PCE-CfD Student Profiles

Pam Clark

Pam is a PCE-CfD counsellor and supervisor working for NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershiren Talking Therapies.

Pam says completing these courses have helped her career both in the NHS and privately and said "I am now a supervisor and counsellor in my service. I am able to model the person-centred experiential way of working to my colleagues and supervisee’s. I am enjoying working as a supervisor and counsellor within the NHS, and finding a way through the challenges of working in a person-centred way within a medical model."

Both generic PCE-CfD and PCE-CfD supervisor training has embedded and refreshed my person-centred practice. It has deepened my understanding and commitment to working in a person-centred way with clients and supervisee’s in an NHS environment. I am passionate about working in a person-centred, experiential way with clients and supervisee’s. I value the training given, and the way this has been delivered modelling person-centred, experiential principals.

Asked what aspect of the training she enjoyed most, Pam said "I enjoyed the experiential parts of the training, getting stuck in and doing things, even when this is scary. Working in a circle and having time to experience myself and others on the course has been very enriching and valuable to me. Having tutors modelling experiential learning has also been very valuable – being given the time and space to immerse in the person-centred and experiential."

Commenting on the support received during the training, Pam said the tutors and the meta supervisors were very supportive and approachable, always going back to answer any queries and supporting when she needed any help and guidance.

Pam has attended refresher days and twilight sessions and found them to be rewarding every time saying "I feel that it is a challenge to work in this person-centred experiential way within the NHS, so these are great to reconnect regularly to the model, and with like-minded colleagues and tutors."

Pam's advice for anyone considering the PCE-CfD training is "do it, it can be a scary thought to undertake further training, however, in my experience it has been very rewarding, inspiring and a boost to confidence. Don’t get hung up on submitting recordings, believe in yourself and submit.  Even if your recording does not meet adherence, you can and will learn a lot from it, feedback in my experience is very good and constructive".

Natalie Knutton

Natalie works as a therapist at Trent Psychological Therapies (Trent PTS). She completed the PCE-CfD course in March 2022 and has subsequently attend a refresher day. 

 I am so much more aware of how I practice as a therapist than I was before the course. I work in a more experiential way and I am grateful I work in an IAPT environment where this is encouraged.

Asked how she thinks the training will help with her career, Natalie said "I find myself being more mindful of my presence in the space and of how my words can be received. Despite my integrative training, I admit I hadn’t fully comprehended how powerful the person-centred experiential approach could be. Studying the course and fully embracing the modality has opened my eyes to how this experiential approach can effect change. The healing nature of simply being heard blows my mind every day and it makes me a better therapist". 

Natalie said the aspect of the training she enjoyed the most was the face-to-face interactions with peers and tutors and said "I think this course is one of those experiences that benefits from having 'in-person' interactions, at least in the beginning. The online days also worked well, I liked the mix and the convenience. For me I liked having the face-to-face days first".

Natalie believes she enjoyed the course as much as she did because the tutors modelled the modality so well. She added "I can’t stress enough how reluctant initially I was to attend, feeling required to do it due to my role. But I immediately felt an affinity with the modality and I can hand on heart say this is because of the tutor’s modelling of PCE-CfD and his delivery. I really do believe a lot of the experience of learning comes from the teachers who educate and so I feel very grateful I had a teacher who was able to reignite my interest. I just want to say thank you for delivering such a fantastic course."

The refresher day was informative and Natalie felt reassured knowing others were feeling the same way as herself. "My imposter syndrome really improved by being around others in the same boat. It gave me a blast of motivation I sorely needed. My only wish is that there were more refresher days to be able to immerse myself back into the modality fully, away from the routine of work."

Natalie's advice for anyone considering the training is jump in and completely immerse yourself and you won’t be disappointed saying she thinks you have to do it this way to fully appreciate the modality and it is so worth it. "It has completely changed how I work and my philosophical stance. I would say be prepared to reflect on your existing skills and see it as an opportunity to 'be' the approach."