Have you noticed how many organizations, government agencies, and managers these days are referring to "Excellence"?
In the healthcare and psychotherapy worlds, we are already familiar (perhaps too much so) with NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) and The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE).
A couple of thoughts.... firstly, I tend to flinch these days simply because "Excellence" seems to be bandied around now like just another bit of management-speak. Ducks in a row, blue sky thinking, etc.
Also, I frown a little at the hyperbole of it - like, what happened to "Awesome"?? It's mostly used now by people who haven't really experienced anything truly awe-some. The guy who told me that making a credit card balance transfer recently was 'awesome' clearly hasn't stood at the top of a mountain or met someone who lives with a terminal illness.
I think I'm most bothered about the notion of "Excellence" because it seems to suggest that good enough isn't good enough, and that anything short of Clinical Excellence is poor practice.
BACP have a policy/procedure document that is known as the 'gold book' .... I can't help wondering, what happens next - the platinum one...????
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Infrequent musings and general comments on life, from the perspective of a UK psychotherapist.
