Every person has their own way of learning, communicating, working, adapting and interacting with their environment.
When a difficulty arises, our first instinct is often to look at what is visible: behaviors, successes, difficulties or reactions. Yet these elements never tell the whole story.
At PC & AA, we are convinced that understanding a situation requires understanding human functioning in all its complexity. We seek to understand the interactions between the person, their abilities and their environment.
It is within this interaction that behaviors take shape, skills develop and difficulties emerge… but also solutions.
Human functioning cannot be reduced to a behavior, a diagnosis or an assessment result.
It reflects the way a person draws on their resources, interacts with their environment, adapts to the situations they encounter and pursues their life goals.
Understanding human functioning means looking for the links between what the person does, what they are able to draw on and the context in which they live.
It is this holistic understanding that guides every one of our assessments and support services.
Behavior is the visible part of human functioning. It covers the actions, interactions and strategies a person uses to respond to everyday situations.
It evolves through learning, experiences and contexts. The same behavior can serve different functions depending on the person or the situation. It can therefore never be interpreted in isolation.
Abilities are the resources a person can rely on: their skills, capacities, knowledge, coping strategies and potential for development.
At PC & AA, we believe that understanding resources is just as important as understanding difficulties.
Human functioning always takes place within an environment: family, studies, work, social relationships, housing or organizations.
The environment can support skills, create obstacles or offer opportunities. Understanding it makes it possible to identify the adjustments and levers that foster independence, participation and quality of life.
Assessments provide objective information about certain dimensions of human functioning.
They are never an end in themselves. They take on their full meaning when combined with the clinical interview, the person’s life history, observations and an analysis of the environment, in order to build a holistic understanding and concrete recommendations.
Understand their history, needs, goals and experience.
Identify resources, skills and support needs.
Understand the demands, obstacles and facilitating factors.
Understand human functioning as a whole.
Build concrete, individualized and evolving recommendations.
Whether it is a plan for independence, studies, employment, inclusion or a difficulty encountered in everyday life, my goal remains the same: understanding human functioning in order to build tailored solutions.
My goal is not only to understand a behavior. It is to understand human functioning in all its complexity, and to turn that understanding into concrete actions that foster independence, social and professional participation, and quality of life.
Understanding human functioning. Building on abilities. Acting on the environment. Creating tailored solutions.Laure VALENTIN · PC & AA
Contributing to people’s independence, to the evolution of professional practices and to the creation of environments that foster everyone’s participation.
A question, a doubt, or simply need some guidance? Write to me or book a slot directly: I will get back to you in complete confidentiality.