IAHIP 30th Anniversary: A message from the chairperson

by Tony Rice, Chairperson of IAHIP Governing Body 

Happy anniversary to us all! At one of the recent free CPD workshops in our anniversary series I was standing in the queue for coffee and a former Governing Body chairperson introduced me to another member she was chatting to in the queue. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to acknowledge that the work this current Governing Body and all committees are doing today is possible due to the mix of skills and energy we bring ourselves, along with the hard work and passion of so many of our predecessors over the past 30 years.

This particular anniversary workshop on Gender Variance and Diversity was the first I was able to attend myself. Listening to the sharing of the members present, I was reminded in a fresh way of the variety and diversity of the healing work so many of us do on a daily basis. I was struck by the honest sharing of knowledge and questions, of openness and heart. It was no shock, of course, but the desire of our members to be more skilled and authentically available to our clients who might be struggling with or celebrating their emerging and evolving identities was humbling and so encouraging. This is us, humanistic and integrative psychotherapists, at our best.

This is why, to my mind, IAHIP matters so much. Not only for the opportunities for us to gather and learn together as colleagues, but for us to support, challenge and encourage each other, as professionals and friends. We do this, embracing the intersectionality of our membership – the experienced practitioners, the newly qualified and the students, the younger and the older, the queers and the cishets, the various national, cultural, religious and spiritual identities; the range of clinical practice and areas of special interest; those who have been on many committees already and those who have recently volunteered. Whatever way you look at it, being part of IAHIP is good for us as therapists and gives great confidence to our clients and the public.

Much continues to be done by the Governing Body to refocus the Association towards members. The office team is very professional and strives to improve our administrative systems and services. Our committees work so hard to make membership achievable and a badge of honour and indisputable quality. A number of our ongoing projects, not least engagement with CORU, digital marketing and recruitment of a Regional Development Officer, seek to consolidate and promote our presence today and also prepare for and shape our future as a family (of sorts) of psychotherapists upholding the highest standards of training, ethical practice and mutual support.

I offer my heartfelt thanks to those who had the vision and courage to form the Association 30 years ago, to those who have moulded and reformed it since as guardians and advocates, and to those who currently hold positions of responsibility. This Association is ours, we have a history to be proud of and a future to be enthusiastic about. Get involved or stay involved to make our next 30 years as rich and exciting as the last. Your Association needs you! Here’s to the next 30 years!

IAHIP 2022 - INSIDE OUT 98 - Autumn 2022