The purpose of this Master thesis is to examine how (psychological) management skills in regard to intrinsically motivated professionals in a politically controlled psychiatry can be understood. To examine this question a hypothesis-reduction method is to be included. The initial hypothesis and research question in this Master Thesis is based upon questions that have emerged throughout my working experience in a psychiatric Hospital in Aalborg for more than a decade, a survey among leading psychologists in Denmark and a former written theoretical paper from third semester in the Master Program Learning processes, Management and Organizational Psychology regarding intrinsically motivated professional in a political directed Psychiatry. The initial hypothesis and research question, that is based on both theory and working experience, is examined by exploring it with theory and empiricism and then reduced by examining whether the hypothesis can be found/confirmed by theory or empiricism – however the main purpose is to gain a richer and more nuanced understanding of the (psychological) management skills regarding the intrinsic motivated professionals in a politically controlled psychiatry by alternating between refining hypotheses and examining and clarifying them with empiricism and theory. It’s a qualitative research design. The empirical data consists of two semi-structured interviews with leading psychiatric psychologists. The theory included is Motivation Theory by Hein (2009), Self-determination theory (SDT) by Ryan & Deci (2000), Management Theory by Mintzberg (1999) and (2010) and Management Theory by Barlebo (2014). At first I was interested in examining how psychological management skills could be seen in regard to this complexity, but I became aware off the tautology; a blind spot in my methodology and in my choice of theory, as I was trying to examine psychological management skills by using methods and theory that are psychologically based. I have learned about the difficulty of making a design that actually examines what you want intend to examine. My intention is to produce a theoretical framework that I can analyze my empirical findings in relation to. My intention is to see whether I can recognize the empirical findings within the theoretical framework. Then the findings from the analytic work are unfolded with theory. The aim is to reach a more nuanced understanding of management skills regarding the complexity between professionals that are motivated intrinsically in psychiatry that are politically governed. The results show that it is overall important to insure a context or culture that supports the basic motivational needs; experienced autonomy, competence, social relatedness, basic values and ideals and encourages a behavior that reflects the aim of the organization (psychiatry). The key factors in establishing the professional’s experience of intrinsic motivation have shown to be: Trust, autonomy, meaningfulness and social relatedness. Also I found that it is relevant to know the basic and particular conditions regarding the professional’s motivation, how to support the basic needs in a working context, how to facilitate that process by which motivation becomes more intrinsic and how to intervene in case the professional has become demotivated (by focusing on the basic needs and not the actual negative behavior or material demands. The results show a relationship between the degree to which the professional can work in relation to the strong values, norms and culture of her profession and her experience of intrinsic motivation. The results also show a relationship between the degrees of management control, overall strategic control or monitoring absence due to illness and performance, and the degree to which the professional will experience the working context as being motivational supportive. The results also show the importance of the manager’s contribution to the cultural norms and expectations of high professionalism and innovational thinking in how to relate to the political ongoing directions as an experienced and professional role model. The manager’s cultural contribution can be outspoken or it can emerge from a covert leadership, where the manager quietly and trustfully rely on the professionalism; that the professional knows what to do and does it – a culture that supports the basic motivational needs. I have found an element of trust in the joint professionalism that shows itself as a clear expectation that the professional will solve her task in a fulfilling way which implicates a potential mutual motivation between the professionals to be unfolded. The results have shown that In order to manage the complexity between the professional’s intrinsic motivation and the political control is suitable to facilitate common aims for the professional and the Psychiatry as an organization. Ways to facilitate this has shown to be with supervision, feedback and a Meaning negotiable dialogue. The above results implicate that managing in this complexity is all about balancing between the motivational and political conditions by continually maintaining a cultural context that focuses on the professional’s well-being as it supports the basic motivation needs, values and ideals and increases the professional’s potential intrinsic motivation – on an intrapersonal level as well as on an interpersonal level.