Festschrift for Dr Inga-Britt Krause

A celebration of the work of social anthropologist and systemic psychotherapist, Dr Inga-Britt Krause.

On Friday 29 November 2024, we hosted a celebration of the work of Dr Inga-Britt Krause at The Tavistock Centre. Our “festschrift” was attended in-person by Britt’s colleagues, students, family and friends, and broadcast live via Zoom.

Marking the culmination of Britt’s tenure as course lead for our professional doctorate in Advanced practice and research: Systemic psychotherapy (M10), the all-day event allowed us to celebrate her many contributions to this programme and the wider systemic field.

The day began with a welcome from our Dean, Professor Mark Freestone, who described Britt’s thought leadership as “what has always made the Tavistock unique: the coming together of different intellectual approaches to create something bigger and bolder”. He added that, in Britt’s work, “anthropology and systemic therapy are brought together, not for the sake of an intellectual endeavour, but to better understand and respond to patient need”.

The programme went on to include discussion of Britt’s life and work, presentations from current and former students and colleagues, music and artwork. There were contributions from the room and those dialling in to watch via livestream, with one former student praising Britt’s “empathy and love”, and another recalling feeling like “the luckiest student in the institution” to have one-to-one teaching time with her.

During the day, Britt reflected on her journey from social anthropology to systemic family therapy, describing herself as “the anthropologist upstart”, who challenged otherwise uncritically accepted concepts and questioned institutions’ ambivalence to difference. She spoke warmly of taking up the role of course lead for our professional doctorate in systemic psychotherapy (M10), describing her excitement at having the opportunity to re-shape the programme – broadening out the curriculum, positioning difference at its centre, and placing systemic observation on a par with texts – encouraging students to draw on their creativity and imagination, and go deeper.

The festschrift culminated in reflections on the event, followed by drinks and canapés.

The event’s organisers, Esther Usiskin-Cohen, Julia Jude and Stephen Mills summarised the day as “a wonderfully memorable and celebratory event marking Britt’s contribution to the Trust and the field”, adding: “There were some serious academic papers presented, along with out of the box thinking, group knitting, art, dancing and music, which showcased the developmental thinking in systemic research in action and paid a fitting tribute to Britt.”