As a medical student with a rather sheltered upbringing, Rex was terrified when he landed in a therapeutic community for his psychiatry training. But he soon learned that there is no better way to treat people in a fair and democratic way, and went on to work in and for therapeutic communities - and similar organisations - for his whole career. This has included getting together with colleagues and people with lived experience to have several new and slightly subversive ideas, including Living-Learning Experiences, Emergence, Community of Communities, STARs, Growing Better Lives, Enabling Environments and, most recently, the Relational Practice Movement. He retired from the NHS in 2022, and lives in Berkshire with his family and dysfunctional dalmatian.