Playwork Practice as a Person-Centred Approach

There is a key piece of literature that underpins all that we do when working with
children and young people, and it is not one traditionally associated with playwork
practice. It is the work and writings of Carl Rogers, the original thinker, counsellor
and creator of the person-centred approach (Rogers, 1980). As experienced
playworkers and leaders, we do not focus only on play types, play values, play
theories and literature. We also place the person-centred approach at the centre of
our practice and ethos. This approach, developed between 1940 and 1960 by Carl
Rogers, revolutionised ways of working with people (Merry, 2002), and we believe
that it can transform childcare and playwork practice.
Rogers’ work began in the field of counselling and within his lifetime, he
encouraged many people throughout the world to ‘be themselves with confidence’
(quoted in Thorne, 1992 [[page reference]]). His approach moved away from the
idea that the therapist was the expert towards a theory that trusted the innate ability
(known as the ‘self-actualising tendency’) of human beings to find fulfilment of their
personal potential. The principal ideas from this theory that we believe guide our
practice when working with children and young people are those of ‘self-actualisation’
and the use of the ‘core conditions’.