Vision Statement

PCE Europe started as the Network of European Associations for Person Centred and Experiential Psychotherapy and Counselling (NEAPCEPC) and was founded in 1998 in the city of Luxembourg on the occasion of the Annual Meeting of the European Person-/Client-Centred Organisations in Luxembourg.

The terms "Person–Centred" and "Experiential" and the concepts and processes they encompass have an extensive, rich and evolving history. The choice of the phrase "Person-Centred and Experiential" is intended to promote continued dialogue and development. The name of the network has been changed to PCE Europe in 2009 at the Szeged meeting for reasons of practicality.

The Statutes and Bylaws, which are the basis for the functioning of PCE Europe were agreed in 1999 at the 2nd General Assembly (GA) in Athens. They were repeatedly changed and completely revised in 2021, when our network became a registered association in Austria (NGO). Small amendments were made in the subsequent GAs.

PCE Europe contains 34 member organisations throughout Europe and since 2022, PCE Europe has also introduced individual membership. PCE Europe has become a chapter of the World Association for Psychotherapy and Counselling (WAPCEPC) in 2009. 

PCE Europe is a member of EAP (European Association for Psychotherapy) and of EAC (European Association for Counselling).

PCE Europe has a  Board of a maximum of 7 members who work on a voluntary basis.

PCE Europe has the following goals:

• to further co-operation between person-centred and experiential associations, institutions and groups in Europe, especially in the field of psychotherapy and counselling, e.g. through common projects and mutual support
• to support and facilitate European person-centred and experiential associations, institutions, groups and individuals in their work
  
• to promote the person-centred and experiential paradigms and to support and encourage scientific study as well as the improvement of practise in this paradigm, specifically in the field of psychotherapy and counselling
  
• to engage in socio-political processes to ensure the continued contribution of the paradigm in health, social insurance, education, academic contexts and other areas of society
  
• to have a commitment to support and/or organise European PCE conferences, symposia etc., especially if the WAPCEPC does not hold its conference in Europe in a specific year, and ensure that there is close collaboration between local/national association members organising such conferences and PCE Europe
  
• to foster the exchange of research, theory and practice among a variety of language groups through existing journals and other means
  
• as a Chapter of WAPCEPC to work together closely with the World Association
  
• to work together with the European Association for Psychotherapy (EAP) and other key associations
  
• to exchange ideas with other psychotherapeutic and counselling orientations and to stimulate co-operation in the field of psychotherapy and counselling

The aim of the Network is to provide a European-wide forum for those professionals in science and practice who:

• have a commitment to the primary importance of the relationship between client and therapist in psychotherapy and counselling
  
• hold as central to the therapeutic endeavor the client's actualising process and phenomenological world
  
• embody in their work those conditions and attitudes conducive to therapeutic movement first postulated by Carl Rogers
  
• have a commitment to an understanding of both clients and therapists as persons, who are at the same time individuals and in relationship with others and their diverse environments and cultures
  
• have an openness to the development and elaboration of person-centred and experiential theory in light of current and future practice and research.