I wondered why Robin Skynner entitled his collection of papers on training and consultation for the helping professions as surviving institutes rather than institutions. Surely most of us today are occupied with questions about surviving, or perhaps more importantly attempting to live creatively, in some form of institution - whether it be a family, a work setting, or even enormous societal establishments which seem nearly impossible to influence, such as the NHS, the Church or the Government. Skynner has something to say about life in all these different types of institutions, and yet he chooses to focus particularly on institutes, which are organisations devoted to promoting scientific or educational objectives. One might be tempted to think of institutes as more benign in their outlook since their stated tasks are to disseminate knowledge. Why, then, is Skynner concerned with survival within these supposedly generative organisations?

In this hook it becomes clear that Skynner views himself as an educator, whether his