This book proposes an expansion of Bion’s Theory of Transformations to encompass phenomena of the primordial mind—unintegrated phenomena in neurotic patients. Its purpose is to relate unintegrated states to Bion’s Theory of Transformations and to propose the constitution of a new group of transformations—unintegrated transformations, alongside the already established transformations of the neurotic, psychotic and autistic areas.

Drawing on clinical material, the book offers readers the opportunity to observe manifestations of these primordial states of mind and the analyst’s corresponding approach through what the author terms the “language of emotion.” This is a form of language in which the analyst’s emotion itself enables contact, rather than the content of what is being said.

This book is intended for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, and other mental health professionals interested in Bion’s theoretical framework and clinical practice. It invites readers to enter these primordial areas of the mind, the obscure regions that are difficult to identify and access, and which are often overlooked in clinical work.

Celia Fix Korbivcher is a teaching analyst, supervisor and child analyst in private practice based in São Paulo, Brazil. She is a member of the Brazilian Society of Psychoanalysis and is the author of Autistic Transformations: Bion’s Theory and Autistic Phenomena (2013).