We’ve long been following our vision of creating relational community, and have evolved from an Institute under the direction of the founders, to a nonprofit association run by a Board of therapists.

The most recent step in this direction has been a reorganization of the Imago Faculty. Many years ago the faculty followed the leadership of Harville Hendrix and the Master Trainers. For a while leadership was provided by a volunteer of Deans, including Maureen Brine and Rick Stolp. When we were able to establish a paid position, Bruce Crapuchettes served as Dean for two years, during which great steps forward were made towards defining uniform standards of practice, and a pathway to maintaining clinical excellence.

The Imago organization continues to evolve, and during a period of strategic review, we began to realize that the Faculty has matured to the point where it can operate as a collaborative team, without a leader.

The Retreat was an exciting time to see the new leadership model in action. Each faculty member led a discussion around specific issues. For example, Sophie Slade led discussions around Programs and the new Workshop Manual; Maya Kollman and Rick Stolp have taken leadership for updating the Clinical Training Manual; and Kathy Powell is leading a review of the Imago Advanced Courses.

The faculty uses dialogue techniques to make sure everyone is heard and to create a consensus. In this new collaborative group at El Sueno the experience was delightful! Everyone left feeling that a great deal had been accomplished.

The Retreat was facilitated by the Executive Director, Tim Atkinson, who meets monthly with the Faculty Advisory Committee.

Working with the advisory committee Tim Atkinson prepares agendas and information for the faculty meetings, together with Betty Williams who is the Training Coordinator. Betty provides a wide range of administration support for the Faculty.