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  1. General Information
  2. Personal Construct Theory
  3. Radical Constructivism
  4. Social Constructionism
  5. Narrative Approaches
  6. Organizations, Therapy Centers, and Research Groups
  7. Journals, Newsletters, and Books

General Information

Personal Construct Theory

George Kelly

George A. Kelly

Personal Construct Theory (PCT) represents a coherent, comprehensive psychology of personality that has special relevance for psychotherapy. Originally drafted by the American psychologist George Kelly in 1955, PCT has been extended to a variety of domains, including organizational development, education, business and marketing, and cognitive science. However, its predominant focus remains on the study of individuals, families, and social groups, with particular emphasis on how people organize and change their views of self and world in the counseling context (Neimeyer & Bridges, 2004)

Radical Constructivism

Ernst von Glasersfeld

Ernst von Glasersfeld

The notion “radical constructivism” (RC) was coined by Ernst von Glasersfeld in 1974 in order to emphasize that from an epistemological perspective any constructivism has to be complete (or “radical”) in order not to relapse into some kind of fancy realism. The basic tenet of RC is that any kind of knowledge is constructed rather than perceived through senses. As such, RC does not present a metaphysics in the strict sense as it does not make statements about an outside reality (“No statement” means neither confirming nor denying reality. The subject of much criticism, RC equals solipsism, doesn’t therefore apply). Now, the idea itself does not originate in EvG. Forerunners of the RC movement in the 18th century were Giambatista Vico, whose dictum “verum ipsum factum” already pointed in the direction of knowledge construction, and George Berkeley whose claim “esse est percipi” challenged metaphysics. (excerpted from http://www.univie.ac.at/constructivism/about.html, video circa 2003 by Judy Lombardi)

Social Constructionism

Constructionist theory and practice locates the source of meaning, value and action in the relational connection among people. It is through relational processes that we create the world in which we most want to live and work. (excerpted from http://www.taosinstitute.net/theoretical-background)

Ken Gergen talks about Social Constructionist Ideas, Theory and Practice from Dawn Dole on Vimeo.

Narrative Approaches

Psychologists studying narrative are challenged by the notion that human activity and experience are filled with “meaning” and that stories, rather than logical arguments or lawful formulations, are the vehicle by which that meaning is communicated. (excerpted from http://web.lemoyne.edu/~hevern/narpsych/nr-basic.html)

Organizations, Therapy Centers, and Research Groups

Journals, Newsletters, and Books