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Lecture 9: Bion Tavistock

Perspective 3

The leader as container

Psychodynamic approach 2

(Continued)

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Awareness and Effectiveness

John Batros & Bryan Kidd

2

So awareness of the defensive dynamics in thegroup can assist addressing the anxiety of members

and reducing a significant barrier to groupeffectiveness that is often out of awareness

Bryan Kidd, March 2009 1/05/2011

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Defence mechanisms - Projection


The individual deals with emotional conflict orinternal or external stressors by falsely attributingto another his or her own unacceptable feelings,impulses or thoughts.

A part of the self is unconsciously projected intothe environment

You are so !@#$**!! angry today!

E.g. blaming others can be denied responsibility If the lecturer were not so hopeless, I would have

passed

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Defence mechanisms - Introjection


The individual falsely attributing to him or her selfunacceptable feelings or thoughts.

If anything goes wrong, I have caused it

A part of the self is unconsciously introjected

from the environment (swallowed whole) I should have handled that better

I ought to be courteous and respectful of others atall times

E.g. Taking responsibility which rightly belongs toothers

Because I avoided conflict in my PLG, we failed the

LC 1/05/20114

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Maria Theresa HookePsychoanalystGrateful acknowledgment for permission to use

material from her 2010 Lecture

at the Catholic University

The internal attitude of the

analyst at workFrom Freuds free floating attention to Bions reverie

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What is the analytic attitude?

Being receptive, listening to the verbal andnon-verbal communications of the client or

follower

and being open to the followers projections.

Containing and transforming the client orfollower's projective identification (more later)

Being empathic, in tune with the client or follower

but also a step removed, able to observe with aspirit of inquiry

Being able to reflect on what the client or followercommunicates and to consider the effect it has

on us 1/05/2011John Batros & Bryan Kidd6

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Freuds free floating attention(Transferred from analysts to leaders)

A calm quiet suspended attention

The contrary of concentration

Keeping an open and receptive mind free fromprejudices and judgement

Having space in ones mind to receive what thefollower brings

Tune in with the followers unconscious

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Freud and Bion:

Beyond memory and desire

Being open to the unknown

Being able to bear not knowing, doubts anduncertainties

Let go of theories Learn your theories as well as you can, but put them

aside when you touch the miracle of the living soul Carl Jung (Tyson, 1998, p 1)

Let go of memory and desire


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Projective IdentificationIntroduction


Projective Identification (PI) is an interactive process involvingexchanges between one person, the Projector, and another,the Container [Tyson, WWG]

A mechanism by which one person can come to experienceand possibly influence the experience of another [Willshire,

BBLM] As in projection, the individual deals with emotional conflict or

internal or external stressors by falsely attributing to anotherhis or her own unacceptable feelings, impulses or thoughts.

Unlike simple projection, ...the individual remains aware of hisor her own affects or impulses but misattributes them asjustifiable reactions to the other person.

Not infrequently, the individual induces the very feelings inothers that were first mistakenly believed to be there, making itdifficult to clarify who did what to whom first. [Tyson, BBDefences]

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Projective identification

What we cant tolerate in ourselves we expel intoanother person. The other person becomes thenidentified with it.

In the organisational situation, into the leader

The leader is then perceived as the repudiatedaspect of the follower

Getting rid of what is unbearable in ourselvesand making someone else feel bad

The transmission of mental pain


P ti i ti i ti

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Pro ective i enti ication ascommunication

We transmit mental pain also to let the otherknow how we feel

First pre-verbal mode of communication betweenthe baby and the mother

Not only a defence to get rid of the unwantedexperiences but also a way to let the otherknow what it is like being us

If the communication is contained andunderstood by the mother or by the leader andgiven back in a more tolerable form, it can bethought about.

Metabolising ( Willshire, BBLM) A base for reflecting, mentalising

(studying the mind by introspection) 1/05/2011John Batros & Bryan Kidd11

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Mother & baby

2. Evacuates and communicates

(Projective Identification)

BABY MOTHER3. Feels anxious, fearful

Contains & remains calm

Metabolises feelings

4.Evacuates and communicates

calm feelings

rocks and soothes

(Projective Identification)


1. Upset,uncomfortableanxiousfearful

5. Introjectscalmness,feels safe,sleeps(Introjective

Identification)

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Splitting (Willshire, BBLM)


A mental mechanism whereby anxious andfrightening experiences are separated from

comforting, soothing, calming ones

E.g. Experience is split into good and bad feelings

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Splitting & Projective Identification [PI](Willshire BBLM)


Go hand in hand

The disowned part of experience is evacuated

through PI Leaders who are able to keep their people in mind,

are responsive to their PIs and hold them, canfacilitate a metabolizing processso that followerscan modify their mental states and be more

productive Leaders, by functioning as a container, manage

more effectively

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Bion is interested in how

thinking develops

How do we learn to think ?

We are talking about emotional thinking, knowingoneself, understanding ourselves and others, beingtruthful, being reflective

For Bion we learn to think in our relationship with anotherperson who is able to receive, think about, give meaning

and process primitive anxieties and dread (fear of dying,of disintegrating, of falling apart, of violent emotions etc.)

For Bion we learn to think (or not) in our early relationshipwith our mothers


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The mother reveriesimilar to

Freud's free floating attention The mother contains the primitive anxieties and terrors of

the baby, reflects about them in a loving way (reverie)and processes/ digests them on behalf of the baby

For Bion this is the origin of thinking

What was indigestible like big lumps of food is now beingprocessed and homogenised by the mother and givenback to the baby in a tolerable form

Mothers reverie is similar to Freuds free floatingattention, a state of openness to receive , of emotionalalertness, of intuition, of holding thoughts and anxieties

It promotes psychic reality and mentalisation

A similar process goes on in interpersonal and group

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Containment

The container is an internal concept, it is notWinnicotts holding environment

It is the mind of the mother, the mind of theleader. It is an internal space

Containing is receiving and processing thefollowers projective identification both asevacuation and as communication

The container/leader is active, is constantly

receiving and processing Cf the Tavistock Consultants role in the Study Group


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Containment as part of the

leadership attitude

The container-leader represents the receptive mindcapable of reverie and able to contain what isprojected into it

The aim of the leaders receptive mind is throughreverie- to TRANSFORM what has been projectedinto something that the projector can take back in hisown mind


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The mind of the leader at work

The emotional demands imposed by the work

Projective identification works both ways, risk ofprojecting leaders (our) unwanted aspects on to thefollower

Keeping ourselves in check: listening to the follower,consultation with colleagues

The leader as a real person


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Leading and Following by Containment


Containment is a different state of mind from controlor manipulation [Model 1]

Mutual metabolizing and transforming of PIs

If both leader and follower[s] can contain the PIs of theother and give them back in a modified way, increased

satisfaction and productivity are enabled.

Ba groups can become WG i.e.

Teams!1/05/201120

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Tavistock Tips for Team Leaders &

Followers


Be a learner/inquirer vs command and control Become aware of team processes as they occur and

teach your people to do so Make it OK for underlying anxieties to be expressed Name stuck group behaviour

Bring thoughts and feelings into the service of theteams primary task Facilitate others bringing themselves to their roles Bring your self to your role Manage time, territory, task, authority and role

boundaries Employ the ART model Take up your own authority and learn to authorise

others

Clarify the team operating philosophy 1/05/201121

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The Leader as Container

Embrace not knowing and uncertainty Use your own feelings as data about followers

experience

Metabolise and transform them into constructive

forms which can be projectively introjected byfollowers

Thereby enable thoughts to find thinkers so thatpsychologically present people can apply their

psychic energy to the primary task


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In conclusion


To get others to come into our ways of thinking, wemust go into theirs and it is necessary to follow inorder to lead

Hazlitt

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References

Hooke, Maria Theresa (2010) The internal attitude ofthe analyst at work, Lecture at the CatholicUniversity, East Melbourne (ppt presentationpublished with permission, BBLM)

Ogden, T.H. (1982) The Concept of ProjectiveIdentification (SMO)

Tyson, Trevor (2006) Projective Identification(BBLM)

Willshire, Lyn (1999) Glossary in Progress, BBLearning Materials

WWG p34-35 1/05/2011John Batros & Bryan Kidd24

2-11 Lecture 9(1)

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