Marriage : disillusion and hope : papers celebrating forty years of the Tavistock Institute of Marital Studies

137 Pages·1990·4.093 MB·English

by  Christopher F Clulow

MARRIAGE:
DISILLUSION AND HOPE
Papers Celebrating
Forty Years
of the
Tavistock Institute
of Marital Studies

MARRIAGE:
DISILLUSION AND HOPE
Papers Celebrating
Forty Years
of the Tavistock Institute
of Marital Studies
edited by
Christopher Clulow
published for
The Tavistock Institute
of Marital Studies
London
by
Karnac Books
1990
London N ew York
First published in 1990 by
H. Karnac (Books) Ltd.
58 Gloucester Road
London SW7 4QY
Distributed in the United States of America by
BrunnerlMazel, Inc.
19 Union Square West
New York, NY 10003
Copyright © 1990
by The Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
in any form, by any process or technique,
without the prior written permi88ion of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Marriage: disillusion and hope
1. Marriage.
I. Clulow, Christopher II. Tavistock Institute of
Marital Studies
306.81
ISBN 0-946439-93-1
Printed in Great Britain by BPCC Wheatons Ltd, Exeter
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
PART ONE
Marriage: public and private agendas
Remarks on an anniversary
Timothy Renton
Minister of State, Home Office 7
The Tavistock Institute of Marital Studies
in retrospect
Christopher Clulow
Chairman, TIMS 13
Marriage and Social Change
David Clark
Sociologist, Department ofH ealth Studies,
Sheffield City Polytechnic 23
Marriage and personal change
Robin Skynner
Psychiatrist, Group-Analytic Practice 33
v
vi CONTENTS
Changing marriage
Barbara Dearnley
Marital Psychotherapist, TIMS 43
Reactions and comments 55
List of guests 61
PART TWO
The Tavistock Institute of Marital Studies:
evolution of a marital agency
Douglas Woodhouse
Past Chairman, TIMS
Introduction 71
Historical development 73
Theoretical development 101
References 121
MARRIAGE:
DISILLUSION AND HOPE
Papers Celebrating
Forty Years
of the
Tavistock Institute
of Marital Studies

INTRODUCTION
The Tavistock Institute of Marital Studies began life as
the Family Discussion Bureau on 20 September 1948.
In its forty-year history it has developed into a spe-
cialist organisation. It is a centre of advanced study and
practice which has grown up within the psychoanalytic tra-
dition and is committed to promoting understanding and
good practice among those who work with couples and famil-
ies. By offering psychotherapy to couples, mounting pro-
grammes of training and consultation for practitioners, and
undertaking research it has contributed, and continues to
contribute, to understanding and alleviating the stresses of
family life.
On 8 July 1988, these achievements were marked by an
anniversary conference entitled 'Marriage: Disillusion and
Hope'. This seemed a fitting way to celebrate a birthday, and
the event became what Professor Dunstan, Chairman of the
Council of the TIMS' parent body (the Tavistock Institute of
Medical Psychology) called, in his opening words of welcome
to guests, a 'working party'. In the elegant surroundings of
the Royal Society of Medicine in London, two hundred people
1