PCAGIP case-consultation groups

Domain III · Humanistic, existential & experiential · Murayama Shōji, Nakata Yukishige · 2010 · Japan

What it is

PCAGIP (Person-Centered Approach Group & Incident Process; pronounced pikajippu) is a case-consultation / case-conference method for helping professionals, not a therapy delivered to clients. It was proposed by Murayama Shōji (first published as a "new case study as group work" in 2010) and set out…

Format

• PCAGIP is a single-session group format (one case per session), repeatable as a series.
• Format and roles

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Where used. School counselling and teacher case meetings, clinical psychology training, career and industrial counselling, medical and community care staff, children's homes, juvenile classification homes, disaster-area school nurses, minority support. In this guide, "client" means the case presenter; the clinician is the facilitator.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• turning the summary into your own expert formulation. Keep it descriptive.
• recorders unsure what to write. Agreeing in advance who records which rounds is a fix.
• a vague request ("anything helps"). Gently ask what would make the session worthwhile.
• fatigue in the presenter; repetitive questions. Move on when new information stops appearing.
• presenters who send a long report (shorten it with them; long material invites critique of what was done); identifiable details.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.