Containment, Organisations and the Working Task

"Organisations stand between the individual and the intense pressures of our global society. None of us can make sense of the world by ourselves; we need others and a shared task. This thoughtful book explores how organisations make collective work possible, make the irrational more manageable – and how they can fail us. "Containment" is a code word for all of this, and this wide-ranging exploration is essential reading for leaders, scholars, and the rest of us who are trying to make sense of the organisational worlds we are so desperately trying to improve.'

Edward R. Shapiro, MD,author, Finding a Place to Stand: Developing Self-Reflective Institutions, Leaders, and Citizens, 2019

'This is a bold, surprising and very well organised book. Written simply, but at the same time with great rigour and depth, it follows in the great tradition of the British school of psychoanalysis, which has inspired and enriched the learning of many clinicians and mental health researchers. It also has the merit of being an excellent manual of applied psychoanalysis. Bob Hinshelwood and Tiago Mendes integrate complex knowledge and, in an almost pedagogical way, show us how it is possible to extend clinical elaborations to very diverse fields of human behaviour and the dynamics of social organisations. Well framed historically and theoretically, this book allows the reader to follow the creative development of a long research endeavour, which is of interest to all those involved in the vast field of social science.'

Rui Aragão, Psychoanalyst, former President of the Portugese Psychoanalytic Society

'Having long appreciated the contribution Wilfred Bion has made to the understanding of individuals, groups and organisations, I have also sometimes struggled to grasp the full depth and breadth of his insights and contributions. Therefore, I found this book very helpful in increasing my understanding of and high regard for him and the profound influence he has had upon the psychodynamic understanding of people and organisations. In particular, this book sets out its explorations and explications from the ground of Bion's theory of containment and the evolution from which it enabled growth and extension into other fields. Contributors support readers to think and reflect upon these concepts and approaches that assist greater understandings and helpful interventions with individuals, groups, organisations and even beyond into communities. I commend this book to all with a curiosity and desire to strengthen positive interventions into the lives and work of people, groups, organisations and communities.'

Richard Rollinson, former Director of the Mulberry Bush Therapeutic School in Oxfordshire and Trustee since 2014, consults government departments and organisations in the UK, Ireland and Portugal