What is P.A.T.H.?
P.A.T.H. is a powerful person centred planning tool, a process, a journey. It is built around a central focus person called the Pathfinder, who comes together with their allies with a commitment to plan and action a positive, desirable and possible future for the Pathfinder.
There are seven steps in the P.A.T.H. process.
- Touch the dream: Invite the Pathfinder to orient their search to their dream, their “North Star”, their positive, desirable future. What goals does the Pathfinder want to work toward and enrol others to work toward?
- Sense the goal: Looking backwards from a future date, describe the positive, desirable future as if it had already happened. How does it feel to have arrived?
- Ground it in the now: Describe the present and explore how that feels. Describe the situation that the Pathfinder is living in at the moment and what they want to create.
- Identify people to enrol: Who needs to be involved to make change possible? If certain people are not involved in the process now, what must be changed to make them available to help, to be involved in the journey? What influential decision makers could you enrol?
- Recognise ways to build strength: How can we improve our skills, our relationships and our knowledge? What new contacts, resources and assistance may be needed? What is needed to keep us happy and healthy along the path to achieving the dream?
- Chart action for the next few months: What kinds of things will have to be done to realise the goal over the next few months? What actions need to be taken toward the vision? Looking backwards, what progress has been made?
- Commit to the first step: What are the goals to be achieved in the next month? Who will be responsible for each goal? What support is needed from each other?
P.A.T.H. is a visual tool with a carefully ordered structure that uses graphics to focus energy and support memory. The graphics keep the Pathfinder and allies focused on the dreams. Two people act as guides, a facilitator and a graphic recorder. A PATH is usually completed in one session of approximately 2 to 8 hours.
People who know the Pathfinder well are invited to attend. These may include their family members, friends, neighbours, teachers, employers, supporters, people in their networks and other community members.
From: J. O’Brien, J. Pearpoint, & L. Kahn The path and maps handbook. © 2009 Inclusion Press
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