Person-centredness, a starting point

I have been so excited recently to delve a little more into why I think Zen has a part to play in my research.  There is something about embodiment in there; and about relationship.  However, articulating my ideas has been a huge challenge.  Zen is all about direct experience - so how can I distil something about this multifaceted, 6-year experience into concepts and words without shrinking it? 


I need to start with the here and now.  How am I in my body today?  I woke at 6am.  The light is beautiful - it reminds me of Aberdeenshire - cold clarity.  I feel warm and energised.  Yesterday at our Student International Community of Practice I learned so much about person-centredness.  The others' supportive welcome demonstrated the power of it.  I came away feeling valued - and had some questions to consider:

1: How will my research questions (or methods) reflect who I am as a person - (and Zen student)?

2: How will I develop confidence?

***

My meanderings between Zen and Person-centredness seem nebulous.  I keep seeing connections as I read and think, but can't quite put them into words (mis-typed as 'worlds'!).

Thinking now of the BAMT conference I attended last weekend, and Hilary Moss's keynote - two questions:

1. What do you need?  

2. How can I help?


***

Zen doesn't emphasise the teaching of the Buddha, instead it focuses on the practice.  However, the first noble truth resonates with my research: "Life is suffering" (dukkha).  Pain is bound up with life; we all experience it in some form. It is the archetypal subjective experience, discussed in philosophy from the very beginning.  How we respond to pain can be influenced by many factors.  Zen practice offers a method for examining these responses.  It's not easy, but it is simple - notice, and come back to the breath.

***

Person-centredness has a sense of dynamism about it. It is not a 'state', it's a set of interlinking processes (at least, I understand it that way).  We are all in a state of becoming.  Change is happening.  Also, it allows us to do our best with what we have - meeting the "how can I help?" question with what we can bring to that moment.  

I can only be as helpful as I am aware.  How present am I?  How available can I be?  How much of my own 'stuff' is in the room?  These questions are important for therapists (arguably for everyone).  Zen practice, alongside therapy and supervision, has a tendency to tune up my awareness.  It doesn't mean I am 100% all the time (far from it), but it seems to help.

***

I feel they seem aligned in general.  However, I am wondering about tensions between person-centredness and Zen.  What appeals to me in Zen is the focus on simplicity and paring things right back - not adding anything 'extra'.  Direct experience is there at the core; informed by guiding 'precepts' or principles.

I look at Person-centred practice frameworks through my 'zen lens' and think - this seems very complex.  What does it boil down to?  I wonder if it's about being present? 

 o0o








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