Psychoanalysis and Nothingness by Rudi Vermote

Psychoanalysis and Nothingness by Rudi Vermote

Psychoanalysis and Nothingness presents an innovative theoretical and technical guide that integrates Western psychoanalytic theory with Eastern philosophical insights through a post-Bionian approach to introduce the dimension of infinity into clinical practice.

Building on the later work of Wilfred Bion, Rudi Vermote develops a novel model of psychic functioning organised along a finite–infinite axis, resulting in a tripartite zonal model comprising finite verbal thought, a mixed finite–infinite domain of dreaming, phantasy, creativity and emotion, and a purely infinite, unrepresentable mode of experience approached through the notion of Nothingness. By exploring the dynamics within and between these zones, the book offers fresh perspectives on fundamental psychoanalytic concepts including the unconscious, the body–mind relationship, transference, self–object relations and psychic change. Vermote introduces original concepts such as the difference between horizontal and vertical free associations and between mentalisation and creativation, exploring forms of direct intuitive contact between analyst and patient that extend beyond representational thinking. Integrating psychoanalytic theory, neuroscience, philosophy, and contemplative traditions such as Zen philosophy, the book provides both theoretical innovation and practical guidance on implementing these techniques with clarity and rigour. Richly illustrated with detailed clinical material, Psychoanalysis and Nothingness offers readers concrete examples of how these concepts can be applied in therapeutic practice.

Written for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and mental health professionals seeking to expand their theoretical understanding and clinical repertoire, this book is a valuable resource for practitioners interested in integrating Western and Eastern approaches and exploring post-Bionian thought in their clinical work.

‘In this remarkable book, Rudi Vermote succeeds in doing something few authors achieve: he extends Bion’s thinking while making it clinically usableHis “infinite–finite” perspective offers a compelling framework for understanding psychic functioning and change, illuminating therapeutic work in a way that is both conceptually rich and profoundly practical.’

Professor Peter Fonagy, CBE FMedSci FBA FacSS, Head of Division, Psychology and Language Sciences, UCL, National Clinical Adviser Children’s Mental Health, NHSE

‘In Psychoanalysis and Nothingness, Rudi Vermote offers an original and creative contribution to psychoanalytic thought, tackling major questions that psychoanalysts have grappled with regarding Bion’s insights after his work on transformations in being and becoming O. Developing a model of psychic functioning from the infinite itself, as the author puts it, the book ventures into territories that are generally treated as a gray zone within psychoanalysis. Vermote’s elaborations enrich both theory and clinical practice, expanding how problems are framed and solutions may be envisioned.

Vermote offers his contributions in the form of a funnel. He begins by presenting a zonal model of the mind and comparing it with psychoanalytic models proposed by other authors. He then clarifies the mystical dimensions of working with transcendental concepts, before culminating in a deep exploration of the universal concept of nothingness.

Psychoanalysis and Nothingness is an indispensable book for analysts and psychotherapists interested in contemporary developments in psychoanalytic thinking.’

Joao Carlos Braga, Training and supervising analyst Brazilian Psychoanalytic Society of São Paulo, author of ‘Intuition in Bion’s colloquial words’ (2022)

‘Dr. Vermote is an exceptionally creative scholar. Like Bion, whom he deeply admires, he approaches psychoanalysis from the perspective of psychic functioning. Yet in this volume he offers his own original contributions to clinical psychoanalysis in a form that is entirely his own.

Vermote conceptualizes the functioning of the mind as comprising three qualitatively distinct zones: the finite zone (First Zone), equivalent to Reason; the Second Zone, in which finite and infinite modes of functioning intertwine and which has been the traditional domain of psychoanalytic work; and the Third Zone, characterized by purely infinite and undifferentiated functioning, the domain in which Bion’s unrepresented unknowable O arises. Through the notion of Nothingness, Vermote articulates a way of approaching this third zone and its transformative effects.

This book is neither mystical nor religious. Rather, it presents a psychoanalytic attitude and method grounded in a broadened philosophical background and oriented toward clinical practice. It is essential reading not only for students of Bion but for anyone interested in the contemporary development of psychoanalysis.’

Prof.dr. Kunihiro Matsuki , Training and supervising analyst and former president of the Japanese Psychoanalytic Society , author of more than ten monographs in Japanese on Bion’s work and Matsuki, K., Vermote, R., Nishi, M. (Eds) (2026) Wilfred Bion and Zen Buddhism: Late Bionian Theories and Mushin.

'Bion suggested there should an ‘Interpretation of Facts’ in the same way that Freud wrote an ‘Interpretation of Dreams’. Vermote does something analogous to this, he aims to have a view of the ‘finite’ from the standpoint of the ‘infinite’. His vivid moving examples are testimony to the authenticity of what he is doing. The world seen is a “richer more various place” and one in which there is potentially less denial of pain. Although we would wish it otherwise, psychoanalysis can and does cause a patient’s defences to go on the alert. I suspect this is not as much the case with the approach described by Vermote, and that as a result there will be less unnecessary repetition. What Vermote’s book did for this reader was rightly bring me up short to take another look.'

Nicola Abel-Hirsch, FIPA, training and supervising analyst of the British Psychoanalytical Society. She edited Hanna Segal's Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (2007); is the author of Bion 365 Quotes (2019) and Bion: An Introduction (2023), and is a co-author of Bion in the Consulting Room (2024).

Rudi Vermote is a training and supervising analyst of the Belgian Psychoanalytical Society, Professor Emeritus at KU Leuven, Belgium, and Visiting Professor at Kyoto University, Japan. He is an honorary member of the Psychoanalytic Center of California and the Taiwanese Psychoanalytical Society, and has taught, lectured, and published extensively about Bionian psychoanalysis. He is the author of Reading Bion (2018) and co-author of Beginning Analysis: On the Processes of Initiating Psychoanalysis (2018).