Sheila Riach

General information

PCT Scotland is an association of person-centred counsellors and therapists based in Scotland. It was founded in 1987 by a group of like minded practitioners who wanted to encourage the development of the person-centred approach in Scotland through training, groups and therapy. The person-centred (or client-centred) model of therapy is based on the writings and teaching of Dr Carl Rogers (1902-1987) who was an American psychologist. Starting from a background as a scientist, he developed a radical new model of therapy after becoming dissatisfied with the psychoanalytic model that was predominant at the time. Amongst his many other achievements, he was the first psychotherapist to record sessions with his clients, thus demystifying what went on in the therapy room.

The person-centred approach to human relationships has as its main emphasis the belief that every person has the potential for growth and change; that the client is his or her best expert on his/her life; and that the work of the counsellor/therapist is to foster this potential by embodying core attitudes of unconditional positive regard, empathy and therapist congruence in the counselling relationship. Rather than presenting herself as an expert on what the client’s problems are or how they can be fixed, the therapist’s expertise is in facilitating a helping relationship in which the client can develop a clearer sense of himself in order to move forward in his life.