In just three weeks I will be in Cologne — and I would love to meet you there. From 8 to 12 July 2026, the 17th World Conference for Person-Centered and Experiential Psychotherapy and Counseling (PCE 2026) takes place at the Maternushaus, under the fitting theme „A Changing World.“ Together with Sylvia Karantani (Athens), I will present on a question that has occupied me for many years:
Bringing the Person-Centred Approach (Back) into Organizational Consulting
Why this topic?
For years, Sylvia and I have worked with Jürgen Kriz’s Person-Centred Systems Theory in supervision, coaching and organizational consulting. Over time, this has grown into a rich landscape of applications: we work with leaders, teams and management groups in hospitals, public institutions, international corporations, family businesses and start-ups.
And yet — despite these encouraging experiences — the person-centred approach remains only marginally present in work with organizations. On the path from psychotherapy to organizational consulting, other schools, particularly various systemic and psychodynamic approaches, have taken the lead.
A field that has matured
The consulting field itself has gained important clarity over the past two decades. There is now a clear distinction between privately commissioned coaching or psychological case supervision on the one hand, and work carried out for organizations — team supervision, leadership coaching, management consulting — on the other.
In our view, this professional differentiation has not yet been sufficiently reflected in person-centred theory-building and publications. That gap is exactly what our presentation sets out to address.
Rediscovering what was already there
It is worth remembering that Carl R. Rogers himself consulted with many different organizations, including large companies, and reflected on these processes in several publications. His book On Personal Power (1977) can be read as an early anticipation of today’s discourse on agile and participatory organizations.
In other words: the person-centred approach is not a newcomer to the world of organizations. It has simply been overlooked there for too long — including by our own community.
What we will offer in Cologne
In our presentation, we will:
- give a brief overview of the current state of organizational consulting;
- outline our applications of Person-Centred Systems Theory in this field; and
- illustrate them with concrete examples from practice.
Our aim is an invitation: to encourage the PCE community to (re)discover organizational consulting in a changing world as a vital area for person-centred thinking and practice.
Let’s meet
If you will be in Cologne for PCE 2026, come and join the session — and do say hello afterwards. Conversations in the corridors are often where the real thinking begins. You can find all conference details and registration at pce2026.com.
And if your interest lies closer to the practice side — leadership coaching or working with family businesses — I am always glad to connect.
See you in Cologne!