In the early years GRI had constituted a group of ‘associates’ as a group that could connect with and help develop GRI. We observed over time that this ended up being a group of people who had at any point taken up staff roles in GRI offering. On reflection, we feel that this is not a helpful approach, as being on staff is interesting, but is a small part of GRI’s purpose. We would instead like people to feel ‘associated’ if the question of thinking about, and applying the group relations framework in the everyday is of interest to them. And this may mean never taking on a staff role at all. We want to avoid an unconscious attribution of staff roles being one of a progression in one’s engagement with GR, or of having arrived. Therefore, this is a  question that remains up for exploration: in what ways does one ‘associate” or “belong” to GRI?

We are asked this question often: Is there a defined path?  Are there predefined steps or a process of certification to be called a GR practitioner? Or to be invited on staff?

GRI has chosen to stay away from a set of steps and certifications – and instead we invite people to invest and engage in learning about group relations in multiple ways: experiential, reflection, study, and contributing to GRI as an institution. Our stance is that terming oneself a GR practitioner ought to be on one’s personal assessment and authority, and not conferred externally. We believe there is no closure to learning. 

We are happy to engage in a conversation about this.

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