The book provides and up-to-date account of the approach with application to individual, family a... more The book provides and up-to-date account of the approach with application to individual, family and group therapy. Chapters include the philosophical background, assessment methods, clinical formulation, reflexivity and supervision, comparison with other approaches and the evidence base. Conceived by Dennis Bury, Chair of the Personal Construct Association, UK.
This book, like his Invitation to Personal Construct Psychology, written with Viv Burr (1992, 20... more This book, like his Invitation to Personal Construct Psychology, written with Viv Burr (1992, 2004) and Understanding People (2003) is remarkable for presenting and explaining the approach to the lay person or the practitioner with no previous knowledge of PCP. For me it is a wonderful exploration of how Kelly’s work connects with the philosophical schools of Pragmatism, Phenomenology, Humanism and Existentialism but whilst retaining an originality and coherence in its own right. Reading it will, I believe, whet the appetite for exploring Butt’s remarkable list of over 70 published chapters and papers
The Routledge Handbook of Dialectical Thinking edited by Michael Mascolo, Anastassia Belolutskaya and Nick Shannon.
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce a Dialectical Constructivist approach which has at it... more The purpose of this chapter is to introduce a Dialectical Constructivist approach which has at its core a unit of analysis, the dialectical polarity, inspired by the constructivist approaches of the psychologists George Kelly and Joseph Rychlak, but which can inform inquiry within any discipline and can be used in making sense of and in intervening in social situations. The recognition that meaning depends entirely on what contrast is involved lies at the basis of Kelly’s dialectical vision of the personal construct, which he brilliantly introduced into the discipline of psychology in the 1950’s. The nature of the dialectical polarity is carefully unravelled and clarified in a series of steps starting within the anthropological literature of Gregory Bateson and Rodney Needham and building up to an analysis of the dialectical logic at its core – determination through negation – as introduced into philosophy by Spinoza and Hegel. The vital step is to understand that meaning does not rest in the abstract definitions of words. Rather, it leaps into life as it is actively and continuously recreated in each moment, as polarities are used in particular contexts and situations, be it in conversation, debate or in the internal dialogue or actions of an individual person. This emphasis on Charles S. Peirce, whose three categories are used to further enrich the vision we have of the anatomy of construction. Peirce’s view of triadicity, or thirdness, provides us with a broader view and context within which to situate dialectical process, placing it alongside other Peircean methods of inquiry including the triadic conception of the sign, the cycle of abduction-deduction-induction and the vital place that diagrams and the iconic have in the process of inquiry. The result is an approach broad enough to investigate and make sense of processes that can straddle the divide between natural and human sciences.
The aim of this dissertation is to begin the development of an alternative approach which will be... more The aim of this dissertation is to begin the development of an alternative approach which will be suitable for understanding the family. Kelly's personal construct theory is used as the basis of such an approach. The philosophical and historical roots of personal construct theory are examined and then an exposition of the theory as a psychology is made. Comparisons are made between personal construct theory and other major approaches to the family in psychology and sociology. After reviewing the theories and findings of the family research literature, with special reference to schizophrenia, construct theory's advantages and limitations as a psychology of the family are examined. Detailed analyses of its application to three families, containing a member diagnosed as schizophrenic, are presented in order to demonstrate the method in action. General issues and problems associated with research on psychiatric patients families are discussed. Finally it is concluded that the method and the theory from which it was derived offer promise for an integrated approach to family diagnosis, research and therapy.
This Document contains Video Links to all the Presentations given in both the Constructivist Meet... more This Document contains Video Links to all the Presentations given in both the Constructivist Meetup Series given in 2020 through to 2022. The list of talks are presented under topic areas for ease of locating the ones you will be most interested in.
The topic areas are as follows:
1. Theory and Philosophy
2. Method
3. Clinical & Therapy
4. Education and Development
5. Working with Organisations
6. Research
7. Politics and Current Issues
8. Literature
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy , 2022
This is a remarkable book, destined to become a point of reference in the large field of clinical... more This is a remarkable book, destined to become a point of reference in the large field of clinical psychology and psychotherapy. Two of the greatest Kellian psychotherapists and scholars present a new perspective on personal construct psychology (PCP). They introduce a breath of fresh air into a sector of clinical psychology, certainly fascinating, but which has long been circumscribed within the perimeter of the monumental work by Kelly (1955), which was able to grasp and transcend the spirit of the time. As Bruner (1956) states, 'If it was Freud's genius to cut through the rationalistic cant of nineteenth century Apollonianism, George Kelly's talent is to outstare the fashionable Dionysianism of the twentieth.' Although an alternative to behaviourism and psychoanalysis, Kelly's psychology of personality shared their individualism. Procter and Winter's personal and relational construct psychotherapy overturns this premise, abandoning constructivism in solitude to place PCP within social constructivism. The authors retain Kelly's central idea that the key to understanding human personality is meaning, as well as the processes by which individuals construct meaning. However, they reframe this idea through a relational perspective which borrows some of its assumptions from systemic psychotherapies...
This comprehensive, conceptually grounded and documented volume is a total pleasure to read. The reader is introduced to personal and relational construct psychotherapy through a compelling clinical case, which is accompanied in the following chapters by a clear and engaging style. You feel the authors’ absolute mastery of the subject and their ability – characteristic of great clinicians – to empathise with their interlocutors, who this time are we, the readers.
Kelly’s work was formed and developed in the context of the American philosophical movement known... more Kelly’s work was formed and developed in the context of the American philosophical movement known as pragmatism. The major figures to which this tradition is attributed are Charles S. Peirce, William James and John Dewey. In Personal Construct Psychology, Dewey was acknowledged by Kelly and by subsequent writers as perhaps his most important influence. It has recently become increasingly apparent, however that Peirce was a much more pervasive and crucial influence on James and Dewey than has previously been recognized. Kelly did not mention Peirce but a close reading of the two writers reveals a remarkable correspondence and relationship between their two bodies of work. To set these two thinkers side by side proves to be an interesting and productive exercise. In this paper, after introducing Peirce and examining the relationship between him and Dewey, Kelly’s basic philosophical assumptions, as outlined at the beginning of Volume 1 of the The Psychology of Personal Constructs, are used as a framework for exploring their similarities and differences. The result is an enrichment of our understanding of Kelly’s philosophy which allows us to make links with many different subsequent thinkers’ ideas and provides a basis for exploring the psychological aspects of the two men’s work. The latter forms the subject of Part II of this series which is in preparation.
Kelly suggested that it was useful to consider anyone as functioning as a scientist, in the busin... more Kelly suggested that it was useful to consider anyone as functioning as a scientist, in the business of applying theo-ries, making hypotheses and predictions and testing them out in the practice of everyday life. One of Charles Peirce’s major contributions was to develop the disciplines of logic and the philosophy of science. We can deepen and enrich our understanding of Kelly’s vision by looking at what Peirce has to say about the process of science. For Peirce, the essence of science was the application of the laws of inference. He developed a much broader concept of logic, elab-orating the processes of deduction and induction and adding to these the logic of hypothetical inference, or ‘abduc-tion’, even as Kelly broadened it further in his “departure from classical logic”. Examining the implications of these three forms of inference allows us to elaborate the dynamics involved in the process of construing, ordinacy and the cycles of experience, creativity and decision making. This is the second of a three part series examining the relation-ship between the work of Peirce and Kelly. The third will include a look at phenomenology, bipolarity, the self, dialogical process and sociological considerations.
The Wiley Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology, 2016
This chapter gives an overview of PCP writing on society and culture over the past 35 years. It a... more This chapter gives an overview of PCP writing on society and culture over the past 35 years. It argues that PCP is in a strong position to clarify the relationship between the individual and the collective, with Kelly’s notion of the construct being seen as applying just as much to societies, cultures and groups as to persons. It provides sociological and anthropological accounts with a compatible model of the individual person. Social identity is explored as an important vehicle for the assimilation of construing from society, followed by a discussion of power and alienation. Kelly’s statement that culture is only imposed on us through its limiting of the evidence at our disposal must be supplemented with an acknowledgement that it is also the copious source of our construct dimensions, although of course for PCP we always transform this construing into our own unique versions.
The concept of the Construct, originated by George Kelly, with its dialectical nature of meaning,... more The concept of the Construct, originated by George Kelly, with its dialectical nature of meaning, is a highly original contribution to modern psychology and a powerful unit of analysis which can be used to throw light on the construing of individual persons as well as of groups, institutions, cultures and societies.
My own work has developed the concepts of family construct and the family construct system in which the family members’ positions are ranged in agreement and opposition to each other. This picture can be applied as well to the internal set of selves or roles that an individual can take up as described by Miller Mair in his Community of Selves. In extreme cases a person can experience dissociation between these selves in what has been described as dissociative identity disorder or dual personality. We will look at situations in which these patterns can be mapped using Qualitative Grids, in particular the Perceiver Selves Grid.
Questo libro importante, destinato a diventare un punto di riferimento per la psicologia clinica ... more Questo libro importante, destinato a diventare un punto di riferimento per la psicologia clinica e la psicoterapia, getta un ponte fra la psicologia dei costrutti personali e la terapia familiare. Questo volume, documentato e concettualmente denso, presenta un pregio raro: è piacevolissimo da leggere. Il lettore viene introdotto nel testo attraverso un avvincente caso clinico e accompagnato nel corso della trattazione da uno stile chiaro e coinvolgente. Si sente l’assoluta padronanza della materia degli Autori e la loro capacità, tipica dei grandi clinici, di entrare in empatia con l’interlocutore, che questa volta siamo noi, i lettori.
Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy, Vol. 21, No. 1, 34-48, 2021
This is an update of the 2009 paper, 'The Construct', bringing it up to date in the light of the ... more This is an update of the 2009 paper, 'The Construct', bringing it up to date in the light of the developments covered in Procter and Winter (2021) Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy. It focuses on Kelly's notion of the construct as a unit of analysis with exceptionally broad scope and depth. it is a powerful tool, useful in the everyday application of Personal Construct Theory, but having the capacity to apply not just to individual persons but to the construing of groups, relationships, organisations, cultures and societies in general.
The ‘Perceiver Element Grid’ (PEG) is a simple but powerful tool for looking at how family member... more The ‘Perceiver Element Grid’ (PEG) is a simple but powerful tool for looking at how family members position themselves toward each other, and toward themselves. It can be used to summarize the dynamics involved in a family situation, useful in reflective practice and supervision and if appropriate, can be used in the family session. It is based on the idea that the way people view each and the issues at stake governs how they interact and relate to each other. This is the aspect that changes or is modified in the therapeutic process.
Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy - Reviews
Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.
Presented he... more Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy - Reviews Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. Presented here arefour published reviews of Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy by Harry Procter and David Winter (2020):
Green, D. (Dec 2020) Book Review of PRCP, Clinical Psychology Forum, 336, 11. Treacher, A. (Feb 2021) Review of Harry Procter and David W Winter, PRCP. Context, 173. 36-37. O'Sullivan, (Dec 2020) Book Review, PRCP, The Irish Psychologist, 46 (6), 157-8. Harding, K. (May, 2021) Book Review, PRCP, Journal of Critical Psychology, Counseling, and Psychotherapy, WInter, 2020, pp. 68-9. Koch, H (2021) Book Review: PRCP. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing | 2021 | https://doi.org/10.12968/bjmh.2021.0024.
Intersubjectivity consists of the mutual coordination, incorporation and sharing of meaning and e... more Intersubjectivity consists of the mutual coordination, incorporation and sharing of meaning and experience between people over time. The study of intersubjectivity raises difficult conceptual and meth-odological issues. Defined as a form of mutually coordinated experience , intersubjective processes are those that occur between rather than merely within persons. As such, the concept of intersubjectivity incorporates but extends beyond related concepts such as sociality, commonality, and perspective taking. To the extent that intersubject-ive processes are relational ones, their study requires the ability to analyze forms of engagement that occur between rather than merely within individual actors. We suggest that the most basic way to assess intersubjectivity involves recruiting the human capacity for intersubjective engagement itself as a primary method of psychological research. Toward this end, drawing on existing studies involving moment-by-moment observation of videotaped interaction, we track the developmental changes of different forms of intersubjective engagement as they occur between infants and their caregivers. Building on this work, we propose and illustrate methods for identifying moment-by-moment changes in sociality and intersubjective engagement as they occur in verbal and nonverbal joint action among adults. ARTICLE HISTORY How do people gain the capacity to identify psychological experience in themselves and in other people? The study of experience has long been a challenge to scientific psychology. Psychological science was founded on the value of objectivity. Invoking the concept of objectivity, behavior is understood as external, objective and publicly observable, while psychological experience is understood as internal, subjective and private. From this viewpoint, individuals are assumed to have privileged access to their own psychological experiences (MacDonald, 2014), while the experiences of the self are inaccessible to third-person observers. Despite the intuitive appeal of these ideas, they raise deep problems: how is it possible for people to form shared representations of experiences that are by definition private? Traditional answers invoke the concepts of introspection and projection. Knowledge of one's own experience comes from introspection: first-person experiencers "look within" themselves, identify experience, and then use words to communicate those experiences.
Instructions for a useful method of working with teams, groups or families consists of a Perceive... more Instructions for a useful method of working with teams, groups or families consists of a Perceiver Element Grid (Procter, 2014), a Qualitative Grid in which people are asked to enter their goals for a piece of consultation in the boxes in the Grid. Specifically, the goals are how they would like all members of the group to be able to see each other and themselves after a period of useful change. The method quickly generates a large number of the group's own positive ideas. This solution focussed method can bypass too much consideration of the conflictual material which has led the group to require consultation. The method can also be used to evaluate qualitatively the change that occurs by repeating the method at the end of the intervention, or in the interim.
Теория личностных конструктов Д. Келли и системная семейная терапия появились в одно время, и их ... more Теория личностных конструктов Д. Келли и системная семейная терапия появились в одно время, и их объединяла оптимистичная идея о том, что изменения в жизни человека и семьи возможны и важно концентрироваться на действиях, ведущих к изменениям. Согласно гипотезе Келли, мы описываем все, что воспринимаем, с помощью системы конструктов, а конструкт — это «отношение, в котором какие-то вещи истолковываются как сходные и, кроме того, отличающиеся от других», это наше внутреннее определение, помогающее оценивать те или иные явления или ситуации. Конструкты, в отличие от понятий (которые универсальны), — индивидуальны, это различия и сходства, которые человек считает важными для оценки себя, других людей и ситуаций.
These 14 papers are based on presentations given at the 14th European PCP Conference which took p... more These 14 papers are based on presentations given at the 14th European PCP Conference which took place at the University of Edinburgh in July 2018. The theme of the conference was ‘Developing sociality in the 21st Century’. This collection reflects the wide range of applicability of PCT and the fertility of the theory, especially emerging from the professionals' points of view.
The book provides and up-to-date account of the approach with application to individual, family a... more The book provides and up-to-date account of the approach with application to individual, family and group therapy. Chapters include the philosophical background, assessment methods, clinical formulation, reflexivity and supervision, comparison with other approaches and the evidence base. Conceived by Dennis Bury, Chair of the Personal Construct Association, UK.
This book, like his Invitation to Personal Construct Psychology, written with Viv Burr (1992, 20... more This book, like his Invitation to Personal Construct Psychology, written with Viv Burr (1992, 2004) and Understanding People (2003) is remarkable for presenting and explaining the approach to the lay person or the practitioner with no previous knowledge of PCP. For me it is a wonderful exploration of how Kelly’s work connects with the philosophical schools of Pragmatism, Phenomenology, Humanism and Existentialism but whilst retaining an originality and coherence in its own right. Reading it will, I believe, whet the appetite for exploring Butt’s remarkable list of over 70 published chapters and papers
The Routledge Handbook of Dialectical Thinking edited by Michael Mascolo, Anastassia Belolutskaya and Nick Shannon.
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce a Dialectical Constructivist approach which has at it... more The purpose of this chapter is to introduce a Dialectical Constructivist approach which has at its core a unit of analysis, the dialectical polarity, inspired by the constructivist approaches of the psychologists George Kelly and Joseph Rychlak, but which can inform inquiry within any discipline and can be used in making sense of and in intervening in social situations. The recognition that meaning depends entirely on what contrast is involved lies at the basis of Kelly’s dialectical vision of the personal construct, which he brilliantly introduced into the discipline of psychology in the 1950’s. The nature of the dialectical polarity is carefully unravelled and clarified in a series of steps starting within the anthropological literature of Gregory Bateson and Rodney Needham and building up to an analysis of the dialectical logic at its core – determination through negation – as introduced into philosophy by Spinoza and Hegel. The vital step is to understand that meaning does not rest in the abstract definitions of words. Rather, it leaps into life as it is actively and continuously recreated in each moment, as polarities are used in particular contexts and situations, be it in conversation, debate or in the internal dialogue or actions of an individual person. This emphasis on Charles S. Peirce, whose three categories are used to further enrich the vision we have of the anatomy of construction. Peirce’s view of triadicity, or thirdness, provides us with a broader view and context within which to situate dialectical process, placing it alongside other Peircean methods of inquiry including the triadic conception of the sign, the cycle of abduction-deduction-induction and the vital place that diagrams and the iconic have in the process of inquiry. The result is an approach broad enough to investigate and make sense of processes that can straddle the divide between natural and human sciences.
The aim of this dissertation is to begin the development of an alternative approach which will be... more The aim of this dissertation is to begin the development of an alternative approach which will be suitable for understanding the family. Kelly's personal construct theory is used as the basis of such an approach. The philosophical and historical roots of personal construct theory are examined and then an exposition of the theory as a psychology is made. Comparisons are made between personal construct theory and other major approaches to the family in psychology and sociology. After reviewing the theories and findings of the family research literature, with special reference to schizophrenia, construct theory's advantages and limitations as a psychology of the family are examined. Detailed analyses of its application to three families, containing a member diagnosed as schizophrenic, are presented in order to demonstrate the method in action. General issues and problems associated with research on psychiatric patients families are discussed. Finally it is concluded that the method and the theory from which it was derived offer promise for an integrated approach to family diagnosis, research and therapy.
This Document contains Video Links to all the Presentations given in both the Constructivist Meet... more This Document contains Video Links to all the Presentations given in both the Constructivist Meetup Series given in 2020 through to 2022. The list of talks are presented under topic areas for ease of locating the ones you will be most interested in.
The topic areas are as follows:
1. Theory and Philosophy
2. Method
3. Clinical & Therapy
4. Education and Development
5. Working with Organisations
6. Research
7. Politics and Current Issues
8. Literature
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy , 2022
This is a remarkable book, destined to become a point of reference in the large field of clinical... more This is a remarkable book, destined to become a point of reference in the large field of clinical psychology and psychotherapy. Two of the greatest Kellian psychotherapists and scholars present a new perspective on personal construct psychology (PCP). They introduce a breath of fresh air into a sector of clinical psychology, certainly fascinating, but which has long been circumscribed within the perimeter of the monumental work by Kelly (1955), which was able to grasp and transcend the spirit of the time. As Bruner (1956) states, 'If it was Freud's genius to cut through the rationalistic cant of nineteenth century Apollonianism, George Kelly's talent is to outstare the fashionable Dionysianism of the twentieth.' Although an alternative to behaviourism and psychoanalysis, Kelly's psychology of personality shared their individualism. Procter and Winter's personal and relational construct psychotherapy overturns this premise, abandoning constructivism in solitude to place PCP within social constructivism. The authors retain Kelly's central idea that the key to understanding human personality is meaning, as well as the processes by which individuals construct meaning. However, they reframe this idea through a relational perspective which borrows some of its assumptions from systemic psychotherapies...
This comprehensive, conceptually grounded and documented volume is a total pleasure to read. The reader is introduced to personal and relational construct psychotherapy through a compelling clinical case, which is accompanied in the following chapters by a clear and engaging style. You feel the authors’ absolute mastery of the subject and their ability – characteristic of great clinicians – to empathise with their interlocutors, who this time are we, the readers.
Kelly’s work was formed and developed in the context of the American philosophical movement known... more Kelly’s work was formed and developed in the context of the American philosophical movement known as pragmatism. The major figures to which this tradition is attributed are Charles S. Peirce, William James and John Dewey. In Personal Construct Psychology, Dewey was acknowledged by Kelly and by subsequent writers as perhaps his most important influence. It has recently become increasingly apparent, however that Peirce was a much more pervasive and crucial influence on James and Dewey than has previously been recognized. Kelly did not mention Peirce but a close reading of the two writers reveals a remarkable correspondence and relationship between their two bodies of work. To set these two thinkers side by side proves to be an interesting and productive exercise. In this paper, after introducing Peirce and examining the relationship between him and Dewey, Kelly’s basic philosophical assumptions, as outlined at the beginning of Volume 1 of the The Psychology of Personal Constructs, are used as a framework for exploring their similarities and differences. The result is an enrichment of our understanding of Kelly’s philosophy which allows us to make links with many different subsequent thinkers’ ideas and provides a basis for exploring the psychological aspects of the two men’s work. The latter forms the subject of Part II of this series which is in preparation.
Kelly suggested that it was useful to consider anyone as functioning as a scientist, in the busin... more Kelly suggested that it was useful to consider anyone as functioning as a scientist, in the business of applying theo-ries, making hypotheses and predictions and testing them out in the practice of everyday life. One of Charles Peirce’s major contributions was to develop the disciplines of logic and the philosophy of science. We can deepen and enrich our understanding of Kelly’s vision by looking at what Peirce has to say about the process of science. For Peirce, the essence of science was the application of the laws of inference. He developed a much broader concept of logic, elab-orating the processes of deduction and induction and adding to these the logic of hypothetical inference, or ‘abduc-tion’, even as Kelly broadened it further in his “departure from classical logic”. Examining the implications of these three forms of inference allows us to elaborate the dynamics involved in the process of construing, ordinacy and the cycles of experience, creativity and decision making. This is the second of a three part series examining the relation-ship between the work of Peirce and Kelly. The third will include a look at phenomenology, bipolarity, the self, dialogical process and sociological considerations.
The Wiley Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology, 2016
This chapter gives an overview of PCP writing on society and culture over the past 35 years. It a... more This chapter gives an overview of PCP writing on society and culture over the past 35 years. It argues that PCP is in a strong position to clarify the relationship between the individual and the collective, with Kelly’s notion of the construct being seen as applying just as much to societies, cultures and groups as to persons. It provides sociological and anthropological accounts with a compatible model of the individual person. Social identity is explored as an important vehicle for the assimilation of construing from society, followed by a discussion of power and alienation. Kelly’s statement that culture is only imposed on us through its limiting of the evidence at our disposal must be supplemented with an acknowledgement that it is also the copious source of our construct dimensions, although of course for PCP we always transform this construing into our own unique versions.
The concept of the Construct, originated by George Kelly, with its dialectical nature of meaning,... more The concept of the Construct, originated by George Kelly, with its dialectical nature of meaning, is a highly original contribution to modern psychology and a powerful unit of analysis which can be used to throw light on the construing of individual persons as well as of groups, institutions, cultures and societies.
My own work has developed the concepts of family construct and the family construct system in which the family members’ positions are ranged in agreement and opposition to each other. This picture can be applied as well to the internal set of selves or roles that an individual can take up as described by Miller Mair in his Community of Selves. In extreme cases a person can experience dissociation between these selves in what has been described as dissociative identity disorder or dual personality. We will look at situations in which these patterns can be mapped using Qualitative Grids, in particular the Perceiver Selves Grid.
Questo libro importante, destinato a diventare un punto di riferimento per la psicologia clinica ... more Questo libro importante, destinato a diventare un punto di riferimento per la psicologia clinica e la psicoterapia, getta un ponte fra la psicologia dei costrutti personali e la terapia familiare. Questo volume, documentato e concettualmente denso, presenta un pregio raro: è piacevolissimo da leggere. Il lettore viene introdotto nel testo attraverso un avvincente caso clinico e accompagnato nel corso della trattazione da uno stile chiaro e coinvolgente. Si sente l’assoluta padronanza della materia degli Autori e la loro capacità, tipica dei grandi clinici, di entrare in empatia con l’interlocutore, che questa volta siamo noi, i lettori.
Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy, Vol. 21, No. 1, 34-48, 2021
This is an update of the 2009 paper, 'The Construct', bringing it up to date in the light of the ... more This is an update of the 2009 paper, 'The Construct', bringing it up to date in the light of the developments covered in Procter and Winter (2021) Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy. It focuses on Kelly's notion of the construct as a unit of analysis with exceptionally broad scope and depth. it is a powerful tool, useful in the everyday application of Personal Construct Theory, but having the capacity to apply not just to individual persons but to the construing of groups, relationships, organisations, cultures and societies in general.
The ‘Perceiver Element Grid’ (PEG) is a simple but powerful tool for looking at how family member... more The ‘Perceiver Element Grid’ (PEG) is a simple but powerful tool for looking at how family members position themselves toward each other, and toward themselves. It can be used to summarize the dynamics involved in a family situation, useful in reflective practice and supervision and if appropriate, can be used in the family session. It is based on the idea that the way people view each and the issues at stake governs how they interact and relate to each other. This is the aspect that changes or is modified in the therapeutic process.
Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy - Reviews
Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.
Presented he... more Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy - Reviews Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. Presented here arefour published reviews of Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy by Harry Procter and David Winter (2020):
Green, D. (Dec 2020) Book Review of PRCP, Clinical Psychology Forum, 336, 11. Treacher, A. (Feb 2021) Review of Harry Procter and David W Winter, PRCP. Context, 173. 36-37. O'Sullivan, (Dec 2020) Book Review, PRCP, The Irish Psychologist, 46 (6), 157-8. Harding, K. (May, 2021) Book Review, PRCP, Journal of Critical Psychology, Counseling, and Psychotherapy, WInter, 2020, pp. 68-9. Koch, H (2021) Book Review: PRCP. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing | 2021 | https://doi.org/10.12968/bjmh.2021.0024.
Intersubjectivity consists of the mutual coordination, incorporation and sharing of meaning and e... more Intersubjectivity consists of the mutual coordination, incorporation and sharing of meaning and experience between people over time. The study of intersubjectivity raises difficult conceptual and meth-odological issues. Defined as a form of mutually coordinated experience , intersubjective processes are those that occur between rather than merely within persons. As such, the concept of intersubjectivity incorporates but extends beyond related concepts such as sociality, commonality, and perspective taking. To the extent that intersubject-ive processes are relational ones, their study requires the ability to analyze forms of engagement that occur between rather than merely within individual actors. We suggest that the most basic way to assess intersubjectivity involves recruiting the human capacity for intersubjective engagement itself as a primary method of psychological research. Toward this end, drawing on existing studies involving moment-by-moment observation of videotaped interaction, we track the developmental changes of different forms of intersubjective engagement as they occur between infants and their caregivers. Building on this work, we propose and illustrate methods for identifying moment-by-moment changes in sociality and intersubjective engagement as they occur in verbal and nonverbal joint action among adults. ARTICLE HISTORY How do people gain the capacity to identify psychological experience in themselves and in other people? The study of experience has long been a challenge to scientific psychology. Psychological science was founded on the value of objectivity. Invoking the concept of objectivity, behavior is understood as external, objective and publicly observable, while psychological experience is understood as internal, subjective and private. From this viewpoint, individuals are assumed to have privileged access to their own psychological experiences (MacDonald, 2014), while the experiences of the self are inaccessible to third-person observers. Despite the intuitive appeal of these ideas, they raise deep problems: how is it possible for people to form shared representations of experiences that are by definition private? Traditional answers invoke the concepts of introspection and projection. Knowledge of one's own experience comes from introspection: first-person experiencers "look within" themselves, identify experience, and then use words to communicate those experiences.
Instructions for a useful method of working with teams, groups or families consists of a Perceive... more Instructions for a useful method of working with teams, groups or families consists of a Perceiver Element Grid (Procter, 2014), a Qualitative Grid in which people are asked to enter their goals for a piece of consultation in the boxes in the Grid. Specifically, the goals are how they would like all members of the group to be able to see each other and themselves after a period of useful change. The method quickly generates a large number of the group's own positive ideas. This solution focussed method can bypass too much consideration of the conflictual material which has led the group to require consultation. The method can also be used to evaluate qualitatively the change that occurs by repeating the method at the end of the intervention, or in the interim.
Теория личностных конструктов Д. Келли и системная семейная терапия появились в одно время, и их ... more Теория личностных конструктов Д. Келли и системная семейная терапия появились в одно время, и их объединяла оптимистичная идея о том, что изменения в жизни человека и семьи возможны и важно концентрироваться на действиях, ведущих к изменениям. Согласно гипотезе Келли, мы описываем все, что воспринимаем, с помощью системы конструктов, а конструкт — это «отношение, в котором какие-то вещи истолковываются как сходные и, кроме того, отличающиеся от других», это наше внутреннее определение, помогающее оценивать те или иные явления или ситуации. Конструкты, в отличие от понятий (которые универсальны), — индивидуальны, это различия и сходства, которые человек считает важными для оценки себя, других людей и ситуаций.
These 14 papers are based on presentations given at the 14th European PCP Conference which took p... more These 14 papers are based on presentations given at the 14th European PCP Conference which took place at the University of Edinburgh in July 2018. The theme of the conference was ‘Developing sociality in the 21st Century’. This collection reflects the wide range of applicability of PCT and the fertility of the theory, especially emerging from the professionals' points of view.
This workshop will give some background to the discussion session that Sabrina Cipolletta, Michae... more This workshop will give some background to the discussion session that Sabrina Cipolletta, Michael Mascolo and I will be running at the conference. We will look here at how phenomenology, social constructionism, developmental psychology and family systems theorists have made sense of the concept of “intersubjectivity”. We will then look at the implications of these views for Personal Construct Psychology. PCP can help us define what a fully intersubjective relationship looks like, with implications for practice. Participants will be invited to fill in a Qualitative Grid to help focus on an example in their own experience.
Reading list:
Blumer, H. (1966) Sociological implications of the thought of George Herbert Mead, American Journal of Sociology 71, pp. 535-44.
Buber, M. (1937) I and thou. Transl. R. G. Smith. Edinburgh: Clark.
Chiari, G. (2017) Highlighting intersubjectivity and recognition in Kelly’s sketchy view of personal identity. In D. Winter, P. Cummins, H. G. Procter and N. Reed, eds.; Personal construct psychology at 60: Papers from the 21st international congress. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 54-67.
Cipolletta, S., Malighetti, C., Sommacale, S. and Faccio, E. (2018) What is the role of similarity and understanding in lesbian couples’ satisfaction? Paper submitted to the Journal of Marriage and Family.
De Jaegher, H., Piper, B., Clénin, D. and Fuchs, T. (2017) Grasping intersubjectivity: an invitation to embody social interaction research. Phenom. Cogn. Sci., 16, 491 – 523.
Delafield-Butt, J. T. and Trevarthen, C. (2013) In P. Cobley and P. Schultz, eds,; Theories of the development of human communication Handbook of Communication. Berlin: Gruyter Mouton
Fuchs, T. (2012). The phenomenology and development of social perspectives. Phenomenol. Cogn. Sci. 12, 655–683.
doi: 10.1007/s11097-012-9267-x
Galbusera, L. and Fellin, L. (2014) The intersubjective endeavor of psychopathology research: methodological reflections on a second-person perspective approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1-14. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01150. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25368589 Gallagher, S. (2008) Direct perception in the intersubjective context. Consciousness and Cognition, 17, 535-543.
Husserl, E. (1929) Cartesian meditations: Fifth meditation: Uncovering of the sphere of transcendental being as monadological intersubjectivity. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Leitner, L. (1985) The terrors of cognition: On the experiential validity of personal construct theory. In D. Bannister, Ed., Issues and approaches in personal construct theory. London: Academic Press.
MacMurray, J. (1961) Persons in relation. London: Faber and Faber.
Malloch, S. and Trevarthen, C. (2018) The human nature of music
Mascolo, M. F. (2018) The Phenomenology of Between: An Intersubjective Epistemology for Psychological Science. Submitted to the Journal of Constructivist Psychology.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962) The phenomenology of perception (Part II, Ch. 4) London: Routledge.
Moll, H., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2012). Joint Attention as the Fundamental Basis of Understanding Perspectives. In A. Seemann (Ed.), Joint Attention: New Developments in Psychology, Philosophy of Mind, and Social Neuroscience (pp. 393–413). Cambridge, MA: The MIT
Moran, D. (2000) Introduction to Phenomenology. London: Routledge.
Nagy, E. (2011). The newborn infant: A missing stage in developmental psychology. Infant and Child Development, 20 , 3–19.
Procter, H. G. and Winter, D. (In Preparation) Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy. London: Palgrave McMillan: Chapter 3 – From the personal to the relational.
Reddy, V. (2008). How Infants Know Minds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Royce, J. (1904) The World and the Individual, Vol II, pp 260 - 4. New York: Macmillan.
Scheler, M. (2008) The nature of sympathy. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers (Original work, 1913).
Schutz, A. (1942) Scheler’s theory of intersubjectivity and the general thesis of the alter ego. In M.Natanson, ed.; Collected Papers, Vol. 1: The problem of social reality. The Hague: Martinus Nijnoff, 150-179.
Schutz, A. (1967) The phenomenology of the social world. London: Heinemann
Schutz, A. (1971) Collected papers Vol I: The problem of social reality. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Sherover, C. M. (1987) Royce’s pragmatic idealism and existential phenomenology. In R. S. Corrington, C. Hausman & T. M. Seebohm (Eds.) Pragmatism considers Phenomenology. (pp. 143-165). Lanham, MD: The Center for Advanced Research in Phenomenology.
Shotter, J. (2011) Language, joint action, and the ethical domain: The importance of the relations between our living bodies and their surroundings. Plenary paper to be given at IIIrd Congreso de Psicologia y Responsabilidad Social, March 5th-9th. Campus San Alberto Magno, Bogota, Columbia.
Spiegelberg, H., 1976. The phenomenological movement: A historical introduction. Vol. 2. The Hague: Mrtinus Nijhoff..
Trevarthen, C. (1990) Signs before speech. In T.A. Sebeok & J. Umiker–Sebeok (eds.), The Semiotic Web. Amsterdam: Mouton de Gruyter.
Trevarthen, C. and Aitken, K. J. (2001) Infant intersubjectivity: Research, theory, and clinical applications. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42,1, pp. 3-48.
Trevarthen, C. and Delafield-Butt, J. (2017) Intersubjectivity in the Imagination and Feelings of the Infant: Implications
for Education in the Early Years. In E. Jayne White, C. Dalli, eds.; Under-three Year Olds in Policy and Practice,
Policy and Pedagogy with Under-three Year Olds: Cross-disciplinary Insights and Innovations. Singapore: Springer. DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2275-3_2
Ugazio, V. (2013). Semantic polarities and psychopathologies in the family. New York: Routledge.
This workshop gives some background to the discussion session that Sabrina Cipolletta, Michael Ma... more This workshop gives some background to the discussion session that Sabrina Cipolletta, Michael Mascolo and I will be running at the Edinburgh PCP conference, July 2019. We will look here at how phenomenology, social constructionism, developmental psychology and family systems theorists have made sense of the concept of “intersubjectivity”. We will then look at the implications of these views for Personal Construct Psychology. PCP can help us define what a fully intersubjective relationship looks like, with implications for practice. Participants will be invited to fill in a Qualitative Grid to help focus on an example in their own experience. Reading list also attached.
Personal Construct Psychology looks at how people uniquely make sense of their worlds, situations... more Personal Construct Psychology looks at how people uniquely make sense of their worlds, situations, themselves, other people or any issue of interest. This is achieved most simply by using Qualitative Grids (QGs). These tools allow people to tell how they see things in their own words or drawings. The grids enable us to see how views change across time or situation and to look at differences between people’s views. The Perceiver Element Grid (PEG) is useful for getting a snapshot of a situation from the point of view of each participant. It examines how a family or team of people see themselves and each other, throwing light on their interactions. Event, Time and Situation Grids allow the capture of changes in construing. We will focus on sibling relationships as an example and Personal Construct Psychologist Dorothy Rowe’s difficult experiences (from her book “My Dearest Enemy, My Dangerous Friend”) will help participants to learn to use the grids and apply them in their own lives and in explorations of their clients’ or subjects’ experiences.
Virginia Woolf Mrs Dalloway 3
Byron Cain – A Mystery 7
Henry James Washington Square 1... more Virginia Woolf Mrs Dalloway 3 Byron Cain – A Mystery 7 Henry James Washington Square 14 Shelley Julian and Maddalo 17
Overview of Naturalism, the result of research preliminary to Part III of my series of studies of... more Overview of Naturalism, the result of research preliminary to Part III of my series of studies of Charles S. Peirce and George A. Kelly: "Peirce's Contributions to Personal Construct Psychology and Constructivism.
This Workshop presents the application of Personal and Relational Psychology to Supervision and C... more This Workshop presents the application of Personal and Relational Psychology to Supervision and Consultation. The model can be used in supervising people from many different therapeutic approaches
Workshop given at the 11th Conference of the European
Personal Construct Association Dublin 30th ... more Workshop given at the 11th Conference of the European Personal Construct Association Dublin 30th June 2011: Many aspects of Personal Construct Psychology and indeed in the constructivist and constructionist canon can be found in the writings of the brilliant polymath Charles Peirce (1839 – 1914) who is credited with founding Pragmatism but whose work has remained in relative obscurity until recently. He presaged many later trends in psychology, logic, the philosophy of science, phenomenology, semiotics and the work of Wittgenstein. His categories are of direct interest and usefulness in exploring and elaborating Kelly’s work. The workshop will give an overview and appreciation of Peirce’s contribution.
Kelly’s psychology grew out of the pragmatism of Peirce, James and Dewey. The concept of habit is... more Kelly’s psychology grew out of the pragmatism of Peirce, James and Dewey. The concept of habit is central in the work of these three thinkers, particularly in Peirce and Dewey. It is a concept that covers the same broad ground and is seen to perform a similar function to Kelly’s notion of construct. Kelly’s use of the verb channelize to describe construing and a structured yet flexible network of constructs, comes close to Peirce’s vision of habits of interpretation and habits of action. In this session we will examine carefully the relationship between habits and constructs. Kelly’s person-as-scientist metaphor is enormously enriched by looking at the compatible model of science, logic and inquiry that Peirce devoted his life to elaborating. The exercise allows us to understand more clearly the radical perspective which distinguishes Kelly’s work and places it into the context of contemporary logic, semiotics and philosophy.
Kelly’s psychology grew out of the pragmatism of Peirce, James and Dewey. The concept of habit is... more Kelly’s psychology grew out of the pragmatism of Peirce, James and Dewey. The concept of habit is central in the work of these three thinkers, particularly in Peirce and Dewey. It is a concept that covers the same broad ground and is seen to perform a similar function to Kelly’s notion of construct. Kelly’s use of the verb channelize to describe construing and a structured yet flexible network of constructs, comes close to Peirce’s vision of habits of interpretation and habits of action. In this session we will examine carefully the relationship between habits and constructs. Kelly’s person-as-scientist metaphor is enormously enriched by looking at the compatible model of science, logic and inquiry that Peirce devoted his life to elaborating. The exercise allows us to understand more clearly the radical perspective which distinguishes Kelly’s work and places it into the context of contemporary logic, semiotics and philosophy.
References
In 2008, we heard that the next International Conference on Personal ConstructPsychology was to b... more In 2008, we heard that the next International Conference on Personal ConstructPsychology was to be held on the Island of San Servolo in the Lagoon of Venice.Relishing the opportunity to enter literary and historical dreams conjured up by the nameof the City, we discovered that the poets Shelley and Byron had visited a friendincarcerated in the Asylum on that very island nearly two hundred years before, at leastaccording to a fine poem by Shelley called “Julian and Maddalo” (1818).
There has been no significant writing within personal construct psychology about autistic spectru... more There has been no significant writing within personal construct psychology about autistic spectrum disorders, despite the fact that this approach provides promising models in a number of other specific areas of human difficulty. This article outlines a PCP model of autism, based on a wide variety of recent research findings and writings, including those of autism sufferers themselves. Autism is considered in the light of Kelly's fundamental postulate and 11 corollaries as well as Procter's (1978) group and family corollaries. It is argued that Kelly's theory provides an integrative framework for considering this complex set of disorders with implications for further research in autism and the early development of social cognition as well as for therapeutic and educational intervention in helping people struggling with autistic spectrum disorders.
Children and Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorders face particular challenges. This paper l... more Children and Young People with Autism Spectrum Disorders face particular challenges. This paper looks at 22 concerns voiced by parents of these children together with a corresponding set of "ways forward" for each concern
References used in compiling Chapter 9 of Procter and Winter (in press) Personal and Relational C... more References used in compiling Chapter 9 of Procter and Winter (in press) Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Personal Construct Psychology is potentially an important framework to aid the literary critic in... more Personal Construct Psychology is potentially an important framework to aid the literary critic in making sense of characters and situations in Shakespeare's plays. This has been ably demonstrated in the work of A. E. St G. Moss, John Lee and in particular Cintra Whitehead with her studies of Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear. This opens the field to an exciting new wave of exploration of these timeless plays.
References drawn on in writing Procter, H. G. (2016) PCP, Culture and Society. In Wiley Handbook ... more References drawn on in writing Procter, H. G. (2016) PCP, Culture and Society. In Wiley Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology, edited by David Winter and Nick Reed. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: 10.1002/9781118508275.ch12
Compiled by Fay Fransella and the Centre for Personal Construct Psychology at the University of H... more Compiled by Fay Fransella and the Centre for Personal Construct Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire UK Updated by Harry Procter, 2015 This list was originally compiled by Fay Fransella and colleagues. It has been updated, but not thoroughly. If you notice a reference that should be included, please let Harry Procter know on harryprocte20@gmail.com.
A list of publications of the brilliant psychologist and novelist Don Bannister. Bannister introd... more A list of publications of the brilliant psychologist and novelist Don Bannister. Bannister introduced Kelly's Personal Construct Psychology to the UK and Europe and had a powerful impact on the practice of clinical psychology and psychotherapy.
To celebrate the life and work of our dear friend and colleague Trevor Butt, who died on Thursday... more To celebrate the life and work of our dear friend and colleague Trevor Butt, who died on Thursday 16th April, 2015, I have compiled a list of his books and articles. Please let me know if there are any omissions.
Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 1966
This paper insists that a psychological theory should be reflexive, i.e. it should be able to acc... more This paper insists that a psychological theory should be reflexive, i.e. it should be able to account for itself and its development if it is to be taken seriously as a valid contribution to the discipline. Bannister was a member of a panel of discussants on a BBC television programme during the 1970s in which he challenged the featured speaker, B. F. Skinner. He asked Skinner if he could account for the development of his theory of operant conditioning in terms of schedules of reinforcement. Not surprisingly, Skinner was bemused and unable to give a satisfactory account.
Making Sense of Making Sense: The Origins of Dialectical Constructivism in Hegel, Peirce and Kelly, 2026
This book has been accepted for publication by Palgrave Macmillan. Estimated date of publication ... more This book has been accepted for publication by Palgrave Macmillan. Estimated date of publication 2026. The Book will introduce a clear and comprehensive philosophical approach within the tradition of Pragmatism: Dialectical Constructivism. It promises to provide a useful philosophical background for readers in a wide range of disciplines including psychology, sociology, cognitive sciences, anthropology, semiotics, psychotherapy, education, policy analysis and literary theory, as well as contributing to the further development of philosophy itself.
Harry G. Procter, PhD, Psicologo Clinico e Consulente. È Visiting Professor all'Università di Her... more Harry G. Procter, PhD, Psicologo Clinico e Consulente. È Visiting Professor all'Università di Hertfordshire, in Gran Bretagna. Ha conseguito il suo dottorato nei primi anni Settanta del secolo scorso presso il Dipartimento di Salute Mentale dell'Università di Bristol, applicando la Psicologia dei Costrutti Personali ai processi familiari e iniziando a sviluppare un approccio Sistemico Costruttivista alla terapia familiare. Dopo il suo tirocinio come psicologo clinico a Nottingham ha lavorato nell'ambito della salute mentale con gli adulti e poi con bambini e adolescenti nel Somerset prima del pensionamento dal Servizio Sanitario Nazionale nel 2004. Attualmente si occupa di supervisioni e insegnamento in vari Paesi e continua a sviluppare applicazioni del Costruttivismo in contesti relazionali e organizzativi. Ha pubblicato più di 40 lavori e capitoli coprendo una varietà di argomenti, come la terapia familiare per bambini e adulti con disabilità mentali e di apprendimento, schizofrenia, autismo, ipnoterapia, pratica riflessiva, sviluppo e background filosofico del suo approccio. Ha curato due volumi di scritti di Milton H. Erickson per la Paidos Publications (Barcellona) ed è attualmente co-curatore di un volume di papers presentati al Congresso Internazionale di Psicologia dei Costrutti Personali, tenutosi presso l'Università di Hertfordshire nel luglio 2015. Recentemente ha approfondito il lavoro di Charles S. Peirce, che fornisce un'affascinante meta-cornice per guardare e comprendere gli approcci costruttivisti. Due capitoli recenti del nuovo Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology sono dedicati alla Psicologia dei Costrutti Relazionali e a PCP, Società e Cultura. Ha sviluppato vari tipi di Griglie Qualitative, che sono metodi facili da usare per elicitare le costruzioni di membri di gruppi e famiglie, localizzando le loro differenti posizioni e tracciandone i cambiamenti nel tempo.
H. G. Procter, PhD, Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Harry Procter is Visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. He conducted his doctoral research in the early 1970’s at the Department of Mental Health, University of Bristol, on applying Personal Construct Psychology to family processes and beginning the development of a Systemic Constructivist approach to family therapy. After training as a Clinical Psychologist in Nottingham, he worked in Adult and then Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Somerset before retiring from the NHS in 2004. Currently, he is involved in supervision and teaching in a number of countries and is continuing to develop Constructivist applications to relational and organizational contexts. He has published over 40 papers and chapters covering a variety of topics including family therapy for children and adults with mental health and learning disabilities, schizophrenia, autism, hypnotherapy, reflective practice, formulation and the philosophical background to his approach. He has edited two volumes of papers of Milton H. Erickson for Paidos Publications, Barcelona, and is currently co-editing a volume of papers presented at the International Congress on Personal Construct Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, July 2015. Recently he has been researching the work of Charles S. Peirce whose work provides a fascinating metaframework for looking at and understanding constructivist approaches. Two recent chapters for the new Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology address Relational Construct Psychology and PCP, Society and Culture. He has developed various types of Qualitative Grid, which are user-friendly methods of displaying the construing of members of groups and families, tracing their different positions and charting change over time.
Queste domande hanno preso spunto, nel corso degli anni, da una grande varietà di fonti, tra cui ... more Queste domande hanno preso spunto, nel corso degli anni, da una grande varietà di fonti, tra cui il lavoro del gruppo di Terapia Breve di Palo Alto, da quello di Milano, da alcuni psicologi dei Costrutti Personali come George Kelly e Tom Ravenette, nonché dalla nostra attività a Southwood House, Bridgwater e da quella di altri gruppi di terapia familiare a Somerset, Regno Unito
This workshop will give some background to the discussion session that Sabrina Cipolletta, Michae... more This workshop will give some background to the discussion session that Sabrina Cipolletta, Michael Mascolo and I will be running at the conference. We will look here at how phenomenology, social constructionism, developmental psychology and family systems theorists have made sense of the concept of “intersubjectivity”. We will then look at the implications of these views for Personal Construct Psychology. PCP can help us define what a fully intersubjective relationship looks like, with implications for practice. Participants will be invited to fill in a Qualitative Grid to help focus on an example in their own experience.
Uploads
Charles S. Peirce, whose three categories are used to further enrich the vision we have of the anatomy of construction. Peirce’s view of triadicity, or thirdness, provides us with a broader view and context within which to situate dialectical process, placing it alongside other Peircean methods of inquiry including the triadic conception of the sign, the cycle of abduction-deduction-induction and the vital place that diagrams and the iconic have in the process of inquiry. The result is an approach broad enough to investigate and make sense of processes that can straddle the divide between natural and human sciences.
The philosophical and historical roots of personal construct theory are examined and then an exposition of the theory as a psychology is made. Comparisons are made between personal construct theory and other major approaches to the family in psychology and sociology. After reviewing the theories and findings of the family research literature, with special reference to schizophrenia, construct theory's advantages and limitations as a psychology of the family are examined.
Detailed analyses of its application to three families, containing a member diagnosed as schizophrenic, are presented in order to demonstrate the method in action. General issues and problems associated with research on psychiatric patients families are discussed. Finally it is concluded that the method and the theory from which it was derived offer promise for an integrated approach to family diagnosis, research and therapy.
The topic areas are as follows:
1. Theory and Philosophy
2. Method
3. Clinical & Therapy
4. Education and Development
5. Working with Organisations
6. Research
7. Politics and Current Issues
8. Literature
This comprehensive, conceptually grounded and documented volume is a total pleasure to read. The reader is introduced to personal and relational construct psychotherapy through a compelling clinical case, which is accompanied in the following chapters by a clear and engaging style. You feel the authors’ absolute mastery of the subject and their ability – characteristic of great clinicians – to empathise with their interlocutors, who this time are we, the readers.
My own work has developed the concepts of family construct and the family construct system in which the family members’ positions are ranged in agreement and opposition to each other. This picture can be applied as well to the internal set of selves or roles that an individual can take up as described by Miller Mair in his Community of Selves. In extreme cases a person can experience dissociation between these selves in what has been described as dissociative identity disorder or dual personality. We will look at situations in which these patterns can be mapped using Qualitative Grids, in particular the Perceiver Selves Grid.
Questo volume, documentato e concettualmente denso, presenta un pregio raro: è piacevolissimo da leggere. Il lettore viene introdotto nel testo attraverso un avvincente caso clinico e accompagnato nel corso della trattazione da uno stile chiaro e coinvolgente. Si sente l’assoluta padronanza della materia degli Autori e la loro capacità, tipica dei grandi clinici, di entrare in empatia con l’interlocutore, che questa volta siamo noi, i lettori.
Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.
Presented here arefour published reviews of Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy by Harry Procter and David Winter (2020):
Green, D. (Dec 2020) Book Review of PRCP, Clinical Psychology Forum, 336, 11.
Treacher, A. (Feb 2021) Review of Harry Procter and David W Winter, PRCP. Context, 173. 36-37.
O'Sullivan, (Dec 2020) Book Review, PRCP, The Irish Psychologist, 46 (6), 157-8.
Harding, K. (May, 2021) Book Review, PRCP, Journal of Critical Psychology, Counseling, and Psychotherapy, WInter, 2020, pp. 68-9.
Koch, H (2021) Book Review: PRCP. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing | 2021 | https://doi.org/10.12968/bjmh.2021.0024.
The book can be obtained from Palgrave Macmillan: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030521769
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=procter+winter+personal&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
Bookshop.org: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/personal-and-relational-construct-psychotherapy/9783030521769.
From:
https://www.academia.edu/3237781/Peirces_contributions_to_Constructivism_and_Personal_Construct_Psychology_Part_I_Philosophical_Aspects_2014_
Charles S. Peirce, whose three categories are used to further enrich the vision we have of the anatomy of construction. Peirce’s view of triadicity, or thirdness, provides us with a broader view and context within which to situate dialectical process, placing it alongside other Peircean methods of inquiry including the triadic conception of the sign, the cycle of abduction-deduction-induction and the vital place that diagrams and the iconic have in the process of inquiry. The result is an approach broad enough to investigate and make sense of processes that can straddle the divide between natural and human sciences.
The philosophical and historical roots of personal construct theory are examined and then an exposition of the theory as a psychology is made. Comparisons are made between personal construct theory and other major approaches to the family in psychology and sociology. After reviewing the theories and findings of the family research literature, with special reference to schizophrenia, construct theory's advantages and limitations as a psychology of the family are examined.
Detailed analyses of its application to three families, containing a member diagnosed as schizophrenic, are presented in order to demonstrate the method in action. General issues and problems associated with research on psychiatric patients families are discussed. Finally it is concluded that the method and the theory from which it was derived offer promise for an integrated approach to family diagnosis, research and therapy.
The topic areas are as follows:
1. Theory and Philosophy
2. Method
3. Clinical & Therapy
4. Education and Development
5. Working with Organisations
6. Research
7. Politics and Current Issues
8. Literature
This comprehensive, conceptually grounded and documented volume is a total pleasure to read. The reader is introduced to personal and relational construct psychotherapy through a compelling clinical case, which is accompanied in the following chapters by a clear and engaging style. You feel the authors’ absolute mastery of the subject and their ability – characteristic of great clinicians – to empathise with their interlocutors, who this time are we, the readers.
My own work has developed the concepts of family construct and the family construct system in which the family members’ positions are ranged in agreement and opposition to each other. This picture can be applied as well to the internal set of selves or roles that an individual can take up as described by Miller Mair in his Community of Selves. In extreme cases a person can experience dissociation between these selves in what has been described as dissociative identity disorder or dual personality. We will look at situations in which these patterns can be mapped using Qualitative Grids, in particular the Perceiver Selves Grid.
Questo volume, documentato e concettualmente denso, presenta un pregio raro: è piacevolissimo da leggere. Il lettore viene introdotto nel testo attraverso un avvincente caso clinico e accompagnato nel corso della trattazione da uno stile chiaro e coinvolgente. Si sente l’assoluta padronanza della materia degli Autori e la loro capacità, tipica dei grandi clinici, di entrare in empatia con l’interlocutore, che questa volta siamo noi, i lettori.
Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.
Presented here arefour published reviews of Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy by Harry Procter and David Winter (2020):
Green, D. (Dec 2020) Book Review of PRCP, Clinical Psychology Forum, 336, 11.
Treacher, A. (Feb 2021) Review of Harry Procter and David W Winter, PRCP. Context, 173. 36-37.
O'Sullivan, (Dec 2020) Book Review, PRCP, The Irish Psychologist, 46 (6), 157-8.
Harding, K. (May, 2021) Book Review, PRCP, Journal of Critical Psychology, Counseling, and Psychotherapy, WInter, 2020, pp. 68-9.
Koch, H (2021) Book Review: PRCP. British Journal of Mental Health Nursing | 2021 | https://doi.org/10.12968/bjmh.2021.0024.
The book can be obtained from Palgrave Macmillan: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030521769
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=procter+winter+personal&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
Bookshop.org: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/personal-and-relational-construct-psychotherapy/9783030521769.
From:
https://www.academia.edu/3237781/Peirces_contributions_to_Constructivism_and_Personal_Construct_Psychology_Part_I_Philosophical_Aspects_2014_
Reading list:
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Buber, M. (1937) I and thou. Transl. R. G. Smith. Edinburgh: Clark.
Chiari, G. (2017) Highlighting intersubjectivity and recognition in Kelly’s sketchy view of personal identity. In D. Winter, P. Cummins, H. G. Procter and N. Reed, eds.; Personal construct psychology at 60: Papers from the 21st international congress. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 54-67.
Cipolletta, S., Malighetti, C., Sommacale, S. and Faccio, E. (2018) What is the role of similarity and understanding in lesbian couples’ satisfaction? Paper submitted to the Journal of Marriage and Family.
De Jaegher, H., Piper, B., Clénin, D. and Fuchs, T. (2017) Grasping intersubjectivity: an invitation to embody social interaction research. Phenom. Cogn. Sci., 16, 491 – 523.
Delafield-Butt, J. T. and Trevarthen, C. (2013) In P. Cobley and P. Schultz, eds,; Theories of the development of human communication Handbook of Communication. Berlin: Gruyter Mouton
Fuchs, T. (2012). The phenomenology and development of social perspectives. Phenomenol. Cogn. Sci. 12, 655–683.
doi: 10.1007/s11097-012-9267-x
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Gallagher, S. (2008) Direct perception in the intersubjective context. Consciousness and Cognition, 17, 535-543.
Husserl, E. (1929) Cartesian meditations: Fifth meditation: Uncovering of the sphere of transcendental being as monadological intersubjectivity. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Leitner, L. (1985) The terrors of cognition: On the experiential validity of personal construct theory. In D. Bannister, Ed., Issues and approaches in personal construct theory. London: Academic Press.
MacMurray, J. (1961) Persons in relation. London: Faber and Faber.
Malloch, S. and Trevarthen, C. (2018) The human nature of music
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Mascolo, M. F. (2018) The Phenomenology of Between: An Intersubjective Epistemology for Psychological Science. Submitted to the Journal of Constructivist Psychology.
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Moll, H., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2012). Joint Attention as the Fundamental Basis of Understanding Perspectives. In A. Seemann (Ed.), Joint Attention: New Developments in Psychology, Philosophy of Mind, and Social Neuroscience (pp. 393–413). Cambridge, MA: The MIT
Moran, D. (2000) Introduction to Phenomenology. London: Routledge.
Nagy, E. (2011). The newborn infant: A missing stage in developmental psychology. Infant and Child Development, 20 , 3–19.
Procter, H. G. and Winter, D. (In Preparation) Personal and Relational Construct Psychotherapy. London: Palgrave McMillan: Chapter 3 – From the personal to the relational.
Reddy, V. (2008). How Infants Know Minds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Royce, J. (1904) The World and the Individual, Vol II, pp 260 - 4. New York: Macmillan.
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Shotter, J. (2011) Language, joint action, and the ethical domain: The importance of the relations between our living bodies and their surroundings. Plenary paper to be given at IIIrd Congreso de Psicologia y Responsabilidad Social, March 5th-9th. Campus San Alberto Magno, Bogota, Columbia.
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for Education in the Early Years. In E. Jayne White, C. Dalli, eds.; Under-three Year Olds in Policy and Practice,
Policy and Pedagogy with Under-three Year Olds: Cross-disciplinary Insights and Innovations. Singapore: Springer. DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2275-3_2
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H. G. Procter June 2018
Byron Cain – A Mystery 7
Henry James Washington Square 14
Shelley Julian and Maddalo 17
Personal Construct Association Dublin 30th June 2011:
Many aspects of Personal Construct Psychology and indeed in the constructivist and constructionist canon can be found in the writings of the brilliant polymath Charles Peirce (1839 – 1914) who is credited with founding Pragmatism but whose work has remained in relative obscurity until recently. He presaged many later trends in psychology, logic, the philosophy of science, phenomenology, semiotics and the work of Wittgenstein. His categories are of direct interest and usefulness in exploring and elaborating Kelly’s work. The workshop will give an overview and appreciation of Peirce’s contribution.
References
Updated by Harry Procter, 2015
This list was originally compiled by Fay Fransella and colleagues. It has been updated, but not thoroughly. If you notice a reference that should be included, please let Harry Procter know on harryprocte20@gmail.com.
The Book will introduce a clear and comprehensive philosophical approach within the tradition of Pragmatism: Dialectical Constructivism. It promises to provide a useful philosophical background for readers in a wide range of disciplines including psychology, sociology, cognitive sciences, anthropology, semiotics, psychotherapy, education, policy analysis and literary theory, as well as contributing to the further development of philosophy itself.
il suo tirocinio come psicologo clinico a Nottingham ha lavorato nell'ambito della salute mentale con gli
adulti e poi con bambini e adolescenti nel Somerset prima del pensionamento dal Servizio Sanitario
Nazionale nel 2004. Attualmente si occupa di supervisioni e insegnamento in vari Paesi e continua a
sviluppare applicazioni del Costruttivismo in contesti relazionali e organizzativi. Ha pubblicato più di 40
lavori e capitoli coprendo una varietà di argomenti, come la terapia familiare per bambini e adulti con
disabilità mentali e di apprendimento, schizofrenia, autismo, ipnoterapia, pratica riflessiva, sviluppo e
background filosofico del suo approccio. Ha curato due volumi di scritti di Milton H. Erickson per la Paidos
Publications (Barcellona) ed è attualmente co-curatore di un volume di papers presentati al Congresso
Internazionale di Psicologia dei Costrutti Personali, tenutosi presso l'Università di Hertfordshire nel luglio
2015.
Recentemente ha approfondito il lavoro di Charles S. Peirce, che fornisce un'affascinante meta-cornice per
guardare e comprendere gli approcci costruttivisti. Due capitoli recenti del nuovo Handbook of Personal
Construct Psychology sono dedicati alla Psicologia dei Costrutti Relazionali e a PCP, Società e Cultura.
Ha sviluppato vari tipi di Griglie Qualitative, che sono metodi facili da usare per elicitare le costruzioni di
membri di gruppi e famiglie, localizzando le loro differenti posizioni e tracciandone i cambiamenti nel
tempo.
H. G. Procter, PhD, Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Harry Procter is Visiting Professor at the University of
Hertfordshire, UK. He conducted his doctoral research in the early 1970’s at the Department of Mental
Health, University of Bristol, on applying Personal Construct Psychology to family processes and beginning
the development of a Systemic Constructivist approach to family therapy. After training as a Clinical
Psychologist in Nottingham, he worked in Adult and then Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Somerset
before retiring from the NHS in 2004. Currently, he is involved in supervision and teaching in a number of
countries and is continuing to develop Constructivist applications to relational and organizational contexts.
He has published over 40 papers and chapters covering a variety of topics including family therapy for
children and adults with mental health and learning disabilities, schizophrenia, autism, hypnotherapy,
reflective practice, formulation and the philosophical background to his approach. He has edited two
volumes of papers of Milton H. Erickson for Paidos Publications, Barcelona, and is currently co-editing a
volume of papers presented at the International Congress on Personal Construct Psychology, University of
Hertfordshire, July 2015.
Recently he has been researching the work of Charles S. Peirce whose work provides a fascinating metaframework
for looking at and understanding constructivist approaches. Two recent chapters for the new
Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology address Relational Construct Psychology and PCP, Society
and Culture.
He has developed various types of Qualitative Grid, which are user-friendly methods of displaying the
construing of members of groups and families, tracing their different positions and charting change over
time.
del gruppo di Terapia Breve di Palo Alto, da quello di Milano, da alcuni psicologi dei Costrutti Personali
come George Kelly e Tom Ravenette, nonché dalla nostra attività a Southwood House, Bridgwater e da
quella di altri gruppi di terapia familiare a Somerset, Regno Unito