ABSTRACT

Bion regarded Projective Identification (PI) as having a very important role in group dynamics. The PI creates a fascinating mosaic of tensions inside the group. First, the conductor is the Object on which the group projects all its anxieties and unbearable emotions. Bion explains: “The analyst feels he is being manipulated so as to be playing a part, no matter how difficult to recognize, in somebody else’s phantasy”. Bion developed an original theory of thinking. He considered that the thinking process is a function of the personality. In his Learning from Experience Bion refers to two principal and different elements of thinking. The first, called “alpha” elements, refers to elements that can be thought. The second, called “beta” elements, refers to elements that are impossible to use for thinking. Bion emphasises that the human being who is searching for truth, who explores the riddle of his life, is constantly in a state of development.