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Constructivist Chronicle
Berlin Reconstructed: Musings on the 1999
PCP Conference
By Robert Hadden Mole
Vol. 3, Issue 2 (Fall 1999)
Go to photo The XIIIth Congress in Berlin marked a
special date: 25 years—that’s a quarter of a century—of international
congresses. Appointing myself official PCP historian for the month of
August, I am inspired to list some interesting facts and figures. The
first international congress took place at Lincoln, Nebraska in 1975.
From there, the following congresses took place at: Oxford, England
(1977); Breukelen, Holland (1979); St. Catharines, Ontario (1981);
Boston, Massachusetts (1983); Cambridge, England (1985); Memphis,
Tennessee (1987); Assisi, Italy (1989); Albany, New York (1991);
Townsville, Australia (1993); Barcelona, Spain (1995); and Seattle,
Washington (1997).
This year’s congress attracted, by my
count, almost 100 delegates from over a dozen countries, far and wide.
These include: Australia, Belarus, Canada, France, Germany, Israel,
Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA.
The congress program included topics such as “Personal Construct Theory
and the Constructivist Family”, “Do We Need Grids and Stats?”, “The
Person, Society, and Culture”, “Constructivist Psychotherapy”, as well
as closing sessions on “(How) Will PCP Survive After Y2K?”.
My experience in Berlin was a rich
one. The ever cash-strapped Research Services Department at the
University of Calgary, recognising this congress to be a turning point
in my career, awarded me the maximum amount of travel grant money
available to students. I am sure they were counting on me to return a
revitalized and all-the-more sentient individual. Indeed, this is the
case, although perhaps not in the way the department was expecting. My
experience included crash courses in German and Spanish, a working
understanding of the Deutsche Bahn, an appreciation for fruhstuck, five
nights in a boathouse on Wanssee, an opportunity to put faces to many of
the names on the mailbase, an all-nighter ending up in Potsdam, a gala
boat cruise, a bus tour, extensive sampling of the local beer, and a
trip to the zoo. The weather was excellent. I should also mention that
I did deliver my paper, got some feedback on it, and made some important
contacts in light of it. These contacts will, no doubt, help me further
on down the road.
The Research Services Department
delivers two thirds of one’s award prior to conference-going, and the
remainder on return. This provides some incentive in case you like the
congress site so much you decided to stay. In order to receive the
remaining third, you are required to compose a write-up on your
experience. I will be sure to mention that the congress was duly
enriching, if not educational.
Being an international congress, of
course there were many languages cris-crossing throughout the conference
centre. Knowing only English however, I felt at times as if I was
imposing my language on the other delegates. They would gracefully tune
their conversations to English for my benefit. For this, I was
extremely grateful. Still there was the odd misunderstanding and
misperception between cultures at times. For example, I had to politely
inform some of the Italians that “No, Canadians do not have to add
antifreeze to their wine to keep it from freezing”. These little
misunderstandings aside, what really struck me was how much we all had
in common.
A couple of years ago, I took a course
in multicultural counselling. One of the assignments was to interview a
recent immigrant of a culture or ethnicity diverse to one’s own, and
record their experience of immigration. I made contact with an
Ethiopian man who had been in Canada only a few months and spoke with a
robust accent. As my tape recorder reeled on and espresso was served,
this man’s story came to light. What was supposed to be a half-hour
interview stretched past two hours. I suppose I was expecting the
interview to reveal many differences one would find between an Ethiopian
and a Canadian. Instead, we ended up exchanging very similar views on
family, life philosophy, travel, and friendships. I left thinking I had
more in common with this stranger than some of my very own family
members.
A similar phenomenon took place in
Berlin many times over. As conversations unfolded, the differences I
expected to find between various delegates and myself were certainly
present. But what struck me the most were the incredible similarities
between all of us. Seasoned conference-goers may have come to expect
this. But it caught me by surprise again and again.
Whether from Italy, Spain, Australia,
or Canada, we all had similar motives for attending the congress. We
held similar theoretical outlooks, struggled with the same issues in
practice, sought similar experiences out of life. I was pleasantly
surprised to find that my newfound friends shared some of my very own
dearly held constructs.
For many, the end of the congress was signalled by the gala boat
cruise. Some of us, however, decided to extend the conference by one
day. We wandered around Berlin, visiting the museum at Checkpoint
Charlie and a remaining piece of the Berlin Wall. That evening, as we
settled down to supper, conversation spontaneously led to a debate over
our roles as constructivists and our roles as eclectics. I was hit by a
sense that we had achieved some cohesion, as if by a process of
alchemy. It was there at the restaurant, the table alight with
conversation about our professional, personal, constructivist, and
eclectic roles that it occurred to me that I was just as much at home
there as I was back in Canada.
I sincerely hope I can maintain
contact with my new friends. Not because I want to impress the folks
here with all my international contacts, but because I know I can count
on these new colleagues to challenge my thinking, present me with new
and useful constructs, and to share my ideas. The best way to do this
is to stay in touch.
Berlin conference goers enjoying the day trip to Potsdam
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