Editing Wilfred Bion (section)

=== Maternal reverie and alpha function ===
Central to containment theory is Bion's concept of "maternal reverie," which describes the mother's receptive state of mind that allows her to receive the infant's projections.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Segal |first=Hanna |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781134913473 |title=Clinical Lectures on Klein and Bion |date=2014-08-07 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-16777-9 |editor-last=Anderson |editor-first=Robin |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.4324/9780203167779}}</ref> Through what Bion termed "alpha function," the mother processes the infant's raw sensory data and emotional experiences (beta elements) into manageable, thinkable forms (alpha elements) that can be re-introjected by the infant. Failure of adequate containment may lead to what Bion described as "nameless dread" – primitive anxieties that cannot be processed or thought about.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bion |first=Wilfred R. |title=Second thoughts: selected papers on psycho-analysis |date=1984 |publisher=J. Aronson |isbn=978-0-87668-330-9 |location=New York}}</ref>

==== Application to psychoanalysis ====
In clinical practice, the analyst functions as a container for the patient's unbearable emotions and experiences. Bion emphasized that this process requires the analyst to maintain a state of mind free from "memory and desire" to fully receive the patient's projections. Through containment, patients gradually develop their own capacity to contain and process difficult emotional experiences.<ref>{{Citation |last=Mawson |first=Chris |title=Notes on Memory and Desire |date=2021-06-03 |work=The Complete Works of W. R. Bion |pages=205–210 |url=https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429327520-18 |access-date=2025-03-01 |place=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-32752-0 |last2=Bion |first2=Francesca}}</ref>