A 50-Year Gestation Period

André Rochais was blessed throughout his childhood and adolescence with a sound psychological nature.  He adapted with little difficulty to surroundings which might have traumatised others. 

At age 11 he decided to become a teacher and discovered the “thread” of his vocation which would lead eventually to PRH:  his calling to be an “educator”.

At the age of 17 he began to teach, first in the primary grades, then, later, with adolescents and finally with Normal School students.  He quickly realised that his interest grew as the age of his students increased.  It was with these teenagers that the question came to him one day:  What must be touched in them in order to help them become harmonious human beings?  This question, which haunted him for almost 20 years, was the basis for the development of PRH.
His discovery of the revolutionary discovery methods in the world of teaching led him to the PRH method of auto-discovery. (It is a matter of providing people with means to discover themselves. Growth occurs only from within).

At age 27, he was appointed school principal.  Through teacher and parent meetings he observed in himself a vocation as an “adult educator”.  During this time he discovered his vocation to the priesthood.  He partly concentrated on education (an area in which he was very gifted) and partly on research in spirituality.

At the “Institut d’Études Sociales” his vision broadened.  There he found subjects that opened up new spheres of interest:  economics, sociology, social psychology, political science, law and international relations.  All these subjects dealt with people, human relations and the organisation of society.  It was there that he acquired the basic concepts of psychology.  He completed his studies with a dissertation titled, “The Education of Adults”.

At age 40, he created a course in social psychology for the general public.  The permanent interaction between him and his public allowed him to go deeper, to be more precise, to progress and to open up new avenues of study.  During this period he joined an organisation of educators called “Culture et Promotion” and quickly became its regional director.  He continued to read, observe and study, improving what he had created.

When he was 45 years old, his research became typically PRH, following an important personal turning point for him.  This turning point was his introduction to the work of Carl Rogers, the famous American psychotherapist.  Four things struck him:

•    his statement:  the depth of the human being is positive;
•    his declaration that we can trust our intuitions,
•    his distinction between what is known and what is felt or lived, and
•    his method of helping people.

These answers enabled André Rochais to put together a teaching on personality which he presented in a workshop.  Soon he distanced himself from Carl Rogers as he pursued his own research.  At the same time he began to question his own methods.  He said himself: 
“At the beginning I was a teacher.  I used every possible teaching method.  I tried to be concrete, to use examples from real life.  I introduced my students to the life they must examine.  I described it to them myself.  While teaching the different areas of personality, another educational method began to emerge, called GPA’s (Guidelines for Personal Analysis).”  Little by little the most fundamental basis of his psychological education took their place.  He also began research on helping relationships.  He said himself: “Throughout my research I am following my own route.  I chose to continue with this route.  With the passing of time I realise hat I had to construct my own explanatory system, freely, and faithful only to reality.”

André Rochais could not handle it all himself.  He set the selection and training criteria for future Educators.  The first training workshop for future Educators was held in Poitiers in 1967.  All the ingredients were now in place for the birth of PRH.

On April 4th, 1971, the PRH Association was listed in the Official Gazette.  André Rochais was 50 years old.

He had found his essential course of action:  the research in the psycho-pedagogy of growth.  The road was open and he took it at full speed and at the same time gradually withdrew from any activities not in that line.  An enormous workload awaited him on several fronts:  the training of Educators, their organisation as a group, the handling of the increasing number of requests coming from France and from elsewhere, the setting in place of a secretariat and, above all, the pursuit of his research and the creation of new tools and new methods for personal development.

When he was 52, he became ill and was diagnosed with Walsenström’s disease.  The prognosis was, at best, a ten year remission.  He became more determined than ever to take care of his health so that he could go as far as possible towards the accomplishment of his mission.  Competent people took charge of various areas such as administration, the training of educators, etc.

Something new was taking place within the group of Educators.  A group awareness began to take shape.  He observed, analysed, accompanied and asked questions.  Little by little, the nature of a foundation and how it differed from other groups became clear to him.  He saw the PRH experience he was living as a specific social organisation which he dubbed, “The Foundation Social System”.

In order to meet the needs arising from the internationalisation of PRH, a new association was created.  André Rochais was 57 years old and became the president of “PRH Foundation”.
During this time a geyser of innovations flowed from André Rochais.  He created a training cycle and wrote dozens of Observation Notes for the participants of the different workshops.

At 58, André Rochais informed the group of his decision to retire as President of PRH-France to focus on setting in place the international dimension of PRH.

A new and final stage in the life of André Rochais began at age 66.  Teams of Educators had multiplied and were dispersed throughout the world.  All this activity brought with it new requirements, particularly in the realms of finance and organisation.  He handed over responsibility for the PRH Foundation to the collegial direction of a five-person College, with Andrée Lumeau at the helm.

In the final moments of his life André Rochais confided a final message to one of his close friends:  “ONWARD… ONWARD… That is what I always did”. 
He died at the age of 69.