This work presents an approach derived from direct participant observation of small units within institutions, all in the health and social services sector. A range of contributors bring together the results of their own observational projects - in settings as diverse as a mental hospital canteen, an acute psychiatric admission ward and a palliative care unit - to show how they were able to come to a psychoanalytically informed understanding of the cultures that arise within healthcare organizations, and how this understanding can be used to overcome difficulties that arise. This work should...