ABSTRACT
The core of this chapter is an exposition of Bion’s notion of reverie as a relational rather than autistic phenomenon, how it is integral to mother–infant communication, and the therapeutic analogues of this process. Elaborations of Bion’s ideas by Ogden (‘the analytic third’) and Ferro (‘narrative derivatives’) are described. Winnicott’s emphasis on the privacy of the self is emphasised as a necessary restraint on analytic intrusiveness that can accompany ‘wild’ uses of countertransference.
