Person-Centred Therapy or Counselling (PCT/PCC) is one of the fourth recognised therapies in Belgium (Muylle Law, 4 april 2014) but also recognised internationally. This approach has been developed by the american psychologist Carl Rogers. It is a speaking therapy that belongs to humanistic therapies. The fundamental premise of this approach is the belief in the actualising tendency, the innate tendency of every human being to possess the necessary ressources to solve their problems and reach their full potential. This approach is about empowering the client and is non-directive. The therapist supports the client to question, evolve and change without imposing a trajectory, without interpreting and without advising. The goal of this approach is to build a trusting and benevolent relationship for clients to feel safe and for them to be able to share their problems. To build this relationship, the therapist adopts three fundamental attitudes:
Empathy: the therapist’s ability to take the client’s perspective and put the therapist’s frame of reference aside.
Congruence: the therapist’s ability to be him/herself, to perceive and live his/her feelings and in some circumstances to express them.
Unconditional positive regard: the therapist’s ability to respect and not judge the client no matter what they share.
I also use in some cases other techniques that I have learned during my journey such as pre-therapy, meditation, mindfulness, ACT or CBT techniques and systemic psychotherapy tools.