-Bionian evolution

Ogden, T. H. (2019). Ontological psychoanalysis or ‘What do you want to be when you grow up? Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 88: 661-682.

Objectives

1. Define and differentiate epistemological psychoanalysis and ontological psychoanalysis.
2. Describe the differing technical implications of these two models of psychoanalysis. 

IMAGE depicting intersubjectivity from Shutterstock

APA Accreditation Statement

Houston Psychoanalytic Society is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Houston Psychoanalytic Society maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

HPS, through co-sponsorship with the Center for Psychoanalytic Studies, also offers approved CEUs for Texas state-approved social workers, licensed professional counselors, and marriage and family therapists.