Psychodynamics and IPE Curriculum Development

1. Psychodynamics and IPE Curriculum Development Newcastle/ESRC Seminar, 27 June 2008 Ann Scott

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3. 3 Bion: Group forces �Bion distinguished two main tendencies in the life of a group: the tendency towards work on the primary task or work-group mentality, and a second, often unconscious, tendency to avoid work on the primary task, which he termed basic assumption mentality. These opposing tendencies can be thought of as the work to face and work with reality, and the wish to evade it when it is painful or causes psychological conflict within or between group members.� Jon Stokes (1994) �The unconscious at work in groups and teams�, p.20

4. 4 Bion: Group mentality �The group situation is mostly perplexing and confused; operations of what I have called the group mentality, or the group culture, only occasionally emerge in any strikingly clear way.� �I should expect the group mentality to be distinguished by a uniformity that contrasted with the diversity of thought in the mentality of the individuals who have contributed to its formation. I should expect that the group mentality, as I have postulated it, would be opposed to the avowed aims of the individual members of the group.� Bion (1961) Experiences in Groups

5. 5 The group relations approach Focus is on conscious and unconscious contents of individuals� minds; and on the unconscious processes at work in groups Individuals� relationships with others with whom they have a personal link Individuals� relatedness to others with whom they have a connection but no personal link The image of the group that may be held by group members or by others The image of the organization held by its members (the organization in the mind �Armstrong 2005)

6. 6 Practical applications of the approach Methods for stimulating the capacity to learn from experience Classic form: Leicester conference � fortnight residential (60-80 in study of behaviour, annually, since 1950s) Temporary or transitional institution is established Organization designed to replicate certain of the key dynamic aspects of work organizations, but with the removal of some of the defensive boundaries we customarily use for protection No teaching takes place during the event.

7. 7  �Leicester� Conference Some purposes of working together � are clear and explicit. Others have to do with needs and anxieties of which we are not conscious. Learn about relying on feelings, impressions, expectations, thoughts, fears, likes and dislikes that reverberate in the conference and provide the raw material for understanding individual, group and organisational behaviour Members will be able to explore the boundaries between person and role and between the inner world of private thought and fantasy and the outer world of relationships and social systems. [Conference brochure 2003] Applications in e.g. Middle East, South Africa, German-Israeli relations

8. 8 The idea of �primitive process� �The purpose of the removal of structure, indeed, is exactly that of exposing the usually hidden and primitive processes for study� Isabel Menzies Lyth (1989), �A personal review of group experiences�, p.4

9. 9 Working in the here-and-now Observation and self-observation Considering how behaviour may indicate �the emotional state of the group� Noticing what seems absent Noticing what is located elsewhere within the system Noticing one�s own roles/valencies Consultancy offers working hypotheses

10. 10 Psychoanalytic consultancy 1 The psychoanalytically oriented consultant takes up a listening position on the boundary between conscious and unconscious meanings, and works simultaneously with problems at both levels. It may be some time before the consultant can pick up and make sense of these hidden references to issues of which the group itself is not aware.� Halton (1994), �Some unconscious aspects of organizational life�

11. 11 Task definition �The normative primary task is the formal or official task � The existential primary task is the task people within the enterprise believe they are carrying out� the phenomenal primary task is the task that can be inferred from people�s behaviour, and of which they may not be consciously aware�. Roberts (1994), �The organization of work�, p.30

12. 12 Psychoanalytic consultancy 2 �At its best, such understanding can create a space in the organization in which staff members can stand back and think about the emotional processes in which they are involved in ways that reduce stress and conflict, and can inform change and development. [These ideas] can be used to develop a capacity for self-consultation: for observing and reflecting on the impact unconscious group and organizational processes have on us all, and our own contribution to these processes as we take up our various roles.� Halton (1994), �Some unconscious aspects of organizational life�

13. 13 Unconscious aspects of organizational life �Ideas which have a valid meaning at the conscious level may at the same time carry an unconscious hidden meaning. For example, a staff group talking about their problems with the breakdown of the switchboard may at the same time be making an unconscious reference to a breakdown in interdepartmental communication.� Halton (1994) �Some unconscious aspects of organizational life�

14. 14 Structures and splits �Structural divisions into sections, departments, professions, disciplines and so forth are necessary for organizations to function effectively. However, these divisions become fertile ground for the splitting and projection of negative images. The gaps between departments or professions are available to be filled with many different emotions � denigration, competition, hatred, prejudice, paranoia. �. The less contact there is with other sections, the greater the scope for projections of this kind.� Halton (1994) �Some unconscious aspects of organizational life�

15. 15 Scenario 1: The centrality of  anxiety �In all situations where I have worked, anxiety has been a central issue: how anxiety, its experience and expression and the related defences, adaptations and sublimations are a major factor in determining personal and institutional behaviour� What I think has emerged for me in all this is how often emphasis on the good or exhortations to behave in �better� ways fail to achieve much positive change, either in institutions or in individuals. Real movement often takes place only when attention is given to dealing with the �bad�, particularly the anxieties and defences that inhibit positive movement.� Isabel Menzies Lyth, Preface to The Dynamics of the Social (1989, p.viii)

16. 16 Scenario 2: Client and organization �The patient arrives in the service, but more than this, his or her disturbance too enters the organization �. effects on the service: demoralization; stereotyped patients; scapegoating; routine; blame; schisms in the service; fragmented agencies� Hinshelwood (1998) �Creatures of each other�, p.17, pp. 22-3

17. 17 Scenario 3: �Normal splitting� �Workers may need to split off part of their emotional experience in order to preserve their own mental health and provide reliable services to their clients � There is a degree of �normal� splitting which numbs our awareness of danger and destructiveness and seeks to protect us from too much anxiety and pain� Foster (2001) �Duty to care�, p.81