A bibliographical research undertaken
by Thomas J. Wallenhorst, M.D, psychiatrist, PRH Educator
SUMMARY
In the wake of an assessment of various trainings and therapies (S. Freud, C. Rogers, E. Stein…), what is specific to PRH can be classified as a humanistic psychology, a positive view of human beings. Persons are not seen in their inadaptation, but rather as being unaware of their essence.
André Rochais based his research on the question “what must be reached in persons so that they grow?” and he created an original and effective method to do this.
INTRODUCTION
The PRH method is situated within the current of psychological approaches of the human being which calls upon the positive within them in an explicit way. Experience and what is felt have an important place and are approached from different angles. In the selected research, the concepts of growth, healing, work on oneself and self-development; the concepts of freedom and responsibility, fundamental attitudes in human relationships, the quest for meaning and openness to transcendence, all appear.
We have classified the research according three categories: Research that began before, at the same time, and after André Rochais’ works.
For easier reading, our comments are written in italics after each paragraph.
RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN BEFORE THE WORKS OF ANDRÉ ROCHAIS
Carl Rogers
André Rochais himself pointed out that he had been influenced by the active methods of the period after the Second World War and most particularly by Carl Rogers’ affirmation: “the core of the human person is positive.” However, he undertook his own research expressed in the question: “Where must a person be reached in order for growth to take place?” and in an intention: “How to communicate useful psychological information to people in an accessible language, regardless of their previous education” (1), which made of PRH a School of Education with an original method.
With Rogers, who started his work before the 1950’s, the fundamental research question was formulated in a different manner: “How can I create a relationship that this person can use in the development of his/her personality?” (2). Rogers’ gaze was focused on the therapist as a persons and the development of their basic attitudes, which enabled the client to progress. According to Rogers, a positive and unconditional consideration is based on the assumption that all persons have, within them, the capacity to understand themselves, to progress and to know intuitively what is important for them, “below their conscious understanding. At this level, lies a tendency towards development, a push towards self-actualisation. This is the main lever in life and this is the tendency which influences all psychotherapy.” (2) Rogers, like others before and after him, contradicts certain psychologies which attempt to reduce the human being to a determinism related to painful past experiences.
Commentary
The PRH approach aims, from the beginning, at reaching that place in the client which will activate the growth process. The belief that a place exists at the very heart of an individual, where a growth mechanism is a work, is specific to PRH. The complement to this is the PRH counsellor’s attitude of deep faith in the other person which they live and express, this deep confidence that clients have everything needed within themselves to overcome their problems and to progress.
PRH Education gives great importance to the helping relationship. Within this, particular importance is given to the helper’s work on their own growth, healing and ability to live in a harmonious manner and then on the development of the fundamental attitudes of how to be a counsellor. This is as important as progress in professional competency.
Edith Stein
The Carmelite nun Edith Stein, who began her phenomenological works after the First World War, gives a description of the soul as representing interior life, while emphasising the manner in which everyone becomes more familiar with their interior selves. The majority of people live mostly at a surface level and few people allow themselves to be attracted by their very depths. Edith Stein speaks of the different approaches to this interior life, for example, through meeting others, through becoming more adult and mature with regard to the qualities specific to the individual, through scientific knowledge of interior and psychological life, and through prayer which, for her, provides true access to the most interior and deepest places within oneself. Moreover, she calls this most interior place “God’s dwelling”, the soul being attracted to Him just as it would be attracted to a lover. In her works, she emphasized the development of this interior world through working on oneself in order to access a deep-seated freedom, which for her, is the most central value and is located at the deepest level of the individual, enabling dialogue with God. The individual is active here, using their positive characteristics which constitute the deepest level of themselves and all the while remaining free. (3)
Commentary
The location at the very heart of an individual and the implementation of a deep freedom converges with the description of the being in PRH., It also has a named place within the psychological system of the individual. Edith Stein also describes different approaches to the deepest parts of oneself which are reminiscent of some of the different approaches to the being.
Viktor Frankl
Viktor Frankl, an internationally renowned professor of psychiatry, has, since the 1930’s developed a psychotherapy which relies on the will to meaning, which is assumed to be more fundamental than the will to pleasure (developed in the writings of S. Freud) or the will to power (developed by A. Adler). It is only when this will to meaning is frustrated that it is compensated for by the will for pleasure or power. According to Frankl, human beings fundamentally aspire to find meaning in their lives which motivates them from within: “The human being does not first look towards being happy, but towards having a reason to be happy.” (4) His therapy, called logotherapy: “emphasizes a responsible being: the individual is helped to overcome the automatic functioning of the “psychological system” (as it is known in psychoanalysis) in order to access the autonomy of psychological existence through existential analysis. Logotherapy transforms an apparent weakness into strength, using the focal point of central responsibility and, in this way, becomes existential analysis. This existential analysis is an analysis of human existence viewed from its central responsibility. (4).
Commentary
Each person can become the architect of their own destiny, through making use of the gifts that they carry within themselves, if they so wish. The same is equally true for couples, groups or foundations, if they seek to become aware of what constitutes them, while recognizing the gifts and complementarities of each person. In PRH, the aspiration to exist according to these gifts and the resulting need to be recognized in their potentialities, is considered very fundamental. Wounds of non-existence are created when this aspiration is hampered and the need to be recognized is frustrated.
Eugene Gendlin
In 1964, following Carl Rogers, Eugene Gendli defined “the emotional process of how change occurs in a person” (5) by describing different stages in the therapeutic relationship. He particularly emphasized awareness and the integration of feelings, which become part of personal experience. He can be considered as a precursor to the research on the understanding of emotional life.
Commentary
Carl Rogers had begun to emphasise the importance of experience in the learning process, insofar as something which is taught becomes definitively learned if the person makes it their own. We quote this phrase from Rogers: “the Master’s book is within me”, which means that the person has integrated and verified the accuracy of the information taught to them. They activate these elements while moving through the emotional process, in situations which require a particular ability. Later, from the 1990’s onwards, the role of emotions in leading one’s life was examined through scientific methods (see further down). From the beginning of his PRH research, André Rochais emphasized the importance of the felt experience in the growth process. He made it one of the key components of the training offered, by developing a method of analysis of internal sensations specific to PRH.
Frederick Perls (6)
The psychoanalyst Frederick Perls, who published his book in 1951 and was one of the pioneers of “Gestalt Therapy”, was interested in experience from the point of view of how individuals create an experience (and not “what was felt”). In this way, persons become the creator of their lives and that life, while being specific to the individual is, at the same time, shared with the environment and with others. The aim of the therapy is that persons become themselves, while developing all of their creative potential which he expresses in the term “the Self”. It is especially given a function of integration and meaning, being lived in a state of continuous adaptation, but also by mobilizing all of the potential persons carry within themselves. To our knowledge, Perls was the first to use the term “growth” within the psychotherapeutic process, emphasizing autonomy, responsibility and freedom of action.
Commentary
With Perls, we see particular attention being paid to reality and to the analysis of conscious processes. His notion of the Self evokes the concept of the being in PRH. The Self has, for him, a particular role, which enables the person to live at peace and to search for meaning through concrete actions. However, he does not “locate” the Self in a specific place. In PRH, the being is identified as a pivotal centre and is “located” at the very depths of persons in their “psychic organism”. The awareness of the realities which animate persons at their very core is fundamental in the work on growth as proposed by PRH. When we say that the being is located at the very depths of persons in their psychic organism, we are using imagery in our explanation, but it nonetheless corresponds to a bodily sensation which is located at the source of one’s breathing. What is involved is becoming aware of the realities which make up the best of themselves, giving meaning to their existence and allowing persons to feel in harmony with themselves. Working on their growth therefore allows persons to overcome incoherencies and what lacks meaning through the awareness and implementation of what is essential for each person.
Alexander Lowen
Alexander Lowen, trained by Wilhelm Reich in the 1940’s and who first began to publish his own studies during the 1950’s, explains how fundamental it was for him to allow himself to go beyond what could be understood with the intellect and to let go, in order to experience subconscious conflicts as well as his life force. His therapy, bioenergetics, aims at making a connection between conscious memories and repressed emotions, in order to then translate these now conscious emotions into words. The objective is to allow persons to become more themselves by engaging all their vital energy. This contributes to an increased sense of self-knowledge with three concepts: to know oneself, to express oneself and to have self control. Lowen nsists that it is essential, in the psychotherapeutic process, to not only accumulate self-knowledge, but to enter into the depths of what is felt. Through entering into an understanding of their interior world, persons can modify long-established behaviours. He also considers therapy as a growth process. (7)
Commentary
As with the bioenergetics therapy, PRH aims at producing change during the work of healing, through a mobilisation of the subconscious. By lifting repression, individuals can visualize and relive a situation which, for them, represented a traumatic experience. They can then integrate what happened in the past, with the person in question, even though they did not have any conscious memory of it. They can then look at this period of their past in the light of their adult understanding, having relived the emotions from their childhood. They can then make the connection between their past and their present. Examples of work on healing using the PRH approach are described in the book: When Life Breaks Through (8)..
RESEARCH DONE AT THE SAME TIME AS ANDRÉ ROCHAIS’ WORKS
Karlfried Graf Dürckheim (9)
Karlfried Graf Dürckheim, a German philosopher, psychologist and psychotherapist who opened a psychomatics clinic near Lake Constance in the 1970’s, describes the “self” (which corresponds to the “I” in PRH) and the being as different centres, each having its specific functioning within the person, while emphasising the importance of discernment. The “self” can govern the being and others from its ideas, without worrying about their needs or aspirations – it is self-centred. It can also place itself at the service of the being, seeking to actualize all the positive that the individual is capable of at this level. By living this way, the individual becomes committed while remaining humble. They receive the fullness of existence as a gift, which becomes the meaning of their life. (9)
Commentary
In PRH, we recognize not only two pivotal centres but five (the being, the “I”, the sensibility, the body and the deep conscience). So the dynamics between the “I” and the being is broadened to all the pivotal centres of the person. In describing the deep conscience, André Rochais said that in this place the individual is in direct contact with all of the pivotal centres of the person, including transcendent realities. Work on discernment involves taking charge of oneself and discovering one’s dysfunctions, in order to live oneself in order, and in accordance with one’s being and from one’s deep conscience.
Eric Berne
The American psychiatrist Eric Berne introduced transactional analysis in the 1970’s. According to this theory, persons have within them three states of the “Self”: the parent, the adult and the child. Berne sis interested in the transactions between the different states of the “Self” in human relationships; for example, a person can speak to someone while expressing his/her needs, which would correspond to the state of the child, while another person can judge him/her while offering advice, which corresponds to the state of the parent. In what he calls the state of the child, expressions of needs, frustrations and deficiencies are heard. In the state of the adult “Self”, persons take charge of their lives and make decisions as responsible adults. With regard to the state of the “Self” as parent, persons act from their image, their inflexibility and from received ideas. They want to realize their ambitions which may be unrealistic, all the while wanting to please others first.
The aim of the therapy is that persons become aware of the different movements which live within them, in order to liberate the responsible and autonomous adult. A great importance is placed on being authentic. (10)
Commentary
The analysis of transactions resonates with a question asked in PRH: From where do my ordinary acts originate? Meaning, from what place in our psychic organism do we speak or act?
Berne three states of the “Self” do not however correspond to the pivotal centres of the person of the PRH Explanatory System. Berne does not make any reference at all to the reality of the being. A certain convergence can be found in his emphasis on being authentic where André Rochais´ sphrase concerning reality is reflected: “Reality is my master”».
Arthur Janov (11)
Arthur Janov, who was trained in psychoanalysis, developed the “primal scream” therapy in the 1970‘s. For Janov (11), it all begins with what he called “the trauma of birth”, that is, the painful and even violent birth experience which would be the source of repression and the creator of many different neurotic symptoms. His therapy is an approach of the sensation that others call existential discomfort. This is expressed through feelings of tiredness, feeling burdened, being sad, feeling insecure, fearful, experiencing suffering and feeling crushed. He brings these current sensations back to those experienced in reality during the birth process. In another book, written 20 years later, he qualifies these affirmations through broadening the traumatic experience to include other experiences considered as traumas by patients, but that took place after birth, in the life of a child (12).
can be situated in the group of researchers who aimed at freeing patients from their neurotic symptoms by helping them to relive the experiences of the past which were presumed to be repressed and therefore to have created subconscious conflicts. Insofar as the conflict is not resolved, the symptom continues to recur. In primal therapy the aim is to liberate the initial emotional experience. A release of the repression occurs and then the therapist seeks to help the individual integrate this raw experience into their awareness, through putting words on the past experience they relived. This is called «reconnecting». Janov insists that it is not a question of simple abreaction (release). Two stages are necessary: the fact of reliving the trauma of birth at the emotional level and then the intellectual integration of this experience into their emotional life today. For Janov, people’s daily lives can become positive as a natural result of his therapy; he endeavours to work on his patients’ wounded aspects. If we follow the examples given in his books and we take into consideration that traumas block all of the positive, Janov gives the impression of reducing human beings to their wounds, at least where individuals who have been very wounded in their existence are concerned.
Commentary
It is possible to feel reached by these works, especially where the approach of the lived experience and sensations is concerned. Also, the fact of reliving one’s birth or another trauma which comes later in life can corresponds to what is called in PRH an evacuation of pain. The two stages described are equally observed in the PRH method where it is important to face the sensation until the past is relived, with all of the emotional upheaval that this entails, and then to integrate these facts which surface to awareness in the light of the work of understanding which the adult is capable of doing.
However, we have not found any mention of the positive core of the human being inJanovworks.
Jean Garneau and Michelle Larivey (13, published in 1983)
Jean Garneau and Michelle Larivey (1983) developed a method in Quebec, following the works of Carl Rogers, called, “Self-development: psychotherapy in daily life”. Here the aim is for the clients themselves to manage their daily lives, finding their own opportunities for growth. The therapist must provide clients with the necessary tools so that they can become the initiator and facilitator of their own growth journey.
This approach seems to be a precursor to positive psychologies. It is part of the methods aiming at fostering positive resources which allow individuals to live meaningful lives. (13)
Commentary
Several similarities can be noted between this approach and PRH: identifying the sensation, working from the sensations, bringing out discoveries, deep intuition, etc.
RECENT RESEARCH THAT TOOK PLACE AFTER ANDRÉ ROCHAIS’ RESEARCH
Boris Cyrulnik (14, 15 published in 1996 and 2001)
Boris Cyrulnik (1996 y 2001), psychiatrist and ethnologist is often quoted in France because of his description of the ability of certain people to rebound, known as resilience, despite any traumas which might have rooted them in non-life. This term, used in physics to designate the resistance of a solid body to all kinds of aggression, was introduced into psychiatric thinking by the American Emmy Werner. People rely on internal resources, like a mild temperament, but also on defence mechanisms in order to not suffer, and they especially rely on a strong aspiration to become themselves through developing their own creativity. Then, intuitively, they call upon external resources, such as certain people whose actions enabled these resources to implemented, called “resilience tutors”, and whose actions can be fundamental in helping others overcome their difficulties. The concept of trauma is nuanced. There is, of course, the reality of trauma, but individuals may aggravate the problem due to their perceptions of it. The individual can also choose to live by relying on their ability to be resilient.
Commentary
According to the PRH Explanatory System, the deep internal resources are in the being where the growth dynamism is inscribed. The individual does not have direct power over the being but on the means of implementation, or put another way, on the choices to be made. This concerns one’s capacity for discerning if such an act is beneficial or not, or if such a person constitutes a life-giving relationship or not. With regard to the tutors of resilience, we can appreciate the positive action of transference on growth work, even in a helping relationship. The concept of “internal resources” is used by Cyrulnik in a broader sense as in the currents of positive psychologies (see further down), to include both positive capabilities and the ability to protect oneself in order to build an internal armour which prevents a possible collapse. The use of this concept is more restricted in PRH as it does not include the defence system itself but only the underlying strengths.
Elisabeth Lukas (16 published in 2000 in Germany)
Elisabeth Lukas, a logotherapist in the line of Frankl (4) criticizes the psychologies which consider that numerous difficulties in functioning originate in certain traumas experienced by the individual, which includes the pitfall of considering the trauma in a passive manner (“the victim’s ideology”). She emphasizes the responsibility of individuals to face their past in order to become actors in their lives. Individuals have the ability to find new meaning despite certain events, even very difficult ones, if they so wish, through accepting the spiritual support which has marked their existence since birth. This dimension of spirituality is also alive in cases of mental illness, mental handicap or in dementia; it is present in alcoholics and in drug addicts. For logotherapists, the human being possesses a capacity of “self-transcendence”, which means to rise above their immediate needs by looking further ahead. The question of the meaning of each aspect of life and of the meaning of life is explicitly asked. Because of the emphasis on the role of awareness and the capacity for self-transcendence, logotherapy is different from humanistic psychologies where work focuses essentially on self-actualization. According to Lukas, logotherapists are “psychotherapists of the person”.
Commentary
In PRH, the role of the deep conscience is fundamental in the growth work. The deep conscience is not only tuned into the “person in a growth process” of which it is the voice, but also tuned into the environment and all that can transcend it and invite it to go further. PRH research very much takes into account the openness to the dimension of transcendence in the being. Specific tools exist for apprenticing inner freedom and for finding a way to live oneself in order.
Keyes and Haidt (17)
A new current of “positive psychology” was born in the USA at the end of the 1990’s. Keyes and Haidt coordinated a work which explained the basis of this psychology which can be situated within the vast current of humanistic psychologies. They studied in particular: positive emotions, positive personality traits such as strength, qualities and abilities (intelligence, athleticism, etc) and positive institutions such as democracy, solid families, freedom of the press, etc. Therapists are trained to help clients discover their internal strength and to seek to reinforce it and then to help them build their personal abilities.
Relying on the realities of resilience and growth, the authors expressed their faith that individuals carry within them all they need to overcome their difficulties, even being able to transform a trauma into a personal resource if they are able to rely on the best of themselves: individuals do not shut themselves away in the difficult experience but find the personal resources which allow them to grow. This book is of interest due to the methodical and minutely detailed nature of the analysis, using scientific methods of selection and starting from hypotheses which are verified or eliminated. Numerous authors have proven that different positive elements contribute to the human being’s more harmonious functioning.
Commentary
Since the 1970’s this area of research concerning the positive realities of the person was already considered as central by PRH, which we recalled at the beginning of this article withAndré Rochais’ fundamental question: “Where must a person be reached in order for growth to take place?” The development of the specific PRH pedagogy with its explanatory system of the person in a growth process and the diagram of the pivotal centres of the person are situated within the perspective of the unfurling of the person’s growth dynamism. The awareness of sensations with positive content contributes to daily harmony, gives inner confidence and allows for the personality to be constructed on solid bases.
Martin Seligman (18 published in 2002)
Martin Seligman ,a psychology professor, underlines the value of positive emotions for the prevention of depressive states and drug-taking. He distinguishes three different types of positive emotions: concerning the past (satisfaction, contentment, fullness, pride, serenity), concerning the present (joy, ecstasy, calm, excitement, pleasure, “flow”) and concerning the future (optimism, hope, faith, confidence). These three types differ insofar as individuals can be satisfied concerning their past yet disheartened about the present and pessimistic about the future.
It is interesting to read the description of the “flow” emotion, which he borrowed from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (published in 1997). Csikszentmihalyi recounts that his research had been orientated by two questions. The first being: “What is life?” and the second one: “How can each person achieve an excellent and full life?” He emphasized the necessity for persons to give a personal orientation to their lives because, otherwise, they will be influenced by their biological instincts, by the culture or the environment in which they live, or more particularly by others. In this, the development of one’s freedom has a fundamental role. In this way, persons can transform the context of their lives, even a difficult one, if they live from their best selves. The experience of flow is part of the positive emotions; however, according to the thousands of people interviewed, it is distinct from the feeling of happiness. It expresses the sentiment of being in harmony with oneself and experiencing a great capacity for action.
Commentary
The corresponding concept of flow in the PRH explanatory system would be the concept of the growth dynamism of the being. Here, persons feel very much in harmony with themselves while developing their creativity from their potentialities. It is the determination to progress which is seen in PRH as an attitude of the being, and which supports the development of the person’s growth forces.
Ann Elisabeth Auhagen (20 published in 2004)
Ann Elisabeth Auhagen, master lecturer in psychology explains the methods of intervention of positive psychology. What is aimed at is the emergence of the positive in people, that is, what makes up their strengths, talents and resources. This objective can be reached using different strategies: through “augmentation”, that is, facilitating the positive aspects and qualities which already exist; through “creation”, that is, developing new positive aspects and qualities; through “diminishing”, that is, reducing what we call the negative; through “prevention” by trying to prevent the development of new behaviours which would have a negative effect.
Commentary
The themes explained above directly touch upon what is contained in the concept of identity in the “being” in PRH and are associated with the intervention methods for the work on oneself in order to develop another human functioning, based on what is positive. Positive psychology uses psychotherapeutic methods of intervention with particular attention to identifying personal dysfunctions, in order to help individuals in their re-education, so that they can develop self-confidence and acquire a new manner of being and new ways of doing things. The goal is for people to become themselves, which seems to correspond to what is called in PRH: “the emergence of the being in the person”. However, the notion of the being in PRH extends beyond the identity and also includes the notion of essential course of action, essential bonds and openness to transcendence. The concept of the emergence of the being is also fundamental in this.
James Pennebaker
James Pennebaker implemented, already in the 1980’s, a writing method, with the objective of self-exploration, in order to develop the deepest thoughts and emotions in relation to traumatic events. Individuals are thus helped to unburden themselves from negative emotions in order to avoid their repression in the subconscious. Thus, the fact of telling their story, even only to themselves, enables them to bring their story to closure by giving it meaning. It was observed that individuals who followed this therapy improved their physical, immunological and psychological health and that they had more satisfying interpersonal relationships. Patients discover hidden content due to the simple fact of writing, which is called “self-disclosure” (21, 22. We are referring here to publications made in 1997 and 2002).
Commentary
This method of writing about one’s experience contains many similarities with that practiced in PRH. PRH analysis is a self-observation. André Rochais keenly developed a method of written analysis of the person’s experience as a privileged way of getting to know one’s interior world. The method of writing, used in PRH education is one of the key elements of our school of education.
Hélène Roubeix (23 published in 2000)
Hélène Roubeix French psychotherapist, trained in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), created a humanistic NLP school. Here priority is given to the personal transformation of the intervener, no matter what their professional field. The development of the persons’ way of being is emphasised, which allows them to use their means of intervention in the most pertinent manner while respecting persons and at the same time living a well adjusted authority toward them. The notion of the “self” (with a connotation close to the being in PRH) and the “Me” (with a connotation close to the “I” in PRH) appear in this explanatory system. A deep faith in life is expressed insofar as individuals can always tune into their “Self”. Roubeix quotes Milton Ericson, a psychiatrist and American philosopher who had said “the subconscious is a well of infinite resources”, which changes the attitude of the therapist who can rely on the subconscious of the patient as “their most faithful friend”.
Commentary
As in PRH, the complementary nature of the being and of the “I” are seen, with the opportunity for the development of the being if the “I” acts as a servant of growth but also with the risk that the “I” dominates the person and follows its ideas and ambitions without listening to the being. Concerning the affirmation that the subconscious is a well of infinite resources, we recall that André Rochais had said in the 1980’s that we sleep on treasures of which we are unaware.
Loretta Cornéjo (24 published in 2000)
Loretta Cornéjo, psychologist and psychotherapist practising in Madrid, emphasises in her book “Letters to Pedro, a guide for the novice psychotherapist”, the general attitude of love in the psychotherapeutic relationship which inspires all technical knowledge.
Commentary
In PRH, the professional relationship is also a deep human relationship and accompanists are invited to develop six basic attitudes in their relationships with clients (in-depth listening, non-judgement and benevolence, faith in the other person, respect for their freedom, allowing the birth of sympathy and affection, authenticity). Clients are considered as being unique, carrying within themselves all they need to overcome their difficulties.
Daniel Goleman
Daniel Goleman, scientific journalist and psychologist, brought to the media the concept of “emotional intelligence” (25). Emotions are understood as guides in the relationship with self and with others, allowing one to be inclined toward one decision over another. In this regard, the ability to know oneself, to manage oneself, to grasp the emotional climate in others and the ability to act in a well-adjusted manner in relationships with others translate more as an understanding of the life of emotions and sensations than as a rational analysis and thought process (which would be evaluated by an I.Q. – intellectual quotient). Emotions are essentially impulses to act. It is true to say that we have two minds – the rational mind, which is controlled by the cerebral cortex and the emotional mind, which is controlled by the limbic system. The ability to discern is important in order to evaluate the importance of an emotion and to take it into account in the conduct of one’s life, without allowing oneself to be dominated by the strength of the emotion.
To illustrate the “two minds” we can look at the example of a strong craving for chocolate. This is commanded by the limbic system. If persons allow themselves to eat an unlimited amount of chocolate, they are being dominated by their instincts. Normally, the rational brain awakens in the face of such an impulse, saying either that it is necessary to limit oneself for dietary reasons or to completely abstain.
Commentary
In PRH education, analysis focuses on what is experienced, which is composed of sensations, emotions and impressions. Thanks to self-analysis, persons acquire a means to become solid, close to others and autonomous. The second point of convergence is with regard to discernment: thanks to the understanding of their emotions, persons can discern what is in line with their growth. These constitute the two keys of PRH Education.
Conclusion
The aim of this bibliographical research was to situate the PRH approach in the current of human sciences through highlighting the convergences with its explanatory system and its psycho-pedagogy. PRH is an original method which places a particular importance on the growth of the positive which makes up persons and which enable them to become themselves. The analysis of daily functionings and past experiences is an essential component of personal work insofar as all functioning can be improved and where certain past experiences constitute a hindrance to self-actualization. The self-development tools used are the analysis of sensations, called “PRH analysis” and a discernment method in reference to the deep conscience and which can be used in ordinary life.
The method was developed, not as a break from Freudian psychoanalysis as with certain humanist psychotherapeutic methods, but from André Rochais intuition that all persons can develop the best of themselves through relying on their being.
Humanistic psychotherapists aim at human development for itself, without making reference to a transcendence, which is expressed by Perls, for whom the Self is the creator of life. PRH affirms that persons are open to a dimension of transcendence at the level of their being, which has an impact on their growth.
The points of convergence between the PRH method and the humanistic psychologies have already been recognized and explained in the book “Persons and their Growth” (26). It is important to us to underline certain convergences with the psychological currents who are explicitly open to a personal transcendence, such as the logotherapy of Viktor Frankl and the new movement of positive psychologies who seem to be evolving in this direction. André Rochais himself recognized this point of convergence with Frankl.
André Rochais had the intuition that PRH was called to become a school of education. After 35 years of existence and the development of a substantial number of personal growth and development tools, this intuition has proven to be accurate. All persons who wish to progress in a meaningful manner in the development of their personality can find both the tools and the persons available to accompany them.
Semur-en-Auxois, September 8, 2006.
References
1) André Rochais: Introduction to the Observation Notes, PRH-International
2) Carl Rogers: Die Entwicklung der Persönlichkeit, 1997, Klett Cotta
In English: On Becoming a Person 1970, Houghton Mifflin (P)
3) Edith Stein: Im verschlossenen Garten der Seele; Texte zum Nachdenken ausgewählt von E. Bejas; Herderbücherei, Freiburg 1987
4) Viktor Frankl: Der Wille zum Sinn; Verlag Hans Huber, Bern, 2005
5) Eugene T. Gendlin: Une théorie du changement de la personnalité, (3e édition, avril 1975) traduit par Fernand Roussel, Ph. D., CIM de «A theory of Personality Change», in P. Worchel et D.Byrne: Personality Change, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1964
6) Frederick S. Perls; Ralph F. Hefferline; Paul Goodman: Gestalttherapie; Grundlagen; Klett-Cotta im Deutschen Taschenbuchverlag 6. Auflage 2004, München; Gestalt Therapy; Excitement and Growth in the Human Personnality; The Julian Press, New York 1951
7) Alexander Lowen: Bioenergetics; Penguin compass, New York, 1976
8) Pour que la vie reprenne ses droits: Ouvrage collectif réalisé par PRH-International, éditeur: Fundación André Rochais du Canadá, PRH-Internacional, Poitiers, 2002
9) Karlfried Graf Dürckheim: Durchbruch zum Wesen, 1975, Verlag Hans Huber, Bern
10) Eric Berne: Was sagen Sie, nachdem Sie “Guten Tag“ gesagt haben? Psychologie des menschlichen Verhaltens; Geist und Psyche, Fischer, Frankfurt 1983; What do you say after you say hello? Grove Press, Inc., New York, 1972
11) Arthur Janov: Imprints. The lifelong effects of the birth experience; Coward-McCann, New York, 1983
12) Arthur Janov: The new primal scream. Abacus; London 1991
13) Jean Garneau et Michelle Larivey: L’auto développement : psychothérapie dans la vie quotidienne, CIM et Éditions de l’Homme, 1983
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