Institute of Psychoanalysis, Byron House, 112A Shirland Road, W9 2BT
Psychoanalysts Nicola Abel-Hirsch & Chris Mawson and Philosopher of Science Jim Hopkins will present aspects of Bion’s ‘tools of observation’, the presentations then being discussed by Robert Hinshelwood (Psychoanalyst & Author of Research on the Couch, 2013) and Denis Flynn (Psychoanalyst). The aim of the day is to explore what we can learn from Bion about observation, and to contribute to the timely question of psychoanalytic ‘research on the couch’. The conference will develop the work of the 2014 conference on Observation, but is also designed for people who did not attend the previous conference.
Invariants: Nicola Abel-Hirsch
Bion draws attention to the hindrance which ‘memories, desires and existing understanding’ are to observation. For what reason are we to clear our minds of them - in order to observe new phenomena? In fact, it is crucially, to be able to observe the ‘invariants embedded’ in mental phenomena. Invariants are characteristic, not of permanence - even rigidity - but of transformation; and I will discuss Bion’s enquiry into the significance of this for clinical observation.
Intuition and Imagination: Chris Mawson
Intuition is the term that Bion came to use for specifically psychoanalytic observation. This was because he wanted a name for the apprehension of what he, and Freud before him, called psychical as contrasted with material qualities. The conditions for intuition in the analytic setting will be explored using the term Bion used to subsume these features of psychoanalytic attention – Negative Capability. Further to this, the role of imagination will be considered as an indispensable part of our method – a partner to analytic intuition.
Bion through the lens of neuroscience: Jim Hopkins
Many of Bion’s claims about the observing subject can now be represented in contemporary neuroscientific accounts of the primary and secondary processes and their role in development over the first year of life. Understanding them in this way promotes both appreciation of their accuracy and relates clinical practice to a richer and more encompassing theoretical background.
Tickets
Standard £50
Trainee £45
Student £40
Tickets to the event include lunch.
Booking
To book a ticket, please click here.
For inquires and further information, please contact Becca Harrison (becca.harrison@iopa.org.uk or 020 7563 5017).
