This collection illuminates the legacy of Wilfred R. Bion in Brazil, illustrating Bion’s continued influence on the work of the São Paulo Psychoanalytic Society (SBPSP), how Bionian ideas are applied in contemporary psychoanalysis, and how current practice has evolved over time.

Evelise de Souza Marra and Cecil José Rezze bring together theoretical and clinical approaches to provide a thorough perspective on Bionian work in Brazil. The book includes chapters by senior analysts, well-respected teachers and analytic clinicians in contemporary Brazilian psychoanalysis, each of which explores a topic central to Bion’s formulations. With discussion of key themes including turbulence, emotional experience, transference, caesura and mental pain, this book demonstrates how Wilfred R. Bion’s thought has been developed, transformed and applied in Brazil since his visits there in the 1970s.

Bion’s Legacy in São Paulo will be of great interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training, particularly those looking to understand Bion’s influence in more depth, and for anyone interested in the practice of psychoanalysis in Latin America.

"Bion's contributions to psychoanalytic technique are complex, innovative, profound and deserve intense and repeated studies. His formulations represent the most radical paradigm shift in psychoanalysis"—James Grotstein

Evelise de Souza Marra is a psychologist and couples and family therapist based in Brazil. A former teacher at Pontificia Universidade Católica, she is a training analyst at the Sociedade Brasileira de Psicanálise de São Paulo (SBPSP) and is a coordinator of their annual Bion Meeting.

Cecil José Rezze is former president and training analyst of the Sociedade Brasileira de Psicanálise de São Paulo (SBPSP), where he regularly presents at congresses, events and clinical and theoretical seminars. He is former Superintendent and Editor- in-Chief of Revista Brasileira de Psicanálise and was co-chair of the SBPSP’s annual Bion Meeting from 2008 to 2021. His work has been widely published.