Ethical equidistance
The practitioner takes neither the side of leadership nor employees or staff representatives, so everyone can be heard.
Integrated Contextual Intervention
ICI® Methodology
The Integrated Contextual Intervention (ICI®) is a support methodology for organizations in psychosocial crisis or chronic systemic tension.
This methodology is the outcome of over twenty years of action research and field interventions.
What is ICI?
Instead of assigning blame, it assumes organizational tensions reveal an imbalance in three fundamental dimensions of working life - Time, Justice and Place.
Guidance over expertise
Rather than declaring who is right or wrong, the practitioner walks with the actors to restart constructive dialogue.
Systemic approach
Tensions are not reduced to individual problems but analyzed as symptoms of dysfunctions in the socio-organizational system.
The three pillars of ICI®
ICI® is built around three existential dimensions that structure every collective life.
Time (Honoring)
Honoring continuity
Acknowledge collective history, validate lived experience and past contributions. This temporalization transforms raw facts into a shared story and restores continuity.
Justice (Rebalancing)
Restoring perceived fairness
Restore perceived equity in the recognition of merits. Identify and regulate accumulated psychological debts without assigning guilt.
Place (Repositioning)
Clarifying roles and belonging
Clarify each person's role and legitimacy, redefine memberships and expected contributions to secure a sense of belonging.
ICI® distinguishes these dimensions from the processes that restore them: temporalization (narrative work), equitable recognition of merits, and legitimizing roles.
Phases of an ICI® intervention
A typical intervention includes four phases:
Contextual diagnosis
Individual interviews, document analysis and observation of dynamics to identify psychological debts, traumas and systemic blockages.
Restitution and regulation
Structured collective sessions built around the three pillars to allow safe expression of experiences and to reduce tensions.
Co-construction
Collective definition of the new rules of engagement, clarification of mutual expectations and co-creation of a shared vision and action plan.
Consolidation
Monitoring implementation, managerial coaching and skills transfer to sustain the gains.
Why ICI® works
Not seeking culprits
ICI® shifts the question from 'who is responsible?' to 'what in our system allowed this situation to happen?', freeing collective energy for building.
Acknowledging complexity
It brings psychological, relational, organizational, historical and cultural dimensions into a systemic analysis.
Restoring voice
Safe spaces allow everyone to be heard without judgment, moving beyond toxic silence.
Pursuing autonomy
The goal is to transfer competencies so the organization can regulate its future tensions itself.
Integrating all stakeholders
Leadership, managers, collaborators, employee representatives and occupational health services are included to create a real space for dialogue.
Rigor and results
The methodology is academically validated, keeps ethical neutrality and shows an 85% success rate in situations deemed unsolvable by other approaches.
Intervention stories (anonymized feedback)
Three anonymized cases showcase how the approach unfolds on the ground.
Identity crisis triggered by a merger
An 180-person company acquired by an American group sees tensions explode: harassment complaints, cascading sick leaves and union mobilization.
- TIME: The rupture of temporal continuity - the history of the original company was not recognized and collaborators are trapped in an idealized past.
- JUSTICE: Promises of promotion made before the merger were not honored, generating a deep sense of injustice.
- PLACE: The reorganization created role confusion and erased reference points.
The intervention combines narrative workshops, joint labs and the creation of an operational committee to co-construct the new organization. After six months, social dialogue is restored and tensions drop significantly.
Team paralyzed by tensions
In a 12-person team, two camps face each other and the manager is exhausted.
- TIME: The fusion of two services lacked support, creating a temporal rupture.
- JUSTICE: Resentment followed an unexplained promotion.
- PLACE: Role confusion persisted.
The 'Honor' and 'Checkpoint' workshops, along with manager coaching, rebuild a shared story and clarify places. Three months later, tensions fall by 70% and collaboration becomes possible again.
After a suicide - restoring trust
A colleague's suicide triggers shock, accusations and a breakdown in dialogue.
- TRAUMA: A traumatic rupture of temporal continuity and psychological debts accumulated through injustice and loss of meaning.
The intervention alternates individual interviews, collective speaking spaces and co-construction of a systemic action plan. Within a year, a Quality of Work Life committee is created, managers are trained to detect weak signals and the organization learns collectively from the tragedy.
In summary
The Integrated Contextual Intervention (ICI®) is a rigorous, humanist methodology that turns crises into opportunities for learning and sustainable development. By acting on the three fundamental dimensions of Time, Justice and Place, it restores dialogue, rebuilds trust and brings perspective.
Professionals who wish to master this approach can rely on the ICI® School, which offers a selective, excellence-based certification program to nurture a community of highly qualified practitioners.