The combination presentation/workshop will examine the concepts of containment and holding environments and explore how they might apply to addiction treatment in terms of their implications for practice, service delivery and organisational development.

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Presenters
Nick Barton Kirby Gregory
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DISCLOSURE
We are self-employed independent
consultants who collaborate on a variety
of projects. We are not representing
any organisation; nor speaking on
behalf of anyone else; nor being paid by
any person or organisation to give this
presentation. The views expressed are
entirely our own.
Nick Barton, Kirby Gregory
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• Structure
• Form/Shape
• Defined Space (Boundaries)
• Inside and Outside
• Stands on its own or is part of
something else
A Container
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A Container’s Function
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Provides room within itself for something else
It may:
• Hold
• Keep
• Store
• Accommodate
• Enclose
• Frame
• Protect
• Hide
• Preserve
• Constrain

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• Capacity
• Rigidity
• Solidity
• Fragility
• Flexibility
• Adaptability
A Container’s Qualities
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• Stability
• Resilience
• Permanence
• Permeability
• Visibility
Indicated by degrees of:
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Containment (Bion)
The holding environment (Winnicott)
The Container –
as psychological construct
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Individuals
Teams
Services
Organisations
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The Container –
a concept relevant to:
Individuals
Families
Communities
Societies
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organisation
service
practitioner
patient

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Addiction is a container
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organisation
service
practitioner
patient

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Trust and Anxiety
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Healthy and Unhealthy
Containers
A tale of two cultures
The link to ethics
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The quality of the
container in the
therapeutic relationship
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References
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Wilfred Bion, Learning from Experience, Karnac, 1962 & Attention and Interpretation,
Karnac 1984 (originally Tavistock Publications 1970)
Donald Winnicott, The Maturational Processes and The Facilitating Environment, Karnac,
2007; The Theory of Parent-Infant Relationship in The Maturational process in the
facilitating environment, Karnac
Jean Liedloff, The Continuum Concept, Addison-Wesley, 1975
Review conducted by American Psychological Association Task Force as reported in
Findings :Effectiveness Review, 2018-19
Anthony Ryle & Ian B. Kerr, Introducing Cognitive Analytic Therapy, John Wiley &Sons,
2002
Daniel N. Stern, The Interpersonal World of the Infant, Karnac, 1998
Adam Phillips , Winnicott, Penguin Books, 2007
Katherine Hawley ,Trust, Oxford University Press, 2012
Janet M. Gould, John J. Voyer, David N. Ford, Overcoming Organizational Anxiety, The
Systems Thinker, 2018
David Armstrong & Michael Rustin, Social Defences Against Anxiety (Tavistock Clinic
Series), Karnac, 2015

19. t: 07825 620129
e: enquiries@nickbartonconsultancy.com
nick.barton7@btinternet.com
w:nickbartonconsultancy.com
*Someone’s got to
Making sense *
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