PCE Europe Ethical framework

The Person Centred and Experiential Approach (henceforth called PCE) respects the individual as the subjective expert in their own life, possessing an innate movement towards psychological growth. This understanding of human behavior provides a foundational ethical attitude for the person-centred and experiential practitioners toward the client, of non-directivity, respect and trust.

Ethical Committee
Members of the committee: Paul Diaconescu – Romania, Samantha Werthen – Belgium, Willow Langdale Smith – UK, Marc Alexander Dressler – GermanyThe Person-Centred and Experiential Approach (hereafter referred to as PCE) respects the individual as the subjective expert in their own life, possessing an innate tendency toward psychological growth. This understanding of human behavior provides a foundational ethical attitude for person-centred and experiential practitioners toward the client, characterized by non-directivity, respect, and trust.The function of the Ethical Committee

1. Design, implementation, and updating of the Ethical Framework in collaboration with members through roundtables and the General Assembly (GA).
   This was carried out between 2020 and 2021, when it was approved by the GA, by a working group coordinated by Claudia Akrimi, with members Georgeta Niculescu, Samantha Werthen, Janet Tolan, Willow Langdale Smith, Fleur Farish-Edwards, and Paul Diaconescu.
2. Design and implementation of an educational program through presentations, workshops, and roundtables. At present, we offer an ethics seminar that is provided periodically. We are currently working on developing a framework for training trainers, to give more people the opportunity to participate in the seminar. The pilot for this seminar took place in 2024 in Cyprus, organized by Photini Ipsmiller-Demetriou, with the support of the Pancyprian Association for Psychotherapists (PAP) and the Chamber for Person-Centered Psychotherapy, and hosted by UCLan Cyprus.
3. Offering guidance in response to member requests, supporting them with ethical issues and dilemmas. This is planned as a future service.

The long-term objective of this project is to change the way mental health practitioners engage with ethics, and how they can use ethics as a facilitator for better relationships and services.