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Audit in psychotherapy: the concept of Kaizen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

M. M. Feldman*
Affiliation:
The Maudsley Hospital, London SE5 8AZ
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When any organisation is exposed to pressure to change, this not only mobilises considerable anxieties within the organisation but calls a variety of defensive operations into play. The work of Jaques (1955) and Menzies Lyth (1959, 1988) has demonstrated that this can result in the central problem ceasing to be the focus of attention, with primitive defensive mechanisms (often of an obssesional or paranoid kind) being mobilised. This process may either lead to energy being devoted to isolated elements of the situation, or staff withdrawing into a state of passivity and hopelessness. Indeed, Jaques has observed that when changes are imposed on an institution in a way which fails to take account of the functions that existing structures serve in relation to the deeper needs and anxieties of those working within the institution, such changes are likely to be resisted, and may even fail.

Type
Audit in practice
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1992

References

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