At our recent graduation event, our Chair of the Board of Trustees, Graham Monteith, sent this message to our recent graduates.

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Dear graduates and graduands,

I am delighted to have this opportunity to congratulate you, on behalf of the Board at Human Development Scotland, on your achievement. I know that for each and every one of you, success on your course is likely to represent the end point of a personal as well as an academic challenge. The fact that you have successfully completed your studies during the period of the Covid pandemic makes your achievement all the more special. For those of you who missed out on a ceremony because of the pandemic restrictions I am delighted that you now have the opportunity for some in-person celebrations. 

I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for choosing to study with HDS. We know that for each individual student the decision to enter a period of intense study is a decision that will never be taken lightly. This is because it is a decision to make a personal commitment to invest a substantial amount of time, personal energy and financial resources. Most of you will have been studying for a long time to get to this point and you will now be in a position where you can start to evaluate this decision. Our organisation will only continue to survive and flourish for as long as students and prospective students like you continue to put their trust in us. I hope that you feel that we have been worthy of that trust and that the knowledge and experience you have gained has made it all worthwhile. 

As you know HDS exists to promote psychodynamic therapies and thinking. We are a small not for profit organisation, operating in the charitable sector of public service provision. The fact that you are graduating or have graduated means that you are joining a community of like-minded thinkers and therapists. In your post qualifying world of work, you will be an ambassador for this community. Every graduate of HDS has something unique to offer but what we all have in common is an opportunity to influence others who are not part of this community. My humble plea to you in this letter is that you recognise and grasp this opportunity. At some point in your career someone will have influenced you and inspired your interest in psychodynamic thinking. You now have an opportunity to be someone else’s inspiration. 

I want to conclude by reiterating my heartfelt congratulations. I sincerely hope that your experience with HDS has been a positive one and that you will continue a connection with us after you have graduated, whatever that might mean for you.                

Whatever the future holds for you I wish you all the very best.

Graham Monteith

Chair of the Board of Trustees

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