PCA Personal Development Group, Scotland "Being Personal with the PCA: are you talking about it or are you doing/being it?"

In partnership with PCT Scotland PCA Personal Development Group, Scotland "Being Personal with the PCA: are you talking about it or are you doing/being it?" Monday 17th July 2023 5.30 - 8.30pm Zoom and Chat Room facilitated by Terry Daly Discussion moderated by Alex Arthur and Barbara Malinen plus further dates: Monday 28th August 2023 Monday 30th October 2023 "Experience is, for me, the highest authority. The touchstone of validity is my own experience." Carl Rogers, Page 23-24 - On Becoming a Person (1961) "By feeling understood and accepted in their training experiences, by being in contact with genuineness and absence of facade in their instructors, they would grow into more and more competent counsellors. There would be as much focus in such training on the interpersonal experience as on the intellectual learning. It would be recognized that no amount of knowledge of tests and measures, or of counselling theories, or of diagnostic procedures could make the trainee more effective in his personal encounter with his clients." Carl Rogers in Carl R Rogers & Barry Stevens Person To Person: The Problem of Being Human (1967)

In June 2022 an open meeting of Person Centred practitioners and trainee counsellors was held on Zoom to discuss our concerns about the difficulty for trainees and new practitioners in finding open, experiential groups free from assessment. This meeting/group was a great opportunity to continue and develop a discussion some of us had been having for some time.

We are now proposing to continue with a rolling programme of meetings, in partnership with PCT Scotland - on Zoom - in which we hope to come together every couple of months in order to deepen our exploration and begin to take action.

This will continue to include seeking ways in which we can risk ourselves, meet each other as deeply as we are able, and most importantly open this space out to specifically include students, trainees and new practitioners.

However we also believe it is important to begin to take action so we are hoping to start by gathering together the different experiences and stories of participants' training experiences (whenever those happened). We would like to hear or see these in whatever form you feel works best for you - and we are hoping to collate these pieces together in one place that is accessible to all in the group. Terry is overseeing this gathering of stories but in the first instance if you would like to share your experience of your training please contact Barbara for details.

The next meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday 17th July 2023 5.30 - 8.30pm. This is a free event and as with the last meeting it will be ticketed - we want to offer CPD spaces to those who are interested in exploring both action towards training and the challenges and rewards of relationships which don't avoid the difficult stuff.

If you are interested in the endeavour of exploring if and how we can change the landscape of Person Centred training in Scotland, please come along and join us - we wish to find ways of taking action and to contribute to better Person Centred training and we also feel it is important to make sure that whilst we are doing we are also able to hang on to the being... As before, people will be able to dip in and out, and you are invited to bring with you whatever you need to feel comfortable (or just to get through the evening!) If you have any questions please contact Barbara Malinen email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  mobile: 07801072153 Link for event: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/being-personal-with-the-pca-are-you-talking-or-are-you-doingbeing-tickets-649628585587?aff=ebdsoporgprofile