Brief Report on the IAHIP Conference

On the 14th September, 1991 the IAHIP (Irish Association for Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy) held an Extraordinary General Meeting in order to vote on the Draft Constitution and Draft Accreditation Criteria of the organisation.

The meeting was well attended and a very lively discussion of the important issues involved took place, both in small groups and in the large, plenary sessions prior to voting. There was a sense of great excitement as the members of the Association real; the importance of the work of the meeting, and the implications which it is bound to 
have on the future progress of humanistic psychotherapy in Ireland. It was particularly
 encouraging to find a high level of co-operation and business like agreement among 
members, no matter how varying their practice. Indeed, the whole meeting was marked
 by a lack of pettiness and personal politics which was as refreshing as it is unusual.

The Draft documents which had been presented by working parties of the Association
 were studied with great thoroughness by the meeting and when the voting took place in 
the afternoon, it was plain that the vivid discussion of the morning had borne fruit be
cause there was a high degree of consensus about the issues involved. Although 
business-like, the meeting never lost its sense of the special qualities of humanistic prac
tice and constitutional procedures were modified where necessary to meet the higher
 ideals of the Association. There was a general sense that this was appropriate. The IAHIP 
has no intention of losing sight of its special vision even while it acknowledges the legal
 and other constraints of forming its Constitution. Similarly, the discussion of the Draft
 Accreditation Criteria was marked by tolerance and understanding for the varied viewpoints of the members as much as by a common acceptance that proper standards and
 boundaries had to be set. There was a sense of seriousness and a willingness to contribute 
hard work which augur well for the future of the Association. The result of a good day’s 
work was the adoption of a full, legal constitution and set of Accreditation Criteria for 
the Association.

The first full Annual General Meeting of the Associaton is to be held on Saturday 
March 7th 1992. Further details are available from Ger Murphy or Mary Montaut,
 IAHIP, c/o 4 Mount Pleasant Villas, Bray, Co.Wicklow.

Mary Montaut