On the psychoanalyst's reverie: From Bion to Bach

Abstract

This article illustrates the psychoanalyst's reverie as it appeared in analytic work with a child patient who had suffered an early trauma. According to Bion and later Ogden, the analyst's reverie can take many forms, including different sound images. During the analysis of the traumatized child, the analyst's reverie developed from a simple tune derived from an aria belonging to a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, to a more tangled journey through the music of Bach and the story of the child. Bion's theory of containment and reverie, and its further development by Ogden and others, is described. The author tries to show how impressions in art can help the analyst to understand the patient and develop his or her sensitivity to the human condition.

Key words:

• reverie
• music
• art
• catastrophic change
• child psychoanalysis

Acknowledgements

The author has received a grant from the legacy of Ellen Margrethe and Finn Askevold.

Notes

¹ She uses the term “reverie” on many other occasions, for instance in her 1957 paper “The ordering of chaos.”

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eystein Victor Våpenstad

Author

Eystein Victor Våpenstad, PhD, is in private practice in child and adult psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in Oslo, Norway, and is also a teacher and research fellow at the Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare, University of Bergen, Norway. He is a member of the Norwegian Psychoanalytic Association, an advanced candidate in child psychoanalysis of the Norwegian Psychoanalytic Institute, and a member of the Institute of Psychotherapy, Oslo.