Psychodynamic Organisational Therapy

Psychodynamic organisational therapy is an application of psychoanalytic thinking that focuses on the interaction between the unconscious dynamics of individuals and the organisations in which they work or study, or to which they belong.   It is a modality recognised by the British Psychoanalytic Council.  It differs from other applications practiced by psychoanalytic clinicians who are trained to work with individual patients within the consulting room in private practice, although it shares the same theoretical base.  It aims to support the creation and maintenance of therapeutic environments through a variety of interventions. 

Organisational therapy addresses the complex dynamics that  arise within groups,  the workplace and other organisations; and particularly in settings that support distressed, vulnerable or violent clients, or that deal with entrenched systemic problems of unprocessed trauma, disability, inequality or discrimination.  

The culture of an organisation is vulnerable to the anxieties and stresses of the individuals within it, to the pressures of the tasks required of them, to the emotional distress or dysfunction of the clients they serve, and to the many adverse external circumstances that may impinge upon it.

Individual role consultation with those in charge of organisations can help managers to deal with issues that are stirred up in their teams by exposure to traumatic events, emotional distress, disability and mental illness.

Reflective group work and individual supervision can help staff make sense of experiences of relational difficulties and of secondary trauma that may reflect the problems and preoccupations of their clients; psychoanalytic process groups and therapeutic supervision can help to explore how the internal worlds of the many individuals who staff an organisation, and the internal worlds of their clients, may intersect and impact upon one another. 

Through this work, facilitated by psychoanalytically trained organisational therapists over a sufficient period of time,  managers and their staff teams can learn to build and maintain a therapeutic environment, providing a culture of empathy, collaboration and resilience and a more effective service.

Participation in this process  constitutes a foundational training in psychoanalytic thinking, and can be formally accredited as a preliminary step towards qualification in psychodynamic organisational therapy and full membership of APPCIOS.  

Further training can be supplied through webinars, individual or group supervision, individual or group therapy and other learning opportunities.

Go here to find a brief description of the work of Psychodynamic Organisational Therapists, and of their training.