Comparing Bion's Container–Contained Relationship with Aspects of Containment in the Collective Unconscious

Abstract

The psychodynamic therapist is both aware of and open to phenomena arising in their relationship with the patient. This paper compares two different phenomena and expands on how processing these phenomena aids the therapeutic pair: Bion's container–contained relationship and Jung's concept of the collective unconscious, which could be thought of as containing the therapeutic relationship. The two concepts will be described and elucidated using a clinical example of a therapist's dream from the collective unconscious following sudden termination in therapy. This supports a synthesis of the two concepts in a developmental context and within the wider scholarship of both thinkers. Finally, their relationships to embodied processes will be explored.