What accounts for the widespread disillusionment with politics? Person-centered Politics suggests that politics today, through its structures, processes, and institutions tends to presuppose and to impose a certain caricature of the human person that inhibits and frustrates a real sense of personal participation in an authentic common good of politics and society. In 12 chapters that touch on fundamental themes of political philosophy, Person-centered Politics proposes the social and transcendent dimensions of personal existence and their application to the renewal of politics today. The themes explore the commonly accepted assumptions of politics today and how a renewed understanding of the person can invigorate political discourse and action. In Person-centered Politics the author is in continuous dialogue with some of the major contemporary philosophers and thinkers, such as Eric Voegelin, David Walsh, Robert Sokolowski, Vaclav Havel, Pierre Manent, Peter Simpson, and Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI. Detailed footnotes in each chapter provide reference to further sources of enlightenment and research. Person-centered Politics proposes an outline for a renewed vision of politics that is centered on the truth of human existence, and not a politics that distorts and suffocates the human spirit, because, in the words of E. Voegelin, ‘the right order of the soul through philosophy furnishes the standard for the right order of society’—and not the other way round.
Explores the interface between the Person-Centred Approach and radical political theory and activity. This work also explores the contribution that a critical analysis of social and political factors can make to the practice of person-centred therapy, and examines the contribution this therapy can make to the sphere of socio-political theory.
Political Parties all over the world remain pyramidal structures with Power-Corruption built-in, as members compete for higher positions on the organizational ladder. This Blueprint offers an alternative. Today we possess sufficient practical knowledge about interpersonal dynamics that we can use to structure decision-making processes in ways both humanly decent and politically effective. Alternatives developed in Applied Behavioral Science can work for persons who want to become empowered by organizing without becoming corrupted by power struggle and Machiavellian practices. At the very least, this Blueprint contains the strongest antidotes to Power Corruption that has poisoned the lives of idealistic and conscientious reformers and revolutionaries in the past. Political organization that puts power in the hands of all members at all times rather than in the hands of top leaders would be a radical departure from all the unsuccessful earlier attempts to organize.
It is widely agreed that there is a need to transform care and support services. 'Supporting People' explores with service users, practitioners, carers and managers what person-centred support means to them, what barriers stand in the way and how these can be overcome.
This stimulating book explores the long-standing relationship between psychotherapy and politics and argues that from the beginning psychotherapy has had a political face. Documenting instances where ideas from psychotherapy have been incorporated into the political agenda, the book demonstrates the practical value of psychotherapy as an instigator of social and political change. Related to this, attempts to understand and evaluate political life through the application of psychotherapeutic concepts are examined. The author poses a number of key questions, including: What is human nature? Are aggression and violence innate in us? Is the therapeutic relationship inherently unequal? And, is the political an a
For nearly 50 years the approach of Carl Rogers and his colleagues has been used to help others in counseling, psychotherapy, and education. This project takes that work into the realms of Religion, Politics, Alcohol treatment, Incest, Mental Disabilities, Sandtray therapy, Philosophy, and Person-Centered history & theory.
Person-Centred Therapy in Focus provides a much-needed exploration of the criticisms levelled against one of the most widespread forms of therapeutic practice. Characterized by its critics as theoretically `light′, culturally biased and limited in application, until now the person-centred approach has had comparatively little written in its defence. Paul Wilkins provides a rigorous and systematic response to the critics, drawing not only on the work of Carl Rogers, but also of those central to more recent developments in theory and practice (including Goff Barrett-Lennard, Dave Mearns, Jerold Bozarth, Germain Leitauer and Brian Thorne). It traces the epistemological foundations of person-centred therapy and places the approach in its social and political context. Examining the central tenets of the approach, each chapter sets out concisely the criticisms and then counters these with arguments from the person-centred perspective. Chapters cover debates in relation to: - the model of the person - self-actualization - the core conditions - non-directivity - resistance to psychopathology - reflection, and - boundary issues. Person-Centred Therapy in Focus fulfills two important purposes: firstly to answer the criticisms of those who have attacked the person-centred approach and secondly to cultivate a greater critical awareness and understanding within the approach itself. As such it makes a significant contribution to the person-centred literature and provides an excellent resource for use in training.
Integrating common factors research and practice, Person-Centered Approaches for Counselors by H. D. Cornelius-White highlights the deep social justice roots of the approaches and shows counselors in training and experienced therapists how to integrate person-centered process and outcome measures to improve therapy outcomes. For each of the person-centered approaches covered (including classical, focusing, emotion-focused, intersubjective, and interdisciplinary orientations) this accessible book covers historical development, theory, process, evaluation, and application. Person-Centered Approaches for Counselors is part of the SAGE Theories for Counselors Series that includes Psychoanalytic Approaches for Counselors by Frederick Redekop and Cognitive Behavioral Approaches for Counselors by Diane Shea.
From the Foreword `It is an honour to be asked to write a foreword for this new book by Michael McMillan. I have been excited about this book ever since I read early drafts of its first two chapters some time ago at the birth of the project. At different times thereafter I have read other parts and my consistent impression has been that this is an author who has both a sophisticated academic understanding of the material and a great skill in communicating that widely. Those two qualities do not often go together! The book is about change. After a first chapter in which the author introduces us to the person-centred concept of the person, chapter two is devoted to the change process within the client, including a very accessible description of Rogers' process model. Chapter three goes on to explore why and how change occurs in the human being, while chapter four introduces the most up-to-date person-centred theory in relation to the nature of the self concept and its changing process. Chapters five and six explore why change occurs in therapy and the conditions that facilitate that change, while chapter seven looks beyond the core conditions to focus on the particular quality of presence, begging the question as to whether this is a transpersonal/transcendental quality or an intense experiencing of the core conditions themselves. This is an intensely modern book particularly in its postmodern emphasis. Rogers is sometimes characterised as coming from modernist times but he can also be seen as one of the early post modernists in his emphasis on process more than outcome and relationship more than personal striving. The modern nature of the book is also emphasised by a superb analysis of the relationship between focussing and person-centred therapy in Chapter five, linking also with Polanyi's notion of indwelling in this and other chapters. In suggesting that in both focussing and person-centred therapy the therapist is inviting the client to 'indwell' himself or herself, the author provides a framework for considering many modern perceptions of the approach including notions such as 'presence' and ' relational depth'. Also, the link with focussing is modern in the sense that the present World Association for the approach covers a fairly broad family including traditional person-centred therapists, experiential therapists, focussing-oriented therapists and process-guiding therapists. Important in this development is the kind of dialogue encouraged by the present book' - Dave Mearns, Strathclyde University The belief that change occurs during the therapeutic process is central to all counselling and psychotherapy. The Person-Centred Approach to Therapeutic Change examines how change can be facilitated by the counsellor offering empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence. The Person-Centred Approach to Therapeutic Change outlines the main theoretical cornerstones of the person-centred approach and then, applying these, describes why change occurs as a result of a person-centred therapeutic encounter. The author explores the counselling relationship as an environment in which clients can open themselves up to experiences they have previously found difficult to acknowledge and to move forward. Integral to the person-centred approach is Carl Rogers' radical view that change should be seen as an ongoing process rather than an alteration from one fixed state to another. In Rogers' view psychological health is best achieved by the person who is able to remain in a state of continual change. Such a person is open to all experiences and is therefore able to assimilate and adapt to new experiences, whether 'good' or 'bad'. By focusing explicitly on how change is theorized and facilitated in counselling, this book goes to the heart of person-centred theory and practice, making it essential reading for trainees and practitioners alike.
