ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the nature of a culture of enquiry and some of the difficulties that are associated with a reflective practice. Though the Cassel Hospital may differ from other therapeutic communities, there is an increasing consensus that the hallmark of a therapeutic community is a "culture of enquiry". The culture of enquiry has to be directed against the ever-encroaching institutionalization. Specific structures sustain the culture of enquiry. One important space for enquiry and reflection is the key couple: the primary nurse and title psychotherapist. Sustained enquiry is taxing and demands some resilience to uncertainty and to one's personal adequacy in the job. The idea of the socio-technical system is that the particular form of work arouses particular difficulties and anxieties. The socio-technical system of the Cassel is an application of psychoanalysis. A psychoanalytically informed organization clearly has the possibility of understanding this interplay between anxieties, social defences, and the "freedom" from thought.
