It is with tears in my heart that I reflect on the death, and life, of Lennox Thomas. Lennox was a wise and wry mentor to me for many years and I cherish his robust humanity.

Lennox Thomas, one of the first Black British psychoanalytic psychotherapists, and pioneer and exemplar in the field of intercultural perspectives and practices, died on April 13, 2020, after a long illness.

Since the early 1970's Lennox was writing, talking and teaching about Intercultural work, post slavery trauma syndrome and inter-sectionality from the inside out.  Always walking his talk, he was clinical Director of the Intercultural Therapy Centre Nafsiyat and co-director of the UCL MSc in Intercultural Therapy.  You can read more on “Nafsiyat Intercultural Therapy Centre remembers Lennox Thomas”.

For generations of BAME social-workers, probation officers, psychotherapists and counsellors he was, and will remain, a role-model, a brother and an inspiration in an often hostile professional world;I recommend you to the obituary and tributes on the BAATN website contact@baatn.org.uk

For those of us who kept the social/contextual in the psychological he was one of the ‘go to’ writers and thinkers and I also recommend you to info@confer.org.uk for more information.

I last saw Lennox, at a conference, about 18 months ago. He was the big, frank, amiable man I remembered and loved. Our hug was full of delighted warmth at re-meeting.  I am glad for that memory as I am very sad for both a personal and professional loss.  I hope I, and we, will continue to embed his example and his work into our personal/professional understandings and practices.

Katherine Murphy is a UKCP  registered Integrative psychotherapist and  Teaching and Supervising Transactional Analysis psychotherapist. She has been working in clinical practice since the late 1980s and also been actively involved in the education of practitioners, primarily at Metanoia Institute. Active in the politics of the profession she has served on  the Board of then BAC, the  COC of the ITAA and the Standards Committee of the UKCP, with a focus on standards of education and training. She is an honorary fellow of the UKCP.  She has always held an interest in how human beings, theory, and practices are situated in big history and was a founder contributor to Psychotherapists and Counsellors for Social Responsibility.