Human Givens is much more than it seems
The first seminars and workshops by Ivan Tyrell and Joe Griffin, the founders of the Human Givens approach were in the UK in the late 1990s. Ivan and Joe are still the main teachers and drivers of the project and these last 10-15 years have seen a quite astonishing development – though still largely confined to the UK. At the core of the HG approach is a very simple, easy to understand yet profound Organising Idea. And to this has been added some original science (including a new theory of why we dream) and a brilliantly expressed and delivered synthesis of the best of modern psychology, neuroscience and counselling. From all of this, Joe and Ivan have created a teaching programme which is delivering a small number of really excellent counsellors and in addition a greater number of mainly public sector administrators and health professionals who know a little bit. And these are attempting with varying degrees of success to influence the UK public provision of mental health, education and public services generally. The ideas are genuinely profound (in my humble opinion) and have relevance for many areas of human endeavour. This can cover the organising of societies and groups, for companies and even diplomatic relations. And in the quarterly Human Givens Journal these possibilities can be read and admired. The teaching of Human Givens is where Joe and Ivan earn their livelihood though there is now also an impressive body of literature available – most of which is either written by Joe and Ivan or closely supervised by them. Structure of Human Givens Human Givens College, the new teaching arm of the HG, runs seminars and workshops across the country. The Human Given Institute is the accreditation body for Practitioners. This is of course required in the modern world - to be seen to be maintaining professional standards. Being a member, I am glad to say that the institute does this with a light touch. The institute website has a mass of good information which includes the list of fully qualified and accredited practitioners. There is an impressive body of publications available from Human Givens Publishing
Human Givens is not just another model of therapy – but a framework that can allow a counsellor to be the very best he or she can be. The beating heart of the HG project .... From where I sit, the prime motivation of the founders is not primarily to create a cadre of excellent counsellors but to make their mark on society and in particular the treatment of mental illness. As such they are quite political (though not party political). Moreover, as their ideas are very challenging of the status quo, conventional wisdom and public sector vested interests, the temptation must have been to just give out the ideas to the universe and then for them to be taken up and used in whatever way naturally evolves. For if the ideas are truly profound then they will make their mark somehow or other. But on the other hand, if the objective is to make a real difference in the real world of policy, then you have to play the game. You cannot be seen as wacky. You have to be acceptable to the risk averse and highly political and media savvy spin machine that is modern politics. In other words, you have to keep control over both the message and its delivery. You must keep control at all costs of the Human Givens brand. This tension is evident in a number of ways. One is that as far as I can see, there is no succession to Joe and Ivan even though both are now in their sixties. Second, they have driven away from the fold some very talented and bright people who would not knuckle down. And thirdly in flying too close to the public sector sun, Mindfields College, the original teaching arm of HG went bankrupt in 2010. Mindfields became too reliant on public funds at the time when the public sector was moving close to bankruptcy and a university masters programme was also established – in an attempt to curry favour with the powers that be. This pretty well broke them.Nevertheless out of this debacle, the HG College was born. My sense is that Human Givens has survived - a little chastened but a little wiser also and definitely still a force for good and wisdom. Go to Human Givens Organising Idea East London, on the Central Line, around 30 minutes from the City Landline: 020 8257 0429, Mobile/text: 07870 104651, Skype name: famrichhg |
Throughout this site, the ideas of the Human Givens approach are expressed as clearly as possible - and often in the words of the founders - Ivan Tyrell and Joe Griffin.
My debt is huge and my hope is that both here and with helping distressed clients, I can do these ideas justice.
