Rod Postans

On January 4th 1996 Rod Lewis Making-Postans died suddenly. He had had a ruptured aortic aneurysm. Rod was only 46 and no one was prepared for this abrupt end. But paradoxically his precipitate going is a reminder of his powerful presence. Rod had a large personality that was riven with paradox. He could rage against hypocrisy and incompetence and at the same time be gentle and understanding. He was angry and yet compassionate. He was a man of integrity forged out of suffering. In his early life he had known traumatic losses: the death of his sister and some close friends followed by an early marriage that failed. And his father had died unexpectedly of a heart attack at 65. These events left him vulnerable to self-doubt and depression in spite of his undoubted gifts and intelligence. In his mid-twenties he went to Middlesex Polytechnic and gained a first class honours degree in social science, followed by an MSc, with distinction, in applied psychology. For six years he was a lecturer at Middlesex Polytechnic in psychology, philosophy and political philosophy and published several papers, including a paper on bereavement.* But he was most proud of the jokes he published in Viz and Mad magazines. He began his training at the Lincoln Centre in the mid-80s and soon after joined the Inner City Centre. His work at the Inner City Centre exemplified his attitude to all areas of his life; he committed himself to the work in a wholehearted way. He became the Treasurer and kept exemplary statistics on patients and wrote six-monthly reports on the current work; and his skill as a master builder meant that he could be called upon to sort out minor domestic repairs. In 1992 he married Wendy and they became the first married couple to work for the ICC, though this was all too brief.

I had the privilege of knowing his work as a therapist. I supervised his work for three years. And I have had the painful task of informing his patients about his death. They testify, without exceptio