“A person cannot teach another person directly; a person can only facilitate another’s learning.” Carl Rogers, the founder of person-centred counselling and therapy
The language of facilitation and personal development
Like every 'industry', personal development or personal growth - sometimes called counselling or (psycho)therapy - has its own language. The terms below in italics can be googled if you want to do more research (sometimes you’ll need to add the word psychology), and any responsible practitioner you contact should be happy to answer your questions. In the end though, if you want to work one-to-one with any kind of personal development facilitator, the most important question is to ask yourself this: do I feel okay enough with this person to share something of myself? Many practitioners, including myself, will offer a free initial session.
Psychotherapy, and to some extent counselling, is understood by many as a process of exploring damaged personal history in order to find some acceptance, integration or closure in the present. Generally, deeper level and longer term work (exploring past trauma, for example) is considered by many to be psychotherapy, whereas working with a particular issue (relationship breakdown or redundancy, for example) for an agreed number of sessions is often called counselling.
These are not clear distinctions however, and work often overlaps. For some clients it's crucial to engage with issues from the past, whereas for others their past history is less important and the focus for them is finding immediate strategies to function more effectively in the present. And, another group of clients would say there is no perceived problem, past or present, but they have a sense that their full potential is not being achieved, or they are not functioning the way they would like.
Most of the time we manage our psychopathology - often called ‘emotional baggage’ - well enough often enough for us to function normally. At other times, we don’t, and it surfaces in unexpected, unhelpful or destructive ways in our relationships, our workplaces... our lives in general. At times like these, it can be beneficial to work with a professional trained in facilitative approaches to personal growth.
Such professionals may call themselves therapists, counsellors, psychotherapists, mentors, life coaches and so on... as I say elsewhere, there are many different titles for what is fundamentally the same process. Equally, there is a wide range of training programmes for such work, and - as in other areas of life - some programmes, and some practitioners, are better than others.
My own training and experience is in humanistic and transpersonal psychology, therapeutic bodywork, crisis management, NLP, workplace counselling, relationship counselling, and working with grief and loss amongst others, so these days I define myself as eclectic. I have 70 plus years of life experience, with 40 or so of those years working with individuals, couples and groups facing all manner of difficulties in their personal and/or professional lives.
Practicalities of working with me
Home is a small village between York and Hull where I have indoor and outdoor space for working together in person - always the best option - though email contact, video or phone calls are all possible, as is a hybrid arrangement. For first contact, please phone/whatsapp 07860 463005 or email me on daphnepleace@gmail.com to arrange a trial session.
I no longer charge a set rate for the work I do. At this stage of my life I prefer my skills to be available to anyone who is concerned enough about their own development to seek help - being able to ‘afford’ it need not be an issue.
I don't define myself as Buddhist, although I embrace many aspects of Buddhist philosophy, including working on the dana principle where services or teachings are given freely, in the spirit of generosity. It may be that you are able to reciprocate, with a donation which helps support my communication costs and voluntary work, but if you can’t, and you think you might value time with me, then do make contact anyway.
Work with couples experiencing relationship challenges is available, as is facilitating people in self-selected groups: please make contact for further information.
A recent addition to my working practices includes eco-therapy, wellbeing via nature programmes, and other nature-connectedness approaches.
updated 28/12/25
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