What are Group Relations Conferences?

You may have heard of Group Relations Conferences – they form an integral part of many of our postgraduate trainings and attract participants from all over the world. But what are they?

A Group Relations Conference is an accelerated, experiential learning event which offers participants the opportunity to learn more about their professional identity, how they operate in group settings, and the inner workings of organisational life.

This is achieved by having the conference act as a temporary organisational system, in which individual, group and organisational dynamics can be explored in real time. Participants are supported to engage with a series of different group contexts, each with its own set task. The specifics of the tasks are often not fully understood until the conference is underway, allowing participants to be fully immersed in the “here and now”.

The history

We can trace the origins of Group Relations Conferences all the way back to the aftermath of the Second World War, when Wilfred Bion and John Rickman introduced new methods of treatment for neurotic casualties while posted at Northfield Military War Hospital in 1943. Rickman was a significant figure in the British psychoanalytic movement, and Bion was mentored and guided by Rickman. Both were interested in finding better methods for treating the many war casualties pouring into psychiatric hospitals.

Characterised by activity rather than passivity, Bion’s programme brought patients together in large groups for discussion and organisation, and small groups for activities such as tennis, dance and art. Noting that all the issues that emerged from the groups hinged upon ‘personal relationships’, Bion went on to define a new, overall task for all the patients and staff: ‘the study of intra-group tensions’.

In 1946, psychologist Kurt Lewin (who coined the term ‘group dynamics’) was asked to run the Connecticut Workshop in Human Relations. With a goal of exploring how to live and work together in ‘harmony’, the first event involved three learning groups, each containing a leader and an observer, with staff meetings taking place every evening. It was during those meetings that the impact of live feedback, and its ability to break down hierarchical divides, became clear. A new model of learning was developed, in which staff and participants engaged in direct dialogue, exchanging feedback and examining conflicting views.

In 1948, two psychoanalysts from the Tavistock Clinic travelled to Connecticut to experience the training firsthand. Tom Main and Isabel Menzies Lyth brought their experiences back to the UK and adapted the approach to include their own psychoanalytic perspectives, including knowledge of the unconscious mind and its impact on groups and organisations. The first Tavistock Summer School Conference was held in 1949 and has continued ever since, now in its present form as the Group Relations Conference.

Today, Group Relations Conferences take place all around the world, varying in duration and sometimes offering a specialised theme, but all based on the principles of the Tavistock model, exploring authority, leadership, and unconscious group dynamics.

What can you expect?

While the specifics of Group Relations Conferences are generally held back to protect the live learning experience of participants, there are some elements of the learning design that you can always expect to encounter.

First, while the length of the conference may vary, the experience is always designed to be concentrated and intensive, allowing participants to immerse themselves fully in the learning. Each conference is made up of different ‘group contexts’, with their own specific task or focus – these might be large group meetings, small group sessions, or inter-group events. Participants engage with each group context in turn, experiencing the dynamics of individuals and groups in the moment, and observing their own reactions.

Second, crucially, the learning is not didactic – there are no lectures or readings, and while conference staff (or ‘consultants’) are on hand to facilitate the event and support reflection, they are not “teaching” in the traditional sense. Instead, the learning is experiential, focusing on participants’ thoughts, emotions and actions. This not only allows for a deep exploration of the dynamics of groups and organisations, but it can also unlock profound personal insights – revealing the ideas participants may have internalised about authority and leadership, for example, or how they operate in different contexts. As a result, participants often find that as well as learning about leadership, they also develop their own leadership capacity. This immersive style of learning can feel uncomfortable or challenging at times, but support is in place before, during and after the conference, to help participants process the experience.