Group Relations Work

Eliat Aram, PhD, is the CEO of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations. She is a Chartered Scientist psychologist (BPS) and a UKCP registered gestalt psychotherapist and supervisor. She is also a member of the Royal Society of Medicine in the UK and of OFEK in Israel, and is regularly on the staff of group relations conferences both nationally and internationally. Since 2007 she has directed and made innovations to the TIHR's Leicester conference, 'Authority, Role, Organisation', the Institute's annual two-week group relations experiential learning conference. Robert Baxter, MD, is a retired Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Louisville where he was Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He is a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the A. K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems. He formerly served on AKRI's Board of Directors and was its President for eight years. Avi Nutkevitch, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, psychoanalyst and organizational consultant. He is a full member of the Israel Psychoanalytic Society and teaches at the Israel Psychoanalytic Institute. He is a founding member and former Chair of OFEK, the Israel Association for the Study of Group and Organisational Processes. He is currently Co-Director and Faculty of the Program in Organisational Consultation and Development: a Psychoanalytic-Systemic Approach.

'Thinking deeply about how we learn in groups, from groups, and about groups is vital for business leaders and educators. The insights and reflections in this volume provide thought-provoking offerings about innovation, legacy, and thinking contemporarily about concepts and behaviours addressing role, organisation, task and authority. For Group Relations (GR) practitioners this is treasure akin to the jewels found in Aladdin's Cave!'- Leslie Brissett, JP, PhD, Company Secretary and Principal Consultant, Tavistock Institute of Human Relations and Director of The Leicester Conference 2016'This book has filled me with awe and a growing sense of excitement about the everexpanding possibilities of implementing Group Relations work internationally - it has stretched the boundaries of my thinking and imagination about the application of GR. The volume brings together and celebrates diverse voices illustrating the application and value of GR in different global contexts. The authors have successfully shown how through passion, commitment, creativity and innovation they and other GR practitioners have ensured the continued contribution of GR globally.'- Michelle S. May, Professor, Department of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, University of South Africa'This volume is filled with inspired papers and thoughtful reflections. Within and between the lines one can sense the commitment, intellectual rigour, disagreements, creativity, and passion for this work and its power to peer into what is often hidden. It is a must-have volume for insiders and a valuable resource for those in diverse fields who want to learn how group relations can inform and potentially transform.'- Jack Lampl, artist, organisational consultant, Fellow and Past President, A. K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems

• Foreword -- Introduction -- Reflecting on the Theory of Group Relations and its Relevance to Contemporary Phenomena -- The Oedipus complex, creativity, and the legacies of group relations’ intellectual parents -- Virtual teams and group relations in the WEB 2.0 era: insights from an MBA experiential distance-learning course -- Group relations work in contexts of complexity and transition -- Embedding diversity in local government: experiences of establishing an ethnic advisory panel, Auckland, New Zealand -- The Rothschild 117 Project: dreaming in the boulevard -- Studying the Relationship Between Group Relations Work and its Impact in its Cultural and Geographical Setting -- Exploring group relations work in China: challenges, risks, and impact -- Developing a group relations institution in Lithuania -- Uneasy on the boundary: reflections on the culture and effectiveness of group relations conference work in the USA, 1965–2012 -- Exploring Variations in Theme and/or Design of Group Relations Conferences -- Energy, creative collaboration, and wellbeing -- The experiences of co-directorship in group relations conferences -- Group relations and twelve-step recovery: mixing oil and water? -- Post-Conference Reflections -- Oral envy and networks -- Intergroup process at an international level: reflections from Belgirate -- Cobblers’ children or creative flux? -- What happened to authority? A reflective dialogue