Past international events

Join us for community meetings, presentations, discussion and more. Follow this link for full conference details, booking, and to submit proposals for presentations, workshops, and roundtable discussions. The list of presenters is growing! A unique feature of Person-Centered conferences is the community meeting. This meeting is open to all participants. We have scheduled a community meeting every 6 hours around the clock to accommodate worldw...

This is the first online LGBTQ+ centred Emotionally Focused Therapy Externship and follows on from the face to face one run by Sandra Taylor, and Robert Allan, EFT trainers, in London last year. This is the first level of ICEEFT approved EFT training, on June 13-14th and June 20-21st online. It will run from 3-11 pm each day and so allows for you to potentially still work for some of the day. This course will primarily be about working with...

The actualising tendency, in my experience, is a soft target from other modalities and oftentimes a perplexing concept for those who are studying and practicing as PC professionals.  Indeed, I would argue that poor training around this is the main reason that nominally or one-time PC practitioners veer away from or ultimately discredit the approach as a whole. This workshop, Person-Centred 101 if you will, will seek to revisit and further you...

Based on work by David Groves, a pioneering New Zealand psychotherapist, who worked with repressed traumatic memories, developing an approach which fits with the PCA, by using only the client’s language. Paying particular attention to the client’s metaphors and developing a way of working which enabled clients to lead in their own healing, his work is mainly known by NLP and/or hypnotherapy practitioners. However, I have found that clients ...

25% discount for registration before 12 Feb The Kids’ Workshop Facilitator Training Program is designed to provide participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to become effective facilitators of children’s development. Through this program, individuals will learn how to recognize person-centered qualities within themselves, while developing techniques and strategies that can be used to help children express these qualities more effec...

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder continues to be seen as a mental illness and tends to be treated as a biochemical problem requiring medication. People experiencing OCD can present with a combination of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours which can dominate their lives, along with anxiety, panic attacks and other disturbing experiences. Though even experts in OCD are still not sure of the exact causes, some suggest that genetics, brain ...

Mental traps are those thinking patterns which get in the way of us leading the lives we want to. An example might be the notion that work one produces must be perfect, and as the inner judge declares it is imperfect, nothing may be started. Another example is that of procrastination – this might be evidenced in continual inner dialogue about the possible pros and cons of a particular decision. Because there may be endless permutations of pros...

It is rare for counselling and psychotherapy courses to include time for exploring sexual feelings in relating to clients, or which clients express towards their counsellors/therapists. For some practitioners this can lead to a sense that there is something wrong if sexual feelings emerge in themselves in their work, or in clients who have sexual feelings towards them. In such close relationships, it seems natural that there will sometimes be ...

Time bound grief models focus on a temporal sequence of shock, protest, despair, reorganisation, leading ultimately to acceptance. This can lead to the idea that acceptance is required for healthy resolution, and if acceptance does not occur, a neurotic state exists. Many parents of children/adults with learning and/or physical disabilities are judged on whether or not they have ‘accepted’ the reality of their child’s disabilities. There are d...

The issue of touch within therapy relationships relies on the personal integrity of the therapist, unless the tradition of therapy they practice prohibits it altogether. This day will provide space for focus on each participant’s relative comfort and/or discomfort with touch within therapeutic relationships. We will consider what might constitute ‘safe’ touch between therapist and client, as well as the potential healing aspects of touch. ...

How is it that sometimes we feel heard and deeply accompanied, whilst at others we feel that our communication skills have collapsed, or that the listener has just changed the subject? Whilst we may expect, tolerate and understand this in our everyday relationships, how would we feel if our therapist seemed to be doing the very same thing? Person-centred practitioners aim to provide the core attitudinal qualities of empathy, congruence and u...

The healing power of story: The Emperor’s New Clothes. 10.00am-4.00pm For those who recognise the sense of bewilderment of seeing through something, or someone, whilst others seem to be in agreement about what is there, this story can be deeply empowering. This day will explore the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes, and the loneliness of seeing what others do not, the difficulty in keeping quiet, or the cost of speaking up. This day ma...

Childhood abuse: the long term effects 10.00am-4.00pm This day will allow practitioners to focus on the long-term sequelae of childhood abuse. Through input, discussion and experiential space, we will explore the effects which can last into adulthood, and sometimes throughout life, of having been traumatised as children. We will focus too, on how we as practitioners may empower and support clients who want to heal these long terms woun...

Suicidal ideation. 10.00am-4.00pm This day will provide the opportunity for practitioners to explore the sensitive issue of the potential for suicide in clients with whom they are working. The issue of 'chronic suicide' sometimes known as 'indirect suicide' will also be explored. Organisational policies often mean that any discussion of suicidal ideation leads to disclosure and breach of confidentiality of the client/counsello...

Dreams – how may these be explored in person-centred therapy? 10.00am-4.00pm What fascinates me about the dreams my clients bring to their sessions, is that the client often changes in their dream world before changing in their conscious, waking life. The rich world of dreams in both superficial and deep ways can provide a way of deepening understanding when the therapist is willing to take the client’s lead into the exploration of the st...

Clean Language. 10.00am-4.00pm Based on work by David Groves, a pioneering New Zealand psychotherapist, who worked with repressed traumatic memories, developing an approach which fits with the PCA, by using only the client’s language. Paying particular attention to the client’s metaphors and developing a way of working which enabled clients to lead in their own healing, his work is mainly known by NLP and/or hypnotherapy practitioners. How...

Chronic Sorrow Time bound grief models focus on a temporal sequence of shock, protest, despair, reorganisation, leading ultimately to acceptance. This can lead to the idea that acceptance is required for healthy resolution, and if acceptance does not occur, a neurotic state exists. Many parents of children/adults with learning and/or physical disabilities are judged on whether or not they have ‘accepted’ the reality of their child’s disabi...

The Healing Power of Story - The tale of the Ugly Duckling The story of the ugly duckling has particular relevance to those who feel the outcast in their family of origin. For individuals who grew up sensing that there was something wrong – some mismatch between themselves and other members of the family – this story can bring hope. This day is appropriate for anyone who feels drawn to the story, whether because you identify with the experi...

Understanding the Impact of Developmental Stages in therapy One of the issues facing therapists supporting Survivors of childhood trauma with dissociative identity disorder (DID) and other dissociative experiencing, is how to respond to the younger selves in their clients. We may be meeting with an adult who has a self who functions well in the world of work, yet who suffers from isolation in their personal life. That same person may be exp...

This is an online international encounter group for therapists who identify as LGBT and/or queer and who have an interest in person-centred encounter. We aim to meet every couple of months on the second sunday. Times are 2-5 and 7-10 (or when the last people leave!) UK time. You are welcome to come to some or all of both or either session. Please email LJ for a link. Please note, this event is only open to people who identify as LGBT and/or qu...

Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder & Alice in Wonderland Syndrome CPTSD shares the symptomatology of PTSD but results from chronic trauma, often (but not exclusively) from childhood. It affects many Survivors of childhood trauma long into their adult lives. Survivors may have lived continuously with nightmares, sleep disturbances, hypervigilance, hyperarousal, self-harming, dissociation, self-esteem and self-concept issues and a var...

Through FDP - invited facilitator, Dr. Casey Edmonds Dyspraxia (also known as developmental coordination disorder, DCD) is a neurologically based developmental disorder which affects the ability to perform skilled and coordinated movements and causes difficulties with cognitive and perceptual processes. Many of our adult clients have never received a diagnosis yet live with the feeling that they are somehow defective. Adolescents with dyspraxi...

Based on work by David Groves, a pioneering New Zealand psychotherapist, who worked with repressed traumatic memories, developing an approach which fits with the PCA, by using only the client’s language. Paying particular attention to the client’s metaphors and developing a way of working which enabled clients to lead in their own healing, his work is mainly known by NLP and/or hypnotherapy practitioners. However, I have found that clients ...

The autistic spectrum is a broad umbrella incorporating such terms as ‘Asperger’s Syndrome’, ‘Autism’, ‘High Functioning Autism’ and ‘Autistic spectrum disorder’. Many children and adults who have diagnoses within the spectrum are able to attend mainstream schools, colleges and workplaces, yet they can experience a great deal of confusion and anxiety in any social setting. This study day will focus on the autistic thinking style and how this i...

Where there is chronic abuse in childhood many learn to survive by dissociating from the experience. This may involve leaving the body, numbing out, splitting off, depersonalising and/or derealising. This day will focus on what dissociation is, how it acts as a somewhat protective strategy, and how we may empower individuals who may be experiencing dissociation now.

 Event title: "Relating in the aftermath of the pandemic" 9-14 July 2021 “Becoming a Person", which is an international Association of Mental Health Professionals based in Alexandroupolis (Greece), organizes the 15th PCA Encounter Group in Samothrace (Greece) from 9 to 14 July 2021, which is open to anyone interested. The full title of the event is: "The universal dimension of relating in the aftermath of the pandemic: Challenges and prospec...

The Healing Power of Story: Winnie-the-Pooh and the inner landscape There is a potency for healing available in fairy tales, myths and stories. Certain stories grip us, whilst others leave us cold. The story of Winnie the Pooh can be rediscovered in many ways, one of which is reflecting on our own inner landscapes, and aspects of ourselves. This day will allow personal reflection on inner states and characters as they relate to Christopher...

1. INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME BY THE BOARD 2. MINUTES OF THE 2020 EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY 3. FINANCIAL UPDATE 4. ELECTION OF BOARD 5. APPROVAL OF INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP 6. APPROVAL OF STATUTES AND BYLAWS  7. APPROVAL OF ETHICAL FRAMEWORK  8. SYMPOSIUM 2021 - ROMANIA  9. FURTHER TOPICS  10. AOB

Behind the scenes The neuroscience of experiential psychotherapy The fact that experiential psychotherapy works, is something we witness everyday with ourclients. But how? And what specifically makes it effective? Which specific pathways areinvolved with emotional processing? What takes place in our bodily system when we focus,for example? What is so “magical” about the experiential encounter? National and international speakers take us beh...

The autistic spectrum is a broad umbrella incorporating such terms as ‘Asperger’s Syndrome’, ‘Autism’, ‘High Functioning Autism’ and ‘Autistic spectrum disorder’. Many children and adults who have diagnoses within the spectrum are able to attend mainstream schools, colleges and workplaces, yet they can experience a great deal of confusion and anxiety in any social setting. This study day will focus on the autistic thinking style and how thi...

This day will focus on the effects of listening to traumatic experiences, and how we may be vulnerable to taking that trauma within ourselves in our work. Sometimes known as ‘compassion fatigue’, "empathic strain," "secondary victimization," (Lindy, 1988; Figley, 1983), bearing witness to another’s trauma will affect us. On this day we will explore the variety of ways in which our accompanying of another as they work with their trauma can af...

How is it that sometimes we feel heard and deeply accompanied, whilst at others we feel that our communication skills have collapsed, or that the listener has just changed the subject? Whilst we may expect, tolerate and understand this in our everyday relationships, how would we feel if our therapist seemed to be doing the very same thing? Person-centred practitioners aim to provide the core attitudinal qualities of empathy, congruence and u...

Do you want to work therapeutically with creative arts? When the person centred, non-directive, interpretive approach is brought together with creative arts, the result is a powerful and yet safe therapeutic approach. Our course was developed by Liesl Silverstone and approved by Carl Rogers himself, and this year we have updated it for an online delivery. It really is an amazing course that will deepen your self awareness, boost your creativit...

What fascinates me about the dreams that my clients bring to their sessions, is that the client often changes in their dream world before changing in their conscious, waking life. The rich world of dreams in both superficial and deep ways can provide a way of deepening understanding when the therapist is willing to take the client’s lead into the exploration of the story of the dream. Person-centred practitioners may enjoy exploring how drea...

Over the years, a considerable body of evidence has been built around differing understandings of how human beings respond to and are affected by trauma – and increasingly, the social contexts of relational trauma have been examined to comprehend the underlying factors of this persistent source of suffering. However, despite such extensive research, very few trauma specialists have made explicit conceptual associations between trauma and oppre...

The issue of touch within therapy relationships relies on the personal integrity of the therapist, unless the tradition of therapy they practice prohibits it altogether. This day will provide space for focus on each participant’s relative comfort and/or discomfort with touch within therapeutic relationships. We will consider what might constitute ‘safe’ touch between therapist and client, as well as the potential healing aspects of touch. W...

Clean language Based on work by David Groves, a pioneering New Zealand psychotherapist, who worked with repressed traumatic memories, developing an approach which fits with the PCA, by using only the client’s language. Paying particular attention to the client’s metaphors, and developing a way of working which enabled clients to lead in their own healing, his work is mainly known by NLP and/or hypnotherapy practitioners. However, I have fo...

The "Becoming A Person" Association, following the steps of Play-therapists around the globe, is organizing a series of events honoring the institution of "Play-Therapy Week". Through these events and festivities anyone can "get to know" and relate with the essence of "How Play Heals". Play-Therapy Week, being affected (but not afflicted) by the COVID-19 pandemic, is filled with Online Events, giving in that way everyone from any place in the...

The Healing Power of Story: The Tale of the Ugly Duckling The story of the Ugly Duckling has particular relevance to those who feel the outcast in their family of origin. For individuals who grew up sensing that there was something wrong – some mismatch between themselves and other members of the family – this story can bring hope. This day is appropriate for anyone who feels drawn to the story, whether because you identify with the experie...

Alice in Wonderland and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder CPTSD shares the symptomatology of PTSD but results from chronic trauma, often from childhood. It affects many Survivors of childhood trauma long into their adult lives. Survivors may have lived continuously with nightmares, sleep disturbances, hypervigilance, hyperarousal, self-harming, dissociation, self-esteem and self-concept issues and a variety of other difficulties. Othe...

A unique space to immerse, explore and express yourself using a variety of media - learning through Creative Connection, regardless of artistic ability.​ Designed as personal development for counsellors and mental health practitioners in training and practice, these workshops provide a connective and held therapeutic space, to experience, explore and release, through self expression and creation. The workshops, based upon Carl Rogers person-...

Dissociation – Creative Survival Where there is chronic abuse in childhood, many learn to survive by dissociating from the experience. This may involve leaving the body, numbing out, splitting off, depersonalising and/or derealising. The experience and expression of dissociative process can be confusing for therapists as well as for the person experiencing it. The vulnerability of people experiencing dissociative processes to being patholog...

What happens to our clients in the event of our sudden death or illness? A crucial, yet underexplored aspect of our work as practitioners, is how we consider our clients’ potential reactions to our unexpected death or illness. This study day will allow participants to explore their feelings, attitudes and beliefs about the impact on their clients, in the event of their own sudden illness or death. There will be space to plan for such eventua...

‘Let me tell so much truth. I want to tell the truth in my work. The truth will lead me to the light’. (Maya Angelou) This day will invite participants to reflect on these lines, what does truth mean to you? What is the challenge in being authentic in our lives and work? What are the costs and benefits of the struggle for authenticity? How has a lack of truth impacted on your clients’ lives? In PC practice, where acceptance is so importa...

‘Let me tell so much truth. I want to tell the truth in my work. The truth will lead me to the light’. (Maya Angelou) This day will invite participants to reflect on these lines. What does truth mean to you? What is the challenge in being authentic in our lives and work? What are the costs and benefits of the struggle for authenticity? How has a lack of truth impacted on your clients’ lives? In PC practice, where acceptance is so importan...

Going Global Workshop A residential opportunity to explore our personal and collective creative potential for acting globally If the time comes… when our culture tires of endless homicidal feuds, despairs of the use of force and war as a means of bringing peace, discontent with the half lives that it’s members are living, only then will our culture seriously look for alternatives... When that time comes they will not find a void...They will ...

The XVth INTERNATIONAL FORUM OF THE PERSON CENTERED APPROACH The XVth International Forum of the Person Centered Approach, hosted by the AFP-ACP (Association Française de Psychothérapie dans l'Approche Centrée sur la Personne) will take place in France for the first time, in the town of Dourdan, near Paris, in the same building where Carl Rogers was invited to lecture during several memorable days during his first journey to France in 1966. ...

Keynote sessions ‘Relational depth’: Moments of movement in therapy Mick Cooper – United Kingdom Relational depth’ is a concept developed by Dave Mearns, and refers to moments of profound contact and encounter in the therapeutic relationship.  These are the moments where we feel profoundly ‘touched’ by clients: a heart-to-heart meeting in which something deeply important seems to happen in the therapeutic work. This talk will give a state-o...

33rd Annual Conference for the Development of the Person Centered Approach ATLANTA - July 25-29, 2018  The Atlanta conference committee (Dr. Rob Richardson, his partner Ken Barthels, and friend Jana Chambers-Sepich) are pleased to announce that this year’s conference will be held at Georgia State University in downtown Atlanta.  The meetings and presentations will be held in a multi-classroom facility and we have arranged for the availability...

  The foundations of Humanistic Psychology were forged in a community that had great interest in transforming the world into a much more loving and just place. Humanistic Psychology has also been concerned with appreciating contemplative practices and methods that cultures have developed over millennia, to nurture the love and wisdom innate to all human beings. Speakers who exemplify Humanistic and Contemplative vision will headline this conf...

We are excited to announce that the annual meeting of the ADPCA will be held at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) from 7 p.m. on Wednesday July 19th through noon on Sunday, July 23rd 2017.   There will be a free pre-conference workshop convened by Marge Witty on Wednesday 7/19 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. (with 1.5 hour lunch break).  Dorm and meeting rooms are all located in the UIC Student Center East, 700 South Halsted Street, Chicago, I...