There are many different 'schools' of counselling / psychotherapy, each with its own ideas about the origins of the problems which people bring to therapy and the best ways to deal with these.
Person-centred therapy was initially developed by Carl Ransom Rogers in the 1940's and has continued to grow and change ever since. In contrast to the psychological approaches which were around at the time he was working, Rogers emphasised the importance of a therapeutic relationship in which the client was viewed as the expert on their experience, not the practitioner. Consequently, the person-centred therapist's role was to provide a suitable relationship in which the client would be able to explore the meaning of their problems and, through this, consider constructive directions for the future. Many people don't realise that the development of Rogers' person-centred approach was influenced, in part, by several existential philosophers and therapists, including Martin Buber, Rollo May and Soren Kierkegaard.
Person-centred therapy has continued to develop and diversify over the past 60 years and there are now several off-shoots of the approach. In addition to person-centred therapists who describe themselves as 'classical' (ie: sticking fairly closely to Rogers' original theory and propositions) there are also 'focusing-oriented' and 'experiential' therapists, as well as pre-therapy practitioners (who specialise in working with severe 'contact impairments' such as dissociation, psychotic episodes or dementia), and many others whose approach is founded on the original work of Carl Rogers.
I trained in Person-centred Therapy at the University of Strathclyde, and continue to describe myself as person-centred because I have a strong belief that it is the relationship which is the most important factor in deciding whether the therapy is going to be helpful. I aim to provide therapeutic relationships which are genuine, honest, empathic, understanding, safe, compassionate and real, and I recognise the client as the expert on their own experience. However I wouldn't describe myself as a 'classical' person-centred therapist because Rogers' idea of the 'Actualizing Tendency' isn't a core concept for me, and my focus is more explicitly philosophical and experiential. This means I may actively encourage clients or supervisees to 'check in' with themselves internally in order to get a handle on otherwise vague feelings, and I may occasionally bring philosophical ideas into the therapeutic relationship for discussion where I think these could potentially be helpful. Some people call this 'philosophical counselling' or 'philosophical therapy'.
I think therapy can be viewed as a kind of 'applied philosophy' - a structured space for thinking about our life and for dialogue to consider how it can be lived well. When we think about problems we experience it often brings us up against our human limits, choices, frailties and potentials, as well as the complex web of perception and perspective. These are issues which philosophers have been thinking about for centuries, and consequently I've found many philosophical ideas helpful in my role as a therapist. I believe that existential philosophy and phenomenology, in particular, help me to think carefully and deeply about encountering another human being in a helpful manner - understanding the tragic and constrained aspects of our existence alongside our choices and our potentials; recognising our ethical responsibilities; considering our position in the world, and being aware of the importance and the limitations of perception or perspective. My therapeutic approach has been influenced by Viktor Frankl (creator of Logotherapy), Emmanuel Levinas and Martin Buber, by the existential-phenomenology of Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre, as well as by some aspects of postmodernism, Socratic questioning and Stoicism. I could describe myself as an existential-phenomenological therapist, but that sounds far too high-faluting, and very few people would know what I mean! Don't worry if this all sounds very grand - you don't have to be incredibly clever and a bit of a smart-arse in order to benefit from the type of therapy I offer, and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about coming to see me for an initial appointment.
If you would like to find out more about the kind of therapy I provide then you could try reading: Pete Sanders, Editor. (2004). The Tribes of the Person-Centred Nation. Ross-on-Wye, by PCCS Books. In particular, the chapter on 'Existential Approaches to Therapy' by Mick Cooper and, to a lesser extent, the chapter on Focusing-oriented therapy by Campbell Purton, will give a general sense of how I work. I'd also suggest reading: "Between freedom and despair: existential challenges and contributions to person-centered and experiential therapy" (Cooper, 2003a) and "Existential Therapies" (Cooper, 2003b), both by Mick Cooper.
If you're interested in finding out more about the approaches to therapy I have described here, then have a look at my links page, which will direct you to books, organisations, websites and journals where you can find out more.