ABSTRACT
Bion remarked that '... there is a great deal to be said for being an analyst provided of course that one can learn how to be a better one' (Bion 1994 p. 58). From a vantage point of working for over 20 years in a psychiatric facility in the NHS and as a psychotherapist in private practice, it seems to me that there is a clearly observable developmental process in one's students and junior colleagues as they seem to get stronger and more confident in their work. There is, too, although perhaps less objectively experienced, a noticeable enhancement of something in oneself as one's relationship with the work deepens. My conjecture is that it is possible for a therapist to continue 'getting better' throughout their working life, and to work more effectively as a result. Although externally we might observe more confidence in the practitioner and an enhanced sense of personal integrity generally in relation to the work, it is strikingly difficult to define the development. This, I feel, stems from the fact that the development is largely unconscious.
