What is person centeredness?

I was asked a while ago “What do you do?” I replied with a long drawn out explanation of the tools we use and how it benefits people in planning for themselves. The inquiring person looked at me with a bewildered stare. I realized that this was for two reasons; 1. The concept is common sense so it is strange to some people that we have a “service” that does this, 2. It really isn’t all that complicated. At that moment I also realized how lucky I am to be paid to do my “job”; Person Directed Planning Facilitator.

Person centeredness is an innate, common sense way of life. The law of attraction, character education, “the secret”, purpose driven life; they all convey the same message as Person centeredness. When we allow our ego into our thoughts and actions is when we lose track of our innate ability to be person centered. Our ego is what encourages us to be selfish; doing what is easier rather than what is best or desired, projecting our values onto others. When we remove our ego in our daily lives we begin to consider uniqueness of people; we have a genuine respect for what is important to people and what kinds of support they may need to be successful. This could be as simple as time for a tea in the morning or your child needing that extra five minutes to snooze before getting ready for school.

Person centeredness is attracting the positives. There are many negative situations in life. However, there is always a positive way to address them. If we truly focus on what works best for us as individuals, free of ego, we will find the positives and build on them. It is about empowering all people to live life their way, free of judgement with the supports they choose in order to be successful in goal attainment and health and safety.

Person centeredness is NOT a new way of providing service to select segments of the population. It is a lifestyle that I truly believe we were intended to live at creation. It is something that we have complicated and given a label to so that we could reintroduce it to a world that has lost sight of what people are really meant to do.

They say it takes four weeks to really make something a habit. Give it a try, consciously take your ego out of decisions and actions for four weeks. Consider the positive side of every situation, no matter how difficult, consider the uniqueness of each person you encounter, ask people and convey your own needs and wishes to others. It will become something that is so natural you’ll wonder how you lived without it. It will change your life and the way you view others. It will bring more positive experiences and thoughts to your days, just like it was meant to be.

So to answer the initial question, there is a statement that I have used for years and heard a colleague use the other day, “My job is to work myself out of a job”. If my job is ever finished, all people will unconsciously be person centred in their thoughts and actions. In the meantime, I’ll accept the fringe benefit of getting paid to do something that I was born to do.