ABSTRACT
Does it matter that it appears difficult or even impossible to pigeon-hole the person-centred approach in terms of a particular philosophy or meta-paradigm? Well, no. This is both because it sits well with the ‘anti-establishment’ origins of the approach and the notion that it is a revolutionary paradigm and because throughout the history of the approach,
practice. The person-centred approach is not theory-driven but neither is it atheoretical. Thinking clearly about the approach, being fully conversant with its theory and, for example, tracing the conceptual and linguistic development of person-centred thought as it relates to the Western intellectual are all very important but ultimately the value of theory lies more in its construction than in its propagation. Theory informs practice but does not dictate it and is, or should be, out of immediate awareness in the moment of encounter.
