The Person-Centred Association Conference 2021

Colin Lago, D. Litt, was Director of the Counselling Service at the University of Sheffield, U.K., from 1987 – 2003. He now works as an independent counsellor/psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor. Trained initially as an engineer, Colin went on to become a full time youth worker in London and a teacher in Jamaica before becoming a counselling practitioner. He is a Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Deeply committed to transcultural concerns within psychotherapy, he has published articles, videos and books on the subject. To balance professional demands he loves to run, bike and dance!

In relation to this talk, Colin notes that he was fortunate to come into the profession in its early days, 1977, the same year as BAC emerged from the Standing Conference! Colin first came across the work of Carl Rogers whilst initially training as a youth worker in his early twenties, (some seven years before he trained as a therapist). He found Carl’s books by accident whilst perusing the college library shelves and was immediately impacted by the resonance inside himself of these ideas ‘which spoke to him directly’. They helped to affirm his own confidence in his beliefs and approach to others.

Inevitably, there are many strands to this developing story, as with everyone’s biography, but Colin was fortunate in joining with his new colleague who already had worked with Rogers in international gatherings. Inevitably, attendance at international conferences and large group experiences soon followed, enabling Colin to meet colleagues from many parts of the world. Such connections form the background against which this presentation will be based.

Belgian clinical Psychologist, Person Centered / Experiential Psychotherapist, now living and working in Germany. Supervisor of the Flemish Association for PC /Experiential Psychotherapy and Counselling. Member of the editorial board of the World Organization for PC / Experiential Psychotherapy.

Dion worked for over 30 years in residential psychiatry with people suffering psychotic functioning, where he and his team translated Prouty’s Pre-Therapy into a multidisciplinary therapeutic ward milieu. Now working in an occupational rehabilitation service for people with multiple problems.

Certified Trainer and Coordinator of the Pre-Therapy International Network. Publishes on Pre-Therapy (see: www.pre-therapy.com under “references”), supervises practitioners and teams, and gives lectures and workshops in 4 languages.

Dr. Divine Charura is a full Professor of Counselling Psychology at York St John University (England). He is a Chartered Psychologist, and Counselling Psychologist with the British Psychological Society. He is registered as a Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council in England. Divine is also an Honorary Fellow of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy and an Adult Psychotherapist.

Divine’s psychotherapeutic interests are in exploring the therapeutic relationship when working with, loss, diversity, psychological distress, Trauma, love, relationships and their impact of on being. Divine has co-authored and edited numerous books in counselling, psychology and psychotherapy. These include Love and Therapy: In Relationship [co-edited with Stephen Paul] and with Colin Lago has co-edited the following books The Person-Centred Counselling and Psychotherapy Handbook: Origins, Developments and Current Applications and Black Identities + White therapies: Race respect and diversity.

Divine is a lover of photography, art, music and outdoor pursuits.

Margaret Warner is a Professor at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology of Argosy University, Chicago. She is one of the most original thinkers and philosophers within the international Person-centred Approach. Her work on Fragile Process was first published in 1991 and the theory has developed further over the years.

Sheila is person-centred therapist, facilitator and consultant/supervisor. Until very recently, she was the Director of Studies Course Leader for the MSc Contemporary Person-Centred Psychotherapy and Applications at the Metanoia Institute in London. She is a former convenor of the BAPCA, and former member of the board of the WAPCECP. She works in the UK and in the Czechia where she has lived for the last 14 years. She was a member of the UKCP Training and Universities College and was involved in the process of getting the titles ‘person-centred psychotherapist’ and ‘client-centred psychotherapist’ registered in the UKCP. She is co-editor of two books and author of a number of chapters, the most recent being Bozarth, J. D., & Haugh, S. (2024). Unconditional Positive Regard. In M. Cooper, G. di Malta, M. M. O’Hara, Y. Gololob, & S. Stephen (Eds.), The Handbook of person-centred Psychotherapy and Counselling (3rd edition, pp. 200–211). Bloomsbury Academic.