Grex Talks Presents:
Wilfred Bion In Los Angeles: His lasting impact on psychoanalysis and Tavistock group relations with Joseph Aquayo, Charla Hayden and John Lundgren
February 4, 2021 7:30-9:00 PM on Zoom
Click To Register
Early registrants will receive a copy of the Banet Bion Interview
GREX, the west coast affiliate of the A K Rice Institute invites you to a presentation and discussion led by three practitioners with experience in both the analytic and group relations methodologies and who met Bion briefly in Los Angeles.
In his long and influential career Wilfred Bion made significant contributions to both the psychology of the individual and the psychology of groups. His conceptual and clinical work has impacted both the psychoanalytic and group relations theory and practices.
Bion spent almost 10 years in Los Angeles at a time when there was significant creativity and innovation in both the psychoanalytic and group relations communities.
The online event will begin with an overview provided by Joe Aguayo of an intimate interview with Bion by Anthony Banet in 1976. Banet was a psychologist, group therapist and organizational consultant based in San Diego was interested in the work of A K Rice and the emerging group relations conferences around the country. Those who pre-register can receive a copy of the interview.
Following this overview, Charla Hayden, who worked with Banet and was the president of SCOLA (Study Center for Leadership and Authority, which later merged with Grex) when Bion was in Los Angeles, will share the brief history of SCOLA. She and John Lundgren will describe the innovative clinical and organizational work going on at the UCLA and VA Psychiatric Hospital at that time, and how group relations both changed and was resisted by these Institutions. Charla has worked applying group relations in many diverse settings and will provide both the history and impact of this work.
Exploring the emergent dialogue between group relations and psychoanalysts and their work in psychoanalytic institutes, John Lundgren will present a brief overview of recent engagement of psychoanalysts with group relations. He will explore the implications of group relations as a fourth leg of analytic training, its applications and implications for individual analysts and institute group dynamics.
The presentations lasting 60 minutes will be followed by an open discussion.
Related Event
The 6th Annual James Grotstein Memorial Lecture,
presented by New Center for Psychoanalysis and the Regional Bion Symposium
Saturday, February 6, 9am-12pm
Revisiting Bion’s Classic Papers from his London Period ‘Wilfred Bion’s (1955) ‘On Group Dynamics,’ and (1950) ‘The Imaginary Twin,’
Professor Robert Hinshelwood and Joseph Aguayo
follow this link for more information
Brief Bios of the Presenters
Joseph Aguayo, PhD is a Member of New Center for Psychoanalysis, a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of California, and a Guest Member of the British Psychoanalytical Society. He has also developed a series of 16 video-conference lectures: ‘Introduction to the Clinical Work of W.R. Bion,’ which is currently being given as an ongoing, online seminar to Division 39 psychologists (of the American Psychological Association) and candidates at the Dallas Psychoanalytic Center.
Dr. Aguayo has been a frequent contributor to the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, the Psychoanalytic Quarterly and co-edited two books on Bion’s Clinical Seminars in Los Angeles, (2013); and Buenos Aires, (2017), presenting the results of his Klein and Bion’s work at the International Psychoanalytical Association’s bi-annual Congresses since 2002.
Charla Hayden, M.A. Ms. Hayden has a Master’s Degree in Humanities from California State University at Northridge, California. She also has 35 years of experience teaching group theory, leadership and management in such institutions as Oregon Health and Science University, the University of Southern California, California State University at Los Angeles, and the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, as well as serving on the faculty of the Wright Institute, Los Angeles, a freestanding graduate school which offered a doctorate in social-clinical psychology. At the Wright Institute she ran the Center for Organizational Studies and Consultation, a program designed to apply the skills of clinical psychologists to improving organizational achievement and the quality of work life in organizations. At the Veterans Administration Hospital at Brentwood she served as the Administrative Officer for an Interdisciplinary Education Service.
In addition, since the late 70’s, Ms. Hayden has maintained an active freelance practice in strategic planning, leadership and organizational development. From 2004 – 2008, she participated as a facilitator for executive teams attending Leading Change and Organizational Renewal (LCOR), a course offered in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford. Here she worked with a variety of international corporate executive teams from accounting, engineering, navigation, currency production, mortgage banking, auto marketing, ethnic food production, and software/hardware design and production.
The theoretical framework Ms. Hayden applies comes from sociotechnical systems thinking, in particular what is known as the “Tavistock” or “group relations” approach. Her experience in this work culminated in her serving as Director of the National Training Conference sponsored by the A.K. Rice Institute from 1998 – 2000. This is the most intense learning experience of its kind offered in the U.S. Ms. Hayden co-authored “A Tavistock Primer” in 1975 and co-authored “Tavistock Primer II”, published in Group Relations Reader III (2004). This is an article describing the theory and methodology underpinning this learning approach. She is the author and presenter of many other articles related to leadership and organizational culture, and was the first American keynote speaker at an international conference on group relations work at Belgirate on Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy, November, 2006. She previously served as Vice President of the A.K. Rice institute.
John Lundgren, M.D. John Lundgren, M.D. is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of California and an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine. He formerly served as Co-Director of the Group Relations Training course at UCLA Department of Psychiatry. He is a member of the A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems and its West Coast affiliate, GREX. He serves as a consultant to Tavistock group relations conferences and is presently exploring the integration of this training model and psychoanalytic training. He is in private practice in Los Angeles. Recent publications include “Intervention in an institute at a crossroads: A methodology and rationale”. Intl. J Psycho-analysis 100(4):674-692. and “A place were Psychoanalysts Live: Introducing Group Relations to Psychoanalytic Institutes” In Belgirate V – The Place where We Live: the space for Group Relations (In Press).
Leave a Reply