I am running for president of CPN because I would like to see CPN continue to grow in the coming years and because I believe my skill in completing mundane administrative tasks could be a benefit to the organization.  We added 65 new members at the Memphis conference, we changed our name to include more constructivist voices, and we have recently added advancements in technology to our website which simplifies the renewal process.  All of these advancements are important; however their significance will only be fully realized if  we continue as a strong organization.  I am also running because CPN feels like home to me and I would like to ensure that CPN continues to feel like a warm and inviting organization for both our existing and new members.

I have been active in the Constructivist Psychology Network since I worked as one of the first editorial assistants for the International Journal of Personal Construct Psychology (now Journal of Constructivist Psychology).  This gave me an invaluable opportunity to participate in the beginning of our journal and to work with leaders in Constructivist Psychology.  The first time I attended an international conference of our network (Memphis, 1987), I was inspired by the warm welcome and mentoring that I received from members, including Gavin Dunnett, Franz Epting, George Howard, Larry Leitner, John Novak, and Jack Adams Webber, among many others.  The network continued to be an important support for my career development and has become my professional home. I served as the Treasurer of the network from 1999-2004.  I currently serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Constructivist Psychology.  It is important to me that this vital community continue to offer a home base for those working in constructivist psychology and a warm welcome to new personal scientists and scholars.

 

In running for CPN Secretary, I hope to serve an organization that I desire to strengthen and perpetuate.  As witnessed by our recent attempts to resurrect the mislaid-but-presumed-to-exist non-profit status of the organization, keeping good records of the goings-on of the organization will allow current and future leaders to function with maximum efficiency and effectiveness.  Serving as the Secretary would allow me to contribute in this modest way to the overall functioning and longevity of CPN.

 

Marla Buchanan (Arvay) is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She teaches research and school counselling in the graduate program in Counselling Psychology. Dr. Buchanan is also an associate member of the Faculty of Family Practice Medicine at UBC. Her main area of research is secondary traumatic stress among diverse populations such as mental health professionals, journalists and emergency responders. She also focuses on adolescent sexuality in her program of research. Marla has been a member of the Constructivist Psychology Network since 1998 and was the conference coordinator for the 2002 conference in Vancouver.

 

I received my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Rochester in 1971 and joined the faculty of the University of Arizona, where I spent 14 years as an Assistant and Associate Professor.  I subsequently served as a faculty member and administrator at Winthrop University, Warren Wilson College, and the University of Houston Clear Lake.  I currently serve as Professor of Psychology at California State University San Marcos. 

I first heard of George Kelly while in graduate school and I avidly embraced Personal Construct Psychology about thirty years ago, beginning with reading Kelly’s original volumes and Maher’s edited collection.  I spent a sabbatical working with Fay Fransella in London in 1979-89, preceded with the 3rd International Congress in the Netherlands, and I have presented my work at most of the subsequent congresses and, more recently, the NAPCN/CPN conferences.  My scholarship emphasizes our personal role in constructing our beliefs and understanding.  I have described metaphors such as anarchy and idolatry for addressing this issue, and the utility of language and meditation techniques that help us attend to our active participation in creating meaning and our tendency to reify our constructs.  More recently, after returning to a faculty role, I have gained an interest in the broader context of constructivist and social constructionist thought.  Having also practiced Zen meditation for over twenty years, my current work explores the interface and synergy between Zen meditation, Buddhist psychology and theory, and a variety of theoretical and applied constructivist issues and themes.  I have a strong commitment to seeing constructivist psychology gain greater recognition within the discipline.