ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the concepts Wilfred Bion developed in Learning from Experience. Dreamwork alpha was transformed into alpha function in Learning from Experience. The investigation of alpha function implies the development of thoughts, of thinking and learning through emotional experience. The discoveries Bion made throughout this period when he investigated the psychotic part of the personality led to the formulation of a psychoanalytical theory of knowing, meaning not a possession of knowledge, but a disposition to know as a link. The chapter considers the function of dreams and dreaming, and the function of metabolising emotional experiences. It also describes the significance of models and their use in clinical practice. A function has factors that determine it. A clinical fact that can be observed is a function of a series of factors that can be correlated. The value of a function will depend on the way in which the factors are related.