'Nature dictates that as individuals we are conceived, are born, and then at some point later die. The shape of the arc that we follow, involving growth and development with eventual decline, is something that we might all like to influence. It has been argued that the same basic curve, however, is followed by societies, civilisations and indeed organisations. How does an organisation influence its trajectory? How do organisations avoid the pull towards conservatism and protectionism associated with the developmental plateau found at the top of the curve?.... I think that in this book Professor Alessandra Lemma has given us something of an insight into this process within one organisation, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. ... The work of the Trust is now broad. Training and education makes up almost half of the activity, while Child and Adolescent mental Health Services over half of the clinical work. Professor Lemma has, in this first volume, broadly focused her attention on our work with Adolescents and Adults ... She has clearly selected her authors for their quality and supported them with similar care. All of this is evident in the chapters that comprise this book, and in the description of an organisation struggling to evolve in a manner that links it inextricably to the communities and society within which it is situated as much as to its own history.' - From the foreword by Dr Matthew Patrick, Chief Executive, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust