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As associate members of UKAHPP (UK Association of Humanistic Psychology Practitioners) we adhere to their ethical codes and procedures.
Member of BAPCA (The British Association for the Person-Centred Approach).
Ffynnon Patron: Lay Canon Professor Brian Thorne, FBACP, FCollP, FRSA .
Ffynnon Director: Jonathan Skipper MA, Dip Surv, PCAT cert.
susie & jonathan
Open letter in support of Ffynnon Personal and Professional Development – Professor Dave Mearns
‘I am now retired, but in my earlier work as professor, head of the Counselling Unit, and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education of the University of Strathclyde, I had occasions to witness the work of Ffynnon Personal and Professional Development as well as about forty other organizations concerned with offering personal and professional development workshops to professionals and volunteers in the field of counselling and psychotherapy in Britain.
Of all these organizations I have the most respect for Ffynnon principally because I found over the years that I could completely trust their integrity on all matters. They made their educational and organizational decisions ethically, with proper regard for what participants would be receiving and the costs to the participants. A number of other bodies put the matter of numbers and their income far ahead of the resources they are offering and concern for the needs of participants.’ Dave Mearns, February 14, 2011
The ideas and vision for Ffynnon PPD began in early 2007 when Jonathan and Susie Skipper began drawing up the plans to host affordable and accessible personal and professional development for counsellors, therapists, pastoral workers and people in the care professions.
In April 2008 Susie and Jonathan moved from Brighton on the South Coast of England to North Wales, close to the area where Jonathan grew up. This was for a number of reasons, one significant influence was a healthy desire to utilise his experience as a therapist and trainer back where he had spent his formative years by developing Ffynnon’s services.
Another noteworthy reason for moving was their desire to raise and nurture their first child in a more peaceful and rural setting. Maybelle was born in July 2008 and is now a beautiful little girl who is bursting with energy; she is ‘enchanting, wonderfully busy and exhausting to hang out with at times!’ In addition to this there are now twin girls on board; Rosalea and Lilyanna arrived in July 2010: ‘double trouble and double delight!!'.
This venture has been wholeheartedly encouraged and supported by family, friends and colleagues alike and this has been reflected in the attentive involvement of our friend and mentor Brian Thorne who is the Patron of Ffynnon PPD.
The family now live in a small village in the Tanat Valley Mid Wales not far from Welshpool, Oswestry and Shrewsbury where Jonathan now has an office in a community centre by the river.
Jonathan Skipper
Jonathan is the Executive Director of Ffynnon PPD; he has a master’s degree in counselling studies from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, a diploma in working with adult survivors of childhood abuse and qualifications in person centred art therapy.
Jonathan’s counselling experience has been; working as a Counsellor and therapist in private practise and as a trainer and group facilitator for a number of institutions and organisations including The London City Lit and Crawley College in West Sussex. In addition to this Jonathan has hosted (ran and worked in) a night shelter for the homeless in Watford, managed a drug and alcohol helpline and counselling service in South London. He has also worked as a professional artist and was the Honorary Art Therapist at University College London hospital on the palliative care unit and teenage cancer wards.
Jonathan's heart remains centred in his commitment to the ethos of the person centred approach and in his own way of living out his Christian faith in work, family, community and Church life. His passion continues to be focused on people in need; people perhaps seeking a confidant or comfort, people outside the care of established communities, and people on the edge and on the fringes seeking a depth of understanding and commitment that could offer individual and unique opportunities to flourish.
Susie Skipper
Susie has an honours degree in Behavioural Sciences, and has a wealth of experience in management and organisation. She feels proud to be involved in Ffynnon PPD, a project which she believes offers valuable resources to professionals, individuals and communities alike.
Susie's commitment to her family, community and her work has been evident from being the Children's Complaints Manager for a county council, involvement in a variety of community projects both in the charitable and public sectors through to being a full time mother whilst handling some of the administration of Ffynnon’s events.
Canon Professor Brian Thorne
Brian Thorne is our patron, he is Emeritus Professor of Counselling at the University of East Anglia, Norwich and Co-founder of The Norwich Centre, the first counselling service and training agency in Europe committed to the person-centred approach to therapy in the tradition of Dr. Carl Rogers.
Brian is a prominent member of the international person-centred community and a prolific author. His work covers the fields of counselling, education and pastoral theology and in recognition of this interdisciplinary contribution he was made Lay Canon of Norwich Cathedral in 2005. His many books include ‘Person-Centred Counselling in Action’ (3rd edition, 2007 co-authored with Professor Dave Mearns), ‘The Mystical Power of Person-Centred Therapy’ (2002) and ‘Behold the Man’ (New edition, 2006). Currently he directs the Diploma in Spiritual Accompaniment at the Norwich Centre and lectures widely both in the UK and abroad.
Jonathan’s brief personal reflection on the statement: ‘The vision for Ffynnon PPD is underpinned by our understanding of and commitment to the ethos of the person centred approach and our own personal experience of, and belief in Christian spirituality.’
The person centred approach is often misunderstood or perhaps misinterpreted as a secular discipline. However for myself I found that the approach offered me a language and a framework that enhanced my deeply held Christian beliefs. In fact I would go so far as to say that my encounter with the approach was my first full experience of an attitude to living that was fully accepting, understanding, open and nourishing of me in my Christian tradition.
The central assumption of the person centred approach is that a person can be trusted to find their own way forward in life and in their struggles, the actualising tendency drives us to make the best we can of our circumstances.
The approach believes that as individuals we have vast resources for development, reserves that offer us the opportunity to grow towards the fulfilment of our unique identities. Our task is to create a ‘growth promoting environment’ to generate new conditions of relationship where growth for all concerned is encouraged, a space for individuals to flourish and a place where community prevails.
This ‘environment’ is characterised by three requirements these are referred to in the approach as the three ‘core conditions’. The first requirement is realness, genuineness, or congruence of a person, a companion or a group. The second component is a person, a companion or a group’s ability to offer another total acceptance, a cherishing, an unconditional positive regard. The third element is empathy; empathic understanding.
Person centred Christian living is in my view a relational, inclusive and experiential life (as in the gospels) that seeks harmony and connectedness. It is a lived faith of relatedness to the mystical and the human; of union and challenge where value, trust, authenticity and compassion are objectives that can be achieved through an awareness of a transcendent dimension to existence. For me my encounter with the person centred approach expanded and further enlightened the nature of Christ Jesus, of God and Spirit as a relational Trinity.
This is a faith, a way of being, that believes that at their core all people have a tendency (the actualising tendency) to become more successfully who it is they have it in them to become, fully functioning and Christ like, in the manner and the image of God. Added to this I believe that we can be more Christ like when we are most ourselves in that Christ came to make us like Himself. In becoming more ourselves (engaged in an actualising process) we are growing into the mature personhood of Christ.
I believe that it is our task to create an environment; circumstances where connection and growth can flourish (a growth promoting environment) and that we need to be open and responsive to windows of opportunity (empathic responsiveness) where Gods creative energy is at work. I suggest that there is a longing from deep within which is a response to a calling from without. We cry out to God and God calls us to Himself, like a kind of circular harmonious calling or singing of lovers one to another.
ffynnon people
