CE: “The One and the Many: Bion and the Science of At-One-Ment” with Thomas Helscher, Ph.D.
Sponsored by
The WILA Alumni Association
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Bion’s unique contributions to psychoanalysis are only now beginning to be fully
appreciated, particularly his focus on analysis as an experience situated between the mind
and the body, between the self and the world, between the individual and the group,
between the analyst and analysand. His early work on groups, particularly his attention to
the group mind, manifested in the basic assumption group, and its tension with the more
mature and evolved aspects of the personality contained in the individual as individual,
remains a vital source of understanding intersubjective and intrapsychic conflict. In this
class, we will look first at his pre-Kleinian work on groups, and then trace the
development of his thinking through his seminar in Los Angeles, his last major work,
Attention and Interpretation, and conclude with his clinical seminars.
Our focus will be on how his theory of the group mind represents an important development of Freud’s
primary and secondary processes and how his technique for interpreting the group
unconscious becomes the ground for his work on “the science of at-one-ment” as
elaborated in his LA seminar and in Attention and Interpretation. In these latter works,
Bion’s goes beyond dyadic conceptions of the psychoanalytic relationship, eschewing
counter-transference and doer and done to dynamics in favor of what he calls
transformations in O, which derive from shared encounters with the emotional experience
of the session.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of the program participants will be able to:
- Describe recent developments in the psychoanalytic theory of development and their implications for technique.
- Apply knowledge of early integration of the psyche and soma and developmental issues that result from integration problems.
PRESENTER
THOMAS HELSCHER, PH.D. is is a Training and Supervising Analyst at LAISPS, and on the faculty at LAISPS and WILA. He teaches classes, leads groups, and supervises individuals on the collected works of Bion, Lacan, and Andre Green in Los Angeles, New York City, Vienna, Poland, and Australia. He received a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Virginia before undergoing psychoanalytic training and receiving a Psy.D. in Psychoanalysis from LAISPS. He has written and published on trauma, moral injury, counter-transference, and Bion’s papers and seminars. He is a Fellow of the IPA and a member of the University of California Interdisciplinary Psychoanalytic Consortium. He is in private practice in Santa Monica, CA.
CE INFORMATION
- 2 CE credits
- This CE is at the intermediate/advanced level
- To receive CE credit you must attend the entire event
The Wright Institute Los Angeles (WILA) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. WILA maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Rates go up on 9/5/2026!
Licensed Clinician – $120
WILA Alumni Member – $100
Student / Pre-licensed Clinician – $60
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Refunds and Cancellations
Registrants who cancel with more than 24 hours’ notice are eligible to receive a 50% refund by emailing WILA’s Business Director
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Email info@wilaalumni.org for help