ADVANCED TRAINING IN PERSON-CENTERED THERAPY
Dave Mearns and Elke Lambers
The essential challenge for the person-centred counsellor… (is to) be able to offer an encounter at relational depth not just to some clients but to every client who comes to her door. This is not achieved in initial training. Early training succeeds if it helps the counsellor to initiate the self-development attitude. Most of the work happens later – in the counsellor’s continued professional development. [Mearns & Thorne (2007). Person-Centred Counselling in Action. Third Edition. London: Sage (p. 145)].
This extended course is designed for practitioners who have completed a diploma level training in person-centred therapy and who have 3 years (or more) post-training experience as therapists.
The aim of the course is to work with the unique developmental agenda of the participants, and to bring them up-to-date with the most recent developments in relational working in person-centred therapy.
The focus of the course will be on extending and developing theory and practice and will include a wide range of topics, such as:
 | Developing and monitoring our developmental agenda |
| Exploring our ability to relate at relational depth |
| Broadening and deepening the self that is available in the therapy relationship |
| Understanding and developing the therapist’s existential touchstones |
| Appreciating the client’s existential process |
| Exploring new developments in person-centred theory |
| Developing an understanding of difficult processes in clients and extending the capacity to meet those processes |
| Understanding and relating to different parts of the client |
| Relational/existential perspectives on working with traumatised people in therapy |
| Considering the actualising process |
| Acknowledging and articulating competence |
The content of the meetings will be centred around the themes described above and material arising from the participants’ experience in their practice as well as from the process of the group.
The format supports a developmental process over the period of the course
Before meetings 2 and 3 the participants will be expected to produce written work (1500 words) on their evolving developmental agenda, for sharing with others in the group.
Because of the developmental nature of the course, participants are required to enrol for the whole course and to take part in all three course meetings.
Dates:
Friday 6th and Saturday 7th February 2009
Friday 20th and Saturday 21st March 2009
Friday 8th and Saturday 9th May 2009
Time: 9.30 am - 4.30 pm
Venue: Jordanhill Campus
Group size: 18 - 20
COURSE FULL!
Facilitators: Dave Mearns is a emeritus professor of counselling and retired Director of the Counselling Unit of the University of Strathclyde. He has written seven books and is co-editor of the international journal, Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapies. Following his initial grounding in psychology he developed his interest in person-centred therapy while he was Visiting Fellow to the Center for Studies of the Person in La Jolla, California, during 1972/73. His particular interest is in therapeutic work with client populations that are generally regarded as ‘difficult’. In this work he challenges the trend of relational detachment in mental health by emphasising the power of offering a particular depth of human relating.
Elke Lambers is a person-centred therapist, supervisor and trainer, with extensive experience of working with a wide range of individual clients and couples. She has a particular interest in developing a greater understanding of ‘difficult client process’, and of how we as therapists can develop a capacity to be fully present and open with ourselves in the therapeutic relationship, so that we can be open to all aspects of the client.
Dave and
Elke have experience of designing and working together in person-centred
training courses around the world since 1974.
PowerPoint slides for the February 6-7 part of the Course can be downloaded here
Download slides as webpages for the Feb 6-7 part of the Course
The PowerPoint
slides for the March 20-21 Part II of the course can be downloaded here
Download slides as webpages for the
March 20 -21 Part
II
of the Course