Facilitate First Thyself: The Person-Centered Dimension of Facilitator Education

This paper discusses the role of the person-centered dimension of facilitator education, which emphasises the attitudes, personal qualities, and/or presence of a facilitator. An overview of person-centered facilitator education, as described in the literature, is provided to enable the interpretation of the findings of a study that explored the theories and practices of facilitator educators. Operating within the interpretivist paradigm; and using a naturalistic inquiry approach, thematic analysis was used with semistructured interviews, participant observation, and graduate surveys. The findings confirmed the importance of helping emerging facilitators to develop high levels of self-awareness and a better understanding of how to manage their presence in the group. The possibility of person-centered facilitator education acting as a form of psychotherapy was flagged as a potential issue even though this was not the case in the programs observed. The study also highlighted the importance of informing emerging facilitators, before enrolment in a program, that some participants may find person-centered facilitator education challenging and confrontational.