Using a Person-centred Approach in Early Years Practice: A Therapeutic Guide for Students

Using a Person-Centred Approach in Early Years Practice reflects on the principles of person-centred counselling, developed by Carl Rogers. It guides students and practitioners to use this approach within the sphere of early childhood education, providing radical new ways of promoting emotions, emotional regulation and well-being.

This accessible resource reveals how a therapeutic approach with a humanistic perspective can be understood and woven into early years professional practice by practitioners themselves. Exploring how educators can be supportive through empathy, understanding and congruent in developing relationships, this text provides:

• an overview and rationale to using a person-centred approach
• its association to emotions, health and well-being
• the role of therapeutic play in early years communities, from child, parents and wider team
• how a person-centred approach can impact leadership and teamwork
• its increasing necessity to supporting a child’s physical and emotional development during the pandemic and beyond

With informed practice examples, case studies and thought-provoking questions regarding a PCA, this book will be essential and informative reading for students studying early years or early childhood courses and to practitioners looking to improve and enhance their practice.

Amanda Norman is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead of the B.A. (Hons) Childhood Studies at the University of Winchester, UK.