Tavistock Centenary: the Tavistock Autism service over four decades

Abstract

An event held in December 2020 explored the rich clinical work and innovative thinking around Autism Spectrum Condition at the Tavistock over the past four decades. Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists Sue Reid and Anne Alvarez describe their early groundbreaking work within the Tavistock Autism Team and Workshop. This work yielded the fascinating clinical observations that there were some children with the condition who made significant gains in therapy, leading to major developments in psychoanalytic techniques for this group. Since then, there has been a continuing influence of psychoanalytical, systemic perspectives on the Tavistock approach to Autism. It is an approach which at the same time is firmly rooted in the research around Autism’s neurodevelopmental basis. Nechama Polak, Clinical Psychologist, provides an account of how the current work of the team has increasingly focused on supporting young adults with the condition, and their parents, whilst Myooran Canagaratnam, Consultant Psychiatrist, describes the Tavistock approach to diagnostic assessment.