Hollymoor Hospital was a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

located at Tessall Lane,

Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connec ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England, and is famous primarily for the work on

group psychotherapy Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. The term can legitimately refer to any form of psychotherapy when delivered in a group format, ...

that took place there in the years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It closed in 1994.

History

Construction and expansion

The hospital, which was designed by William Martin and Frederick Martin using a Compact Arrow layout, was built as an annexe to Rubery Lunatic Asylum by Birmingham Corporation and opened 6 May 1905. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Hollymoor was commandeered and became known as the 2nd Birmingham War Hospital. Hollymoor Hospital
Birmingham History, Retrieved 1 September 2010

The Northfield experiments

During the Second World War, the hospital was again converted to a military hospital in 1940. In April 1942 it became a military psychiatric hospital and became known as Northfield Military Hospital. In 1942, while Northfield was serving as a military hospital, psychoanalysts

Wilfred Bion Wilfred Ruprecht Bion DSO (; 8 September 1897 – 8 November 1979) was an influential English psychoanalyst, who became president of the British Psychoanalytical Society from 1962 to 1965. Early life and military service Bion was born in Ma ...

and John Rickman set up the first Northfield experiment. Bion and Rickman were in charge of the training and rehabilitation wing of Northfield, and ran the unit along the principles of

group dynamics Group dynamics is a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group (''intra''group dynamics), or between social groups ( ''inter''group dynamics). The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision- ...

. Their aim was to improve morale by creating a "good group spirit" (esprit de corps). Though he sounded like a traditional army officer Bion's means were very unconventional. He was in charge of around one hundred men. He told them that they had to do an hour's exercise every day and that each had to join a group: "handicrafts, Army courses, carpentry, map-reading, sand-tabling etc.... or form a fresh group if he wanted to do so". While this may have looked like traditional occupational therapy, the real therapy was the struggle to manage the interpersonal strain of organising things together, rather than simply weaving baskets. Those unable to join a group would have to go to the rest-room, where a nursing orderly would supervise a quiet regime of "reading, writing or games such as draughts... any men who felt unfit for any activity whatever could lie down". The focus of every day was a meeting of all the men, referred to as a parade.

".. a parade would be held every day at 12.10 p.m. for making announcements and conducting other business of the training wing. Unknown to the patients, it was intended that this meeting, strictly limited to 30 minutes, should provide an occasion for the men to step outside their framework and look upon its working with the detachment of spectators. In short it was intended to be the first step towards the elaboration of therapeutic seminars. For the first few days little happened; but it was evident that amongst patients a great deal of discussion and thinking was taking place"

The experiment had to close after six weeks as the military authorities did not approve of it and ordered the transfer of Bion and Rickman (who were members of the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

).P Campling 2001 Therapeutic communities. ''Advances in Psychiatric Treatment'' 7: 365-372 The second Northfield experiment, which was based on the ideas of Bion and Rickman and used group psychotherapy, was started the following year by Siegmund Foulkes, who was more successful at gaining the support of the military authorities. One of the military psychiatrists involved in the project was Lt. Col. T.F. Main,who coined the term ''

therapeutic community Therapeutic community is a participative, group-based approach to long-term mental illness, personality disorders and drug addiction. The approach was usually residential, with the clients and therapists living together, but increasingly residential ...

'', and saw the potential of the experiments in the development of future therapeutic communities. Northfield Military Hospital was the setting for Sheila Llewellyn's novel ''Walking Wounded'', published in 2018.

Decline and closure

Poet

Vernon Scannell Vernon Scannell (23 January 1922 – 16 November 2007) was a British poet and author. He was at one time a professional boxer, and wrote novels about the sport. Personal life Vernon Scannell, whose birth name was John Vernon Bain, was born in ...

was a patient at the hospital in 1947. By 1949 Hollymoor Hospital was recognisably distinct from Rubery Hill Hospital. It held 590 patients, falling slowly to 490 by 1984, and then dropping rapidly to 139 by 1994. After the introduction of

Care in the Community Care in the Community (also called "Community Care" or "Domiciliary Care") is a British policy of deinstitutionalisation, treating and caring for physically and mentally disabled people in their homes rather than in an institution. Institutional ca ...

in the early 1980s, the hospital went into a period of decline and closed in July 1994. It was subsequently largely demolished.

References

External links

Bion and Foulkes at Northfield
{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1905 Hospitals established in 1905 1905 establishments in England 1994 disestablishments in England Hospitals disestablished in 1994 Defunct hospitals in England Former psychiatric hospitals in England Hospitals in Birmingham, West Midlands Therapeutic community