Hi Drew!
Yes, it does seem that "person centered planning" is just the medical model
wrapped up in new clothes. For example, I read some information from the
Easter Seal Society in Tucson, AZ, USA, about how they do "person centered"
planning with their assistive technology clients. They used a holistic approach in
which all family members, caregivers, rehab professionals, docs, and whoever
else was involved in the client's life to "determine" what the disabled person
needed. So, there we go. When I read it, I thought, "Wow! With all those
people involved, especially when a young person is the client, will that
disabled person's voice be heard above the din of the "expert" opinions? If I were
the client, I would not only feel outnumbered, I would also feel that my
privacy was being violated.
As a former counselor for disabled students, I know how hard it is to deal
with all the external forces around the disabled person -- so many competing
interests. I think that the creator of person centered therapy, Carl Rogers,
would not know his creation if he saw how it was used and misused these days.
His basic premise involved "genuineness, empathy, and unconditional positive
regard." No one would argue that these are basic qualities all helping
professionals (and everyone, for that matter) should have, but beyond that, the person
centered approach these days still focuses squarely on the individual and not
on society's disabling atiitudes and practices.
Best wishes,
Beth
Beth Omansky Gordon
Ph.D. Candidate
The University of Queensland
Brisbane, Australia
In a message dated 8/20/2003 10:54:04 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
> Subj: person centered planning...........
> Date: 8/20/2003 10:54:04 AM Pacific Daylight Time
> From: <A HREF="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A>
> To: <A HREF="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A>
> Sent from the Internet
>
>
>
> What area your ideas on Person Centered Planning? To me it sounds as if
> we're psycholgising people in an acceptable way, it sounds like professionals
> camouflaging their way into people's lives........
>
> ________________End of message______________________
>
> Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List
> are now located at:
>
> www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
>
> You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.
>
________________End of message______________________
Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List
are now located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.
|