The Person-Centred Approach in Trentino: from its introduction by the Jesuits to today’s Social Health Educators

This paper highlights the process of social empowerment, which, over the last forty years, has influenced the educational policies of Trentino, a small region in Northern Italy. A special focus is placed on the University education of social and health professionals. This specific experience is described through a historical and ethnographic research project, with a particular focus on the Ignatian inspiration and the theoretical and practical aspects of the Person Centred Approach, a psychotherapeutic and educational method founded by the US psychologist Carl R. Rogers.