The development of an institute for the caring professions

Summary

This paper was originally given in Durham in March 1988 at a conference of the Association for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the NHS, the Scottish Association of Analytical Psychotherapists and the Northern Association for Analytic Psychotherapy. It explores the processes of development of a single organisation, the Scottish Institute of Human Relations, since its inception twenty years ago. The three authors have worked together in different roles throughout this period, and they write from their separate subjective experiences as well as indicating areas of joint concern.

First, an overview of the history of the Institute is offered by the Director, with comment on some of the achievements and vicissitudes and the learning which resulted. Secondly, the Institute's responses to a particular group of users, the clergy, is described and illustrated. Finally, the change process is discussed, both theoretically and with reference to various aspects of the Institute's life, especially relationships within and between internal groupings and with the outside world.