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Bion: I want to stress an on-going question which seems to me to be of the greatest importance. By ‘on-going question’ I mean that it has no permanent answer; it is always open. It is a good thing for an analyst to ask himself from time to time why he is doing analysis and whether he means to be doing it tomorrow and the day after that and so on. One gets into a habit of taking it for granted that one has decided to be an analyst, to be one for life as if it were a closed question; whereas I think it is important that it should remain an open question. {In analytic practice the precise instance of the general question is afforded by the decision to continue or to stop an analysis.}
The emergence of this problem requires careful thought by the analyst as to how he is to broach it to the analysand; only he can tell what language to talk and how to formulate, “What do you come for?”; “What do you expect?”; “What do you think I am going to do?”
There are numerous answers: The patient has been advised to come; or recommended to you; or heard about you. It doesn't tell you a thing – it is a superficial reply. But there remains the open-ended question – why has this patient, who has come to you for three years, four years, five years, three weeks or three sessions, come again today? You may have an idea why he came to you yesterday, but that is not today. You can have a constantly changing opinion under the impact of the experience which goes on happening; therefore to treat it as if it were a closed subject does not leave room for development.
Q: Would you go as far as to ask the question, “What am I getting out of this analysis for me? – never mind an outsider”.
B: Everybody goes that distance anyway. We don't like to admit it because it doesn't sound altogether respectable to say, for example, that I am here because I get something out of it; or I am an analyst because so far it has seemed to be rewarding. But basically one has to consider this. If you are practising med