Every therapist’s work is underpinned by particular theories about how people come to be, think and act as they are and as they do. But that’s not enough: it also needs to be consistent with her own way of living in, working in and being in the world, her way of making sense of life, and with her beliefs about what it actually means to be a person.   

The person-centred approach is rooted in the work of the humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers in the middle-to-late twentieth century. Whereas the traditional problem-centred approach to counselling and psychotherapy views the therapist as the ‘expert’ in the client’s problems and therefore aims at controlling the process of therapy (and by implication the client), the person-centred therapist believes that the client himself is the expert, and understands herself to be a collaborator and equal partner in the therapeutic relationship. This means that to work as a person-centred therapist, it is absolutely vital to have a genuine and deep faith in the capacity of every human being, given the right interpersonal conditions, to shape their own life and to move in the direction of more fulfilling and satisfying ways of living and being in the world and in relationship.  

All of which means that the role of the person-centred therapist is at the same time very simple, and extraordinarily complex. The therapist’s task is to be fully and genuinely present in the therapeutic relationship, to accompany the client in his search to find more satisfying and fulfilling ways of living and to create the kind of safe, non-judgmental space and facilitative relationship within which the client can contact his own wisdom and potential for growth, can see and become who he truly is, and can risk being real-ly, intensely alive both in the relationship and in the world.  

Unlike many other forms of therapy, the person-centred approach makes no distinction between counselling and psychotherapy and the two terms are often used interchangeably. Because traditional psychotherapy is often associated with therapist-as-expert models, I prefer to simply use the word therapy to describe my work.

About coming for therapy

You may be struggling with or overwhelmed by particular feelings or emotions: anxiety, fear, grief, anger, sadness, shame, depression … You may be in the middle of unsettling transition: moving to a new country, retirement, health concerns, bereavement, relationship difficulties or breakdown … Perhaps you’re facing, or have the opportunity of, change and feel unable to make important decisions … You may be stressed, low in energy, confused, unsure of who you are, feel worthless … You may be dependent on alcohol or drugs (prescribed or not) … You may have a nagging sense that your life isn’t all it could be, but you don’t know how or why … or maybe you just want to look more deeply at who you really are, who you really could be. Or your reasons for contemplating therapy may be entirely different.

Whatever brings you to The Person Centre, it will be you as a whole person, and not simply your problems, that will be at the centre of the therapeutic relationship. Person-centred therapy is not a treatment or cure; there won’t be a box of tricks or a magic wand. I won't coach you in how to live your life. It’s a journey, short or long, gentle or intense, at your pace, towards becoming the person you really are: towards being able to express in your everyday behaviour and awareness who, and what, you already are at depth. We will work together at the point of your discomfort – at the point of incongruence between who you believe yourself to be and who your being knows that you truly are.