Bionian analysis and post-Bionian field theory

Domain I · Psychodynamic & depth psychology · Bion, Willy Baranger, Madeleine Baranger · 1962

What it is

This is not a manualised therapy. It is a body of psychoanalytic theory and clinical method, and no treatment manual exists. What follows gives the clinical procedures these authors actually describe. Anything turned into a step-by-step routine is marked.

Format

• No manualised phases. None of the three strands defines treatment phases, session quotas or criteria for moving between phases. Bion goes further and advises against holding a desire for progress or cure inside the session. The framework below separates what the sources specify from what is derived.
• Format (from sources).

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Using vertices as intellectual juggling rather than observation.
• Over-apology. It is working when the persecutory characters recede.
• Calling it the patient's "resistance" alone. The Barangers place it in the field.
• Over-use that puts your mind at the centre. Ferro judged one such use as too much.
• Literalism on your part. It is working when the patient's narrations become richer and more varied.

Problems the guide addresses

• Stuck analysis / non-process
• Resistance
• Overwhelm / emotional flooding / psychotic functioning
• Non-adherence to the setting (lateness, missed sessions, unpaid fees, acting out)
• Ruptures
• Modality-specific difficulties

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.