The Clinical Work of Wilfred Bion: the ‘Here and Now’ and the Present Unconscious

In a short, iconic and occasionally baffling paper, Wilfred Bion (1967) in ‘Notes on Memory and Desire’ epitomized what contemporary London Kleinian work began to become most well-known for, namely working with the ‘here and now’ states of mind evinced by analytic patients. While Melanie Klein’s work with young children had long been conducted with a focus on the present moment, Bion accelerated this emphasis by a radical revision vis-à-vis the patient’s early remembered history. While he listened to patient’s accounts of their early life, he emphasized more what he could directly observe in the session. Dr. Aguayo maintains that Bion’s emphasis on the present unconscious can be integrated with Freud’s notion of the past unconscious, all of which leads to a multi-dimensional understanding of what our patients tell us.

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