Introducing the Encounters Podcast: ‘All Real Life is Encounter’

By Rachael Peacock, for the Podcast Community of Practice Group

‘Hello and welcome to the Encounters podcast!’ has been a phrase I’ve said many times and with different intonations over the past year or so during podcast recordings with my producer, Kate Hoyland, and all our many guests. We are now, collectively ready to launch the podcasts into the world, and writing this blog alongside the launch means our ‘welcome’ takes a more expansive shape; one, we hope, will speak to those who are curious about person-centred ways of being whether that’s person-centred therapy and/or the person-centred approach, more widely.

Rather than structuring the podcasts with a conventional interview format, we wanted to try and communicate a more open, ‘in-the-moment’ flavour by taking an encounter-based approach. Encounter is a central concept in person-centred theory and practice. There are encounter groups and Peter Schmid considers encounter both within person-centred therapy and as a way of being in the world: ‘all real life is encounter’. The list goes on.

During our reflections on encounter, we asked: how could encounter sit within a podcast? Throughout the podcasts, we wished to convey, as much as possible, what contemporary person-centred practice sounds and feels like in the twenty-first century; to embrace the ‘im-media-te co-experiencing and co-responding’ of encounter Schmid eloquently describes. Indeed, the experiential aspect of the podcasts, i.e. what does a person-centred encounter sound and feel like carries equal footing with content; process and content aligning. Perhaps beyond videos and recordings of Rogers’ work, the ‘being’ aspect of person-centred theory and practice can be remote (to some) and we wished to illuminate what is often hidden. We also wished to address an ongoing gap and conundrum we noticed: how can we communicate being person-centred whilst acknowledging the idiosyncrasy inherent within person-centred ways of being and communicating.

As encounter is integral to the podcast, it is important to state we are adopting a dialogical/dialogue-based approach to being with ‘another’ rather than ‘debating’ perspectives. We feel debate suggests an adversarial tone perhaps with the goal of capitulation or even supremacy of perspective. Where is the possibility for empathy in that? We feel encounter facilitates curiosity and interestingly, questions certainty while considering why we might need to feel certain in the first place.

You can find all episodes here.

To give you a more detailed flavour of the podcasts here is a consolidated list of the eight episodes:

Episode 1: Welcome to the encounters podcast
What do we mean by encounter? In this introductory episode, we give a flavour of this unique aspect of the person-centred psychological approach, and dive into what it means to fully encounter another person.

Rachael Peacock speaks to Alison Drury, Chair of the Person-centred Association.

 Episode 2: Being a client
Beginning a therapy relationship is full of risks and promise. Discover what it’s like to be a person-centred client, whether it’s feeling like a wobbly newborn fawn or entering into a Tardis-like space of possibilities…

Rachael speaks to Jeremy O’Sullivan, a person-centred therapist and client.
 

Episode 3: Congruence
Being unscripted, open and not-knowing can be a terrifying prospect for new (and experienced!) therapists alike. Join us for a meaty look at a key, and yet often misunderstood, aspect of person-centred theory. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t mean, ‘I felt it, so I’ll say it…’  Also in the podcast, what do we mean by pluralism, and what is our relationship to other psychological approaches?

Rachael speaks to Dave Hansen, a person-centred therapist, EMDR therapist and trainer.
 

Episode 4: The experience of transgender and non-binary trainees
Is the person-centred approach a queer theory? What are the gaps, what’s missing from awareness and what are the downright failures of training for trans and non-binary trainees – and where lies the hope in person-centred queerness?

Rachael speaks to LJ Loveys Jervoise, a person-centred trainee.

Episode 5: Grief and loss
How person-centred psychotherapy is uniquely suited to working with the subject of death and loss, and why engaging with this topic can bring us closer to fully living.

Rachael speaks to Kate Hoyland, a person-centred psychologist and producer of the Encounters Podcast.
 

Episode 6: Culture and language
In this episode we dive into rich topics of language, culture, and power. Discover what it’s like to have therapy not in your ‘mother’ tongue – and why every therapist needs to understand the concept of code-switching.

Rachael speaks to Zeynep Kasap, a person-centred psychotherapist and researcher of Turkish origin.

Episode 7: Person centred training
Is it possible to have training which is truly student-centred? At its best, person-centred training can be transformative, but there are a lot of watered-down versions out there. We look at the threats and opportunities on the horizon.

Rachael speaks to Chris Molyneux, a person-centred therapist and trainer.

Episode 8: The Mystery of Therapy
At the heart of person-centred therapy lies a great mystery. Can we ever truly know or connect with another human, and what can person-centred psychology offer in a complex, uncertain and chaotic world? We attempt to unravel the mystery of therapy, in a rich and personal encounter.

Rachael speaks to Sheila Haugh, a person-centred therapist, supervisor and consultant.

The encounter goes on!
We are very open to any new ideas for future podcast episodes so feel free to contact us at: rachael.peacock@the-pca.org.uk.  In future episodes, we are particularly interested in exploring underrepresented areas of person-centred therapy practice and human experiencing. These could relate to social class, ethnicity, neurodivergence, age, disability, and GSRD (gender, sexuality and relationship diversity) perspectives. We also welcome any other perspectives we have not covered in this first series. The floor is open for consideration of topics!

 We would like to thank the Person-Centred Association for their support with the podcasts; particularly, Trees Dowsen and Nicky Wilson of Nicky Wilson’s Foxy Wheels for their work on the theme music which was another form of encounter for us.

We hope you enjoy your encounters with the podcasts in listening, reflecting upon and hopefully learning!