411: Bion
Instructors
Donald E. Moss, M.D.
April 8 – May 27, 2026
Wednesdays, 8:40 – 10:00 pm
No class: 4/1
Co-requisites
Candidates must have or have had at least two cases in supervised psychoanalysis to be eligible for upper level courses.
Course Description
This course is an introduction to the work of Wilfred Bion. Bion was an analyzand of Melanie Klein, who starting from her ideas, took a very original pathway, eventually being identified as the founder of a school. This course can only attempt to succinctly present his major contributions. We will divide the scope of his work into three main areas: Early development, Psychoses, and Technique.
Third and fourth year students combined; alternates with 305.
Course Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
- Identify the specific way Bion conceptualized the role of the mother in the development of the infant mind, most specifically understanding the concept of “reverie”.
- Explain the notion of psychotic and not -psychotic parts of the personality, as well as the concept of “links” and “attacks on linking”
- Explain the notion of “containing “ and differentiate it from the Winnicottian concept of “holding”.
Evaluation Method
Each student’s participation in class discussion and his or her demonstration of understanding of the course objectives and reading material is assessed in a written evaluation by the instructor(s).
These articles are protected under relevant copyright regulations. They are available in the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute Electronic Reserve for your convenience, and for your personal use.
READINGS FOR 2026 CLASS ARE NOT YET CONFIRMED.
CLASS 1: April 8, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Winnicott, D.W. (1945). Primitive emotional development. In Through Paediatrics to Psychoanalysis, New York: Basic Books, 145-156. Also in IJPA (1945), Vol 26:137-143
Winnicott, D.W. “Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena”. Collected Papers, 1951, pp.229-242. [IJPA, vol. XXXIV, 1953] Also, with additions, in Winnicott5, D.W. Playing and Reality, 1969: Routledge Chapman and Hall, NY, ch. 1, pp. 1-25
CLASS 2: April 15, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Winnicott, D.W. (1958). The Capacity to be Alone. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 39:416-420.
Winnicott, D.W. (1963). “Communicating and not Communicating, leading to a study of certain opposites” in The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development. Madison, CT: International Universities Press, 1965. Also in Reading Winnicott. Ed. by Lesley Caldwell and Angela Joyce, Routledge, 2011, pp.182-196.
Winnicott, D.W. (1974). Fear of Breakdown. Int. R. Psycho-Anal., 1:103-107.
CLASS 3: April 22, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Winnicott, D.W. (1949). Hate in the Counter-Transference. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 30:69-74.
Winnicott, D.W. (1969). The Use of an Object. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 50:711-716.
CLASS 4: April 29, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Bion, W.R (1950).”The Imaginary Twin” In Second Thoughts. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
Bion, W.R. (1953). “Notes on the Theory of Schizofrenia”. In Second Thoughts. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
CLASS 5: May 6, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Bion, W.R. (1957). Differentiation of the Psychotic from the Non-Psychotic Personalities. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 38:266-275.
Bion, W.R. (1959). Attacks on Linking. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 40:308-315.
CLASS 6: May 13, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Bion, W. R. (1962). The Psycho-Analytic Study of Thinking. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 43:306-310.
CLASS 7: May 20, 2026
REQUIRED READINGS
Bion, W.R. (1970). “Opacity of Memory and Desire” In Attention and Interpretation, London: Tavistock. Ch 4, pp 41-54.
SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS
Bion, W.R. (1970). “Reality Sensuous and Psychic” In Attention and Interpretation. London: Tavistock. Ch 3, pp 26-40.
ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS FOR THE COURSE
Blass, Rachel, (2013). On Winnicott’s Clinical Innovations in the Analysis of Adults: Responses to the Controversy, Int. J. Psychoanal (94) (1) 117-118
CLASS 8: May 27, 2026
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