Tim Dartington and Guilaine Kinouani receive honorary doctorates
We are proud to announce the conferment of Honorary Doctorate degree to two distinguished figures in the field of mental health: Tim Dartington and Guilaine Kinouani
Both demonstrate extraordinary accomplishments and inspire future generations
The honorary degrees were presented at our Graduation Ceremony on 11 September 2025 which was held at the People’s Palace at Queen Mary’s University.
Honorary graduates exemplify the highest levels of achievement in their spheres of activity and reflect our inspirational Tavistock community.
This celebration of our honorary graduates’ achievements acts as a great example to our students as they set out on their own paths into the world.
Tim Dartington
Tim Dartington received an honorary doctorate for his contribution to the field of applied systems-psychodynamics, as an organisational consultant, researcher, writer, teacher, group relations specialist and all round professional leader.
Tim has had a long and distinguished career as an organisational consultant, researcher, writer, teacher, group relations specialist and professional leader in the field of applied systems-psychodynamics.
His book Managing Vulnerability, drawing on his PhD on systems psychodynamic approaches to health and social care, is highly regarded in the Tavistock Clinic Series, and he also co-wrote earlier influential texts about cultures of residential and community care and is the author of numerous significant papers on themes of vulnerability and dependency.
He was also for many years a visiting tutor with us on our masters’ programmes on consulting. Tim straddles the worlds and activities of both the Trust and The Tavistock Institute and is someone who integrates the historic culture of Tavistock thinking and practice applying psychodynamic thinking to social issues.
Guilaine Kinouani
Guilaine Kinouani received an honorary doctorate for her contribution both academically and clinically in opening up the psychodynamic approach to a wider audience, particularly those from marginalised groups and people of colour.
An award-winning writer, thinker and the founder of Race Reflections, Guilaine taught critical psychology, social sciences and black studies before starting her PhD at Birkbeck which examines whiteness and the afterlives of colonialism and enslavement in the clinic using Afro-analytics, a frame she is developing to rethink racial trauma, inheritance, transmission and associated issues of communication and embodiment within the black diaspora, the intersection of analytic thought and African philosophy.
Her work has taken a system focus, connecting structural issues impacting mental health to the experience of service users from minoritised/ marginalised groups and therefore to issues of racism and oppression more broadly.
Guilaine has made a vast contribution both academically and clinically in opening up the psychodynamic approach to a wider audience, particularly those from marginalised groups and people of colour. Guilaine’s invisible and unvoiced work presents psychodynamic training as an exciting option to people who may not otherwise have considered it.
Guilaine has written articles which make psychoanalytic and group analytic concepts directly relevant to people experiencing racism in everyday life. Her TEDTalk on her concept of Epistemic Homelessness and her paper on White Envy extend psychodynamic thinking in a novel and accessible way.
Guilaine’s commitment to racial justice and liberation can also be seen throughout her formally published works and in 2024 she designed the UK’s first depth course on racial trauma now approved by the Institute of Group Analysis, the culmination of much of her writing and thinking.