Alexis Brook stepped down in 1985 and Anton Obholzer took up the leadership of the Tavistock Clinic. A South-African by birth, with Austrian lineage, Anton Obholzer is the only Chief Executive to have worked in every department of the Tavistock Clinic.
Working closely together, Rob Hale and Anton Obholzer began a strategy of making the two clinics more outward facing by building support at the Houses of Parliament and generally publicising the work of the two institutions.
When it was eventually published, the Seymour Report was quite supportive of the Tavistock and Portman clinics, though it made a number of recommendations, particularly in regard to education.