People Not Pathology

It is only in the last two or three decades that the medical model has come to dominate psychological theory and practice. This book considers the evidence that points us towards freeing ourselves from this creeping medicalisation and recognising the influence of our environments and circumstances on our psychological wellbeing. Contributors from a range of modalities illustrate how to practise in a demedicalised way. Drawing on these examples from the field and perspectives from different theoretical models, the book demonstrates that an approach freed from the medical model provides the ethically axiomatic framework for psychological practice today.

Author Biography

Pete Sanders was white British. He worked as a volunteer at ‘Off The Record’, Newcastle-upon Tyne, in 1972 before completing a degree in psychology at the university there, and then the postgraduate diploma in counselling at Aston University. He practised as a counsellor, educator and clinical supervisor for more than 30 years, and published widely on many aspects of counselling, psychotherapy and mental health, as well as co-founding PCCS Books in 1993. After practising and teaching counselling, he continued to have an active interest in developing person-centred theory, the politics of counselling and psychotherapy and the demedicalisation of distress. He died in February 2022. – Janet Tolan has worked in counselling since 1979, first as a volunteer, then as a full-time counsellor. She is a senior accredited counsellor/psychotherapist and a Fellow of BACP. She qualified in 1984 and completed her supervisor training with Brigid Proctor and Francesca Inskipp in 1988. Her last employed role was as head of the master’s programme in counselling and psychotherapy at Liverpool John Moores University. She is now in private practice, working with individuals, couples, groups and teams. Along the way, she has worked in teacher training and in team and management development.