HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS British Journal of Psychiatry Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Bryson, S. Articles by Asher, C. J. PubMed Articles by Bryson, S. Articles by Asher, C. J.

Building capacity for leadership and teamwork: developing, delivering and evaluating an experiential group relations conference

^*Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, and Principal Psychotherapist, Liverpool Psychotherapy and Consultation Service, Mossley Hill Hospital, Liverpool L18 8BU, email: sandy.bryson{at}merseycare.nhs.uk

Carolyn J. Asher, Specialist Registrar in Psychotherapy

Liverpool Psychotherapy and Consultation Service, Mossley Hill Hospital

Declaration of interest

S.B. is Regional Development Officer for Consultancy Training and organising tutor of an MA programme, Psychoanalytic Approaches to Consultation and the Organisation, offered by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. She has received payment for directing group relations conferences.

AIM AND METHODS

Specialist registrars in psychotherapy, at various stages of their training, attended a 1-day experiential group relations conference. The aim was to provide a training context in which trainees could reflect, through direct experience, on their capacity for leadership and teamwork, and the difficulties in taking up one’s own authority in role.

RESULTS

Participants rated (on a 5-point Likert scale) the various structured elements of the conference as being greater than moderately useful for their learning. At 9-month follow-up, median scores were 4, indicating that the conference had a moderate to high impact on the participants’ learning in four key dimensions: effective communication, taking up a leadership role, dealing with task- and role-related anxiety, and containing others’ psychological projections.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

There is often little time to reflect on one’s experiences or behaviour in professional environment. The study demonstrates that learning about one’s behaviour, capacity for leadership, performing various roles and the ability to act with authority, in a facilitated experiential learning environment can make a significant contribution to the development of future consultant psychiatrists in psychotherapy. In the light of the new curriculum (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2006), this training model may facilitate the achievement of core and general competencies for all trainee psychiatrists.