Happenstance in the Evolution of an Oxford Counselling Service and some related therapeutic environments: Anthropological Perspectives.

Dr Peter Agulnik is a retired Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist who has been closely associated with the early and subsequent development of the Isis Centre, Restore, the Ley Community and the Elmore Community Support Team. He is a longstanding member of Oxford Psychotherapy Society.

Dr Neil Armstrong is a Lecturer in Anthropology at Magdalen College, University of Oxford. He has a particular interest in how bureaucratic processes impact on mental health services.

We wish to demonstrate how Happenstance has influenced the development of counselling and other therapeutic environments in Oxfordshire during the latter part of the twentieth century. In providing a historical context, we also wish to show how anthropology and ethnographic approaches can usefully make a contribution to understanding how chance events can lead on to innovative and sustained mental health practice.