HOME	Person Centred Thinking Champions and Coaches
A Person Centred Thinking Champion helps people learn about how to use Person Centred Thinking everyday.	This is a page for people who want to find out more about being a Champion of Person Centred Thinking, (also known as a 'Person Centred Thinking Coach'). We will try to answer these questions: What is a Person Centred Thinking Champion? Why Do We Need Champions? How do Champions promote Person Centred Practice? We will also try to provide a place for useful information and resources for Person Centred Thinking Champions and Coaches in Central Lancashire.
What is a Person Centred Thinking Champion?	A Person Centred Thinking Champion or Coach is someone who trys to make sure their organisation and their team uses Person Centred Approaches whenever they support people. They help their team learn how to use Person Centred Thinking Tools and apply them in their everyday work. Person Centred Thinking Tools are methods of listening and learning from the person, and the people who know and care about the person, focussing on what is important to individuals, and acting on this in alliance with their family and friends. Used properly, the tools can be built up into a personal portfolio or 'Person Centred Description' that reflects what is important to the person, and what makes great support for that person.
Why Do We Need Champions?	We need Person Centred Thinking Champions, because evidence and experience shows that person centred plans are more likely to be implemented, and lead to real lasting change in the person's life, if services are trying to build Person Centred Approaches into their everyday work - not just every six months when it's time for a planning meeting or a review. Organisations like CSCI will be increasingly asking for evidence that services are using Person Centred Approaches in their everyday work. This means everyone in the organisation needs to learn how to use Person Centred Thinking tools, which means that there need to be some people in every human service organisation whose job it is to explain and teach how to use the tools, and to make sure that they are being used everyday. This is a big change for organisations, as big as bringing in Person Centred Planning in the first place. People who lead organisations need to lead from the front, and be Person Centred Thinking Champions too!
What Do Coaches Do?	Coaches and Champions need to know and understand how Person Centred Thinking Tools work. They need to explain this to the people around them and support them in learning how the tools work too. When people are first learning, they will demonstrate and explain the Person Centred Skills. Then the champion will encourage the learners to practice the skills in their everyday work, giving them feedback and reinforcement, until they are using the skills naturally. Champions can coach the skills in all kinds of situations - for example in supervision, in team meetings and by demonstrating person centred thinking in practice. "To know, and not to use, is not yet to know"  The Buddha
Documents, articles and resources for Person Centred Thinking Coaches/ Champions	From A One Page Profile to A Person Centred Plan or Support Plan: Detailed discussion of how to build up a set of person centred information with a person and their allies, based on the person's own priorities, using person centred thinking tools. From Facilitator to Person Centred Thinking Coach: A document discussing why we need to bring Person Centred Thinking into the everyday work of organisations. Building Person Centred Approaches Into Our Everyday Work: A powerpoint presentation based on the article above. Who are the Key People to Lead Person Centred Change In Central Lancashire? The difference between a Facilitator and a Champion How Professionals Can Help Develop Person Centred Practice: Ways professionals can introduce Person Centred Approaches, contribute to plans, safeguard quality and integrate person centredness into their work with individuals, with teams and within their organisations - if you don't do it, who else will?  Moving Toward a Person Centred Culture: a report and reflection on conversations taking place in Central Lancashire about what a person centred culture could mean, and how we can get there.  Champions/Coaches Checklist: Which tools can you use effectively? Which are you able to informally teach to others, using natural learning opportunities? Use this checklist to think about how well you are using and sharing person centred thinking tools. Using Stories as a Coaching Tool Major Misconceptions About Person Centred Approaches: Some of the misconceptions that are still often held by services and professionals about person centred approaches, now addressed head on.  Punctuation and PCP: How we can use 'punctuation' to help our work make sense. Five Methods of Thinking: if one method of thinking is not bearing fruit, try another. The role of the Person Centred Thinking Coach: Mary Beth Lepkowsky and Helen Sanderson talk about coaching in this YouTube Video Coaching Tool: The Person Centred Self-Audit: Mary Beth and Helen discuss a tool that helps coaches develop their practice in this YouTube video. Coaching Tool: "5 Whys and a what": A YouTube video featuring Helen Sanderson and Mary Beth Lepkowsky talking about a tool that is useful to coaches who are helping people reflect on their person centred practices. More articles here soon!
Thinking Together About 'Risk' in People's Lives	A Person Centred Approach to Risk: An article about a set of person centred thinking tools designed to deliver a more balanced and person centred approach to risk decision making than traditional risk-averse assessment procedures.
I want to find out more!	Person Centred Thinking Tools and approaches have been crafted and tempered during the work, experience and learning of lots of people, including Michael Smull and Helen Sanderson from the Learning Community for Person Centred Practices, Simon Duffy and Gill Goodwin from Paradigm, and from the work of pioneers like John O'Brien, Beth Mount , Marsha Forest and Jack Pearpoint. If you are in the Central Lancashire area, and want to find out more about being a Person Centred Thinking Coach, or about introducing Person Centred Thinking into the everyday work of your service, please contact Max Neill or Helen Smith (PCP Coordinators) by clicking HERE.
Links	Link To Person Centred Thinking Tools Page Link To PCP Training Page Link To PCP Links Page Personalisation in Central Lancashire Person Centred Poetry and Stories 'Good To Great' In East Lancashire Thinking About Our Person Centred Work With John O'Brien Chorley and South Ribble PCP Discussion Group Back To Homepage
	"Theory is grey my friend, but ever green is the great golden tree of life!" Goethe