Books

In private correspondence the author, Godfrey Barrett-Lennard writes -

"Writing this book was often like an extended inner conversation with varied imagined readers: student and teacher companions, colleagues with theoretical and research interest, practitioner-helpers in counselling and related disciplines, and inquiring individuals of other backgrounds...

"The 'journey' in my title is the evolutionary course of a human science and helping system, rooted in the field of psychotherapy and counselling....

"I have brought together the contributions of many people in addition to Carl Rogers himself, within a fresh perspective. The first large question addressed is that of how the innovation, reflected in Rogers' thought and the new therapy, came so vigorously into being in the time and place that it did and two chapters tackle this issue in a previously untravelled path of exploration. A vigorous new system of thought and practice is likely to pass through a cohesive 'school' phase, and then become more pluralistic. Chapter 4 is a bird's eye view of main steps in the development of ideas, practice and research through the first quarter century of the new school; and Chapter 5 articulates its basic stance, constructs and theoretical vision, as evolved during this phase. The big six-chapter third part of the book, 'Principles in Practice', spans areas of process from individual therapy to large groups and community, and speaks in descriptive and studied vein to the many areas and interests now represented in the approach.

The fourth group of chapters focuses on the story and contributions of research in psychotherapy and other fields that this system has spawned, from earliest beginnings to current challenges. The final, two-chapter part of the book articulates long-term continuities, present activity, and aspects of new thought. It includes a many-sided chapter on training, culminating in a review of the current international span of extended or full programs of study and training in this approach. The ending chapter includes my own view of continuities and core features of thought over the long haul, and maps ways of further growing our theory and range of practice."

"... This work has grown from ... a career-long involvement in the approach itself [including my 1950s years in Chicago] and in reaching for an expanded frame of understanding. Extended engagement with Rogers and a community of other vital contributors has nourished my search...

"If you as reader have a sense of being in company with me, in parts of this book, I would welcome direct contact and sharing of ideas or reactions....This preface is a kind of letter... and it comes with my good wishes and the hope that my book honours the trust of your interest."

It contains more than 1,600 references of articles, chapters, books, papers, thesis and dissertations on the person-centered approach, existing in Spanish.

The price is $50.00 M.N. in México and US $10.00 internationally, plus mail and handling.

I hope that it may become a tool for research and teaching on the person-centered approach and its applications.

If you have trouble obtaining this book try contacting Alberto Segrera <albertos.segrera@uia.mx> 

Family Self and Psychotherapy provides a comprehensive person-centered look at the family as the essential element of society and is essential reading for all professionals and volunteers working with families, children and individuals. In this book, Gaylin also explores our human need to be interconnected and its implications for both individual and family therapy.
The volume is informally divided into three sections. The first section deals with the centrality of the family to our species as a whole and to us as individuals. The next section addresses the optimistic philosophical foundations of the person-centered approach: the tapestry of the self and its core drive towards psychological well-being. The last section—the heart of the book—deals with the principles and pragmatics of the person-centered approach to working with individuals and families. In Family Self and Psychotherapy Gaylin asserts that therapeutic relationships are more likely to thrive when viewed from this positive perspective especially when therapy operates within the individual’s family context.

… meaningful for practitioners in, or people committed to, the Person-Centred Approach and who are interested in a spiritual dimension … important reading for those people who are searching for their own answers in trying to make sense of these type of questions and have no prior knowledge or interest in the Person-Centred Approach.

Irene Fairhurst, from her Foreword

Marlis Pörtner interviewed client-centred therapist in Europe & the USA about the development of their work & what they considered to be the essence of their work.

She was interested in the criticism that Client-Centred Therapists are thin on theory yet claim to be able to heal all manner of ills. Marlis Pörtner could not accept either the scientific devaluation of the CC methodology nor it's sectarian claim to omnipotence.

The many personal statements, arranged thematically by the author, make this book refreshingly immediate, accessible and stimulates readers to draw their own conclusions. 

And yes, you've guessed it - I'm one of the interviewees. (Sadly, never published in English.)

The author focuses on the relationship between an adult son and his mother, describing the son's process of affirming his adult identity free of his mother's critical dominance. It includes his processing of events in his childhood that left him desperately still seeking love from her as an adult, causing him to remain living with her and experiencing a verbally abusive and crititical relationship. Peter Schmidt in his Foreword writes that this book ‘presents the state of the art of this approach to counselling and psychotherapy and Richard Bryant-Jefferies’ descriptions show his thinking and working in up-to-date relational categories. In the last decades the centrality of relationship for counselling and therapy has become important to almost all orientations and modalities. Such a relationship-oriented understanding of person-centred work equally focuses on both the intrapersonal and interpersonal. These aspects are clearly visible in the narrative of this book and the explanations and interpretations given’.  

Workplace counselling is widely available, taking many forms, but essentially offering help and support to enable people to resolve workplace and personal issues that are affecting their work performance. The NHS is the largest employer in the UK and the workplace counselling sessions here described focus on issues of racial oppression and discrimination, bereavement, and workplace stress.