ABSTRACT
An anecdotal story is that towards the end of his analysis, around 1952, Melanie Klein told W. R. Bion to stop bothering about groups and to concentrate on psychoanalysis proper. This chapter considers Bion's progress in group thinking, from those early days through to 1970, and his late "manifesto" on what he thinks psychoanalytic knowledge to be. It is a rough ride, as Bion frequently changed direction. Bion respected very few people, but one he did respect was Trotter, and exposure to Trotter's ideas was probably highly significant. Bion had started at the Tavistock Clinic in 1933 as an associate to train in psychotherapy. From 1948, Bion contributed a series of papers reporting empirical observations. Bion's ironic descriptions are characteristic, and they foreshadow those in his series of seven papers on the experiences he culled from these study groups. Bion's "psychotic", part-object model of groups leads to a particular understanding of group cultures.
