Panel discussion: TIHR & Tavistock Clinic: Historical Reflections & Thoughts for the Future Tavistock Enterprise

A panel discussion of three people who have had long associations with both the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust – David Armstrong, Michael Rustin and Jon Stokes. The panel was moderated by Susanna Rustin, journalist at The Guardian, who introduced the panellists, put questions to them and facilitate discussion on their thoughts about the historical developments and current relationships between the two institutions. A particular focus was on the changing historical context of the Tavistock’s work, from its radical beginnings in a period of social reconstruction, through its growth and development at mid-century, to a more recent climate in which its values and vision have been less in accord with those dominant in both public and private spheres. Hopes, fears and prospects for the future of the broader Tavistock enterprise were all explored during the discussion.

ARCH-LIVE

Audio recording of talk: Please use headphones and apologies for poor sound in places. [x_audio_embed][/x_audio_embed]

EVENT LEADERS

David Armstrong – Social Psychologist and an Associate Consultant at Tavistock Consulting. He was junior project officer at TIHR from 1959-1967, then worked at the University of London and the Grubb Institute, before returning to the Tavistock Clinic when it set up a dedicated consultancy service. He is author of Organisation in the Mind (2005), and co-editor of Social Defences against Anxiety: Explorations in a Paradigm (2015).Professor Michael Rustin – Professor of Sociology at the University of East London and Visiting Professor at the Tavistock Clinic. He has had a substantial role in developing postgraduate academic study at the Tavistock. He is author of The Good Society and the Inner World (1991) co-author of Reading Klein (2016) and co-editor of Social Defences against Anxiety (2015)Susanna Rustin is a journalist at the Guardian newspaper, where her work involves both editing and writing. She is chair of the Queens Park Community Council.Jon Stokes trained and worked as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Tavistock Clinic where he was Chair of the Adult Psychotherapy Department (1988-1993). He founded the organisation consulting service Tavistock Consulting in 1993 and led it as Director for 5 years. Since 2000 he has been a Director of Stokes & Jolly Ltd, a firm specialising in leadership consulting. He is a Senior Fellow in Management Practice at Oxford University.