forces that shape organisational procedures and policies. It is, wherever possible, a co- operative endeavour but one that allows for debate and disagreement as well as consensus” (Wilson, 2017, p. 59).
Acknowledgement I wish to thank Glenda Fredman for
enriching my thinking about the value of improvisation in practice. Ideas in this article are in part a result of our collaboration on this topic.
References Barrett, F.J. (2010) Cultivating an attunement to unfolding: Improvisation and the discovery of identity. In: M. Santi (ed.) Improvisation: Between Technique and Spontaneity. Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Freire, P. (1998) Pedagogy of Freedom. New York: Rowman & Littlefi eld. Heimann, C. (2009) Guardian guide to performance. 9 May: Guardian News and Media. Holzman, L. (2009) Vygotsky at Work and Play. New York: Routledge. Minuchin, S., Reiter, M.D. & Borda, C. ( 2014) The Craft of Family Therapy. New York & London: Routledge. Wilson, J. ( 2017 ) Creativity in Times of Constraint: A Practitioner’s Companion in Mental Health and Social Care. New York & London: Routledge.
Coming ‘together’ in a family therapy
clinic as trainees Vicky Bristow-Smith, Simone Doff oh, Melissa Nicholas and Eszter Szabo
Juntos (pronounced Huntos) is a family therapy clinic for families residing in
south west London boroughs. In an at empt to make Juntos as accessible as possible, ‘family’ has a broad defi nition, clients can self-refer and there are no fi xed fees (families can choose to make a donation). Juntos was set up by our supervisor, Joanne Hipplewith who, like us, was in training but as a supervisor. As well as providing a service to families, Juntos looks to give trainee systemic
psychotherapists and supervisors an opportunity to augment learning and to accrue clinical hours. As trainees at various stages of learning, we were hoping to co-create a space where we could take relational risks (Mason, 2005), be clumsy rather than clever (Burnham & Harris, 2002) and develop the self as a therapist. In this article, we want to introduce how we have experienced joining in the context of Juntos from our diff erent positions.
Lead therapist position – Vicky When thinking about how to add a
framework to the team-joining process, I was struck by the similarities between the family life cycle (Carter & McGoldrick, 1989) and the life cycle of the team. I started to wonder how the vertical and horizontal fl ow of stress might have impacted on our joining process. As we moved through time, we were tasked with managing emerging changes. We experienced the exit and entry of team members and clients early in our formation. Each of us was also moving through our respective training courses and transitions. The way we dealt with these unfolding
Jim Wilson is a UKCP-registered systemic supervisor. He works as a consultant, trainer and supervisor for mental health and social care services nationally and internationally. He is past chairperson of The Family Institute in Wales and was director of The Centre for Child Studies at The Institute of Family Therapy, London from 2001 to 2005. His publications and books are used in training courses in family therapy and clinical psychology in the UK and overseas. His most recent publication: Creativity in Times of Constraint: A practitioner’s companion in Mental Health and Social Care ( Routledge, 2017) has now been published in Swedish by the Swedish social care and mental health publisher Studentlitteratur. Email:
j.wilson66@ntlworld.com
Context 169, June 2020
pressures was aff ected by vertical stressors. At the system level of the individual, I was mindful of which of my abilities and disabilities would be on show, which I felt keenly having been positioned as a ‘lead therapist’. I wanted to achieve safe certainty (Mason, 1993) so that I could avoid making a fool of myself both in front of the team and families. This led to my incessant talking which no doubt was irritating and may have aff ected joining. As time went on, the team seemed to become acquainted with my constant inner-self talk and supported me by taking up some more of the airtime with their ideas and views. Moving to the level of the team,
walking into Juntos for the fi rst time, I
recall noticing the (visible) diversity in the room. I was terrifi ed of causing off ence when speaking about the diff erences in the room. A turning point was when we were encouraged by our supervisor to think about which of the social grace(s) (Burnham, 1993; 2012) might be foregrounded for us when entering the room. This felt like an invitation to shake off a ‘diff erence-blind liberalism’ and instead be proactive in attempting to relate to each other’s experiences – to connect. At an organisational level, I thought
about the power our supervisor found in her experience. I felt her ‘gaze’ and was seeking to become her ‘mini-me’ at the expense of forming a relationship with the others. Conversations where my supervisor spoke to the power in the room and my evolving grasp of multiplexity (Akamatsu, 2008) helped me move from a permanent one-down stance towards a greater fl exibility, depending on what we as a team needed. As the team became more familiar with one another’s work and cohesive, our supervisor seemed to take a step back, allowing us more space to develop. We became increasingly creative around how we used the refl ecting team, which I think families really appreciated. Lastly, sociocultural factors appeared to
play a part in our joining process. At times, it felt that there were wider discourses
7
Meeting each other: Improvisation and a generous spirit
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