Edited by
Jonathan D. Raskin and Sara K. Bridges

Constructivist psychology focuses on how people create meaningful ways of understanding themselves and the world, which they in turn use to navigate everyday life. However, a persistent point of contention has been whether our constructions primarily originate from individuals or the social context. Those coming from an individual or personal perspective have argued that each of us subjectively constructs a private, idiographic understanding of the world. By contrast, those from a social or relational perspective contend that the ways we understand our world and ourselves are primarily communal products, constituted via the dynamic interplay of culture, language, and ongoing relationships. This book marks an attempt to “bridge the gap” between personal and social perspectives within constructivism. The chapters within stress the emerging integration of personal and social aspects of therapy, research, and theory development. As a result, this volume continues an already vibrant scholarly dialogue about personal and social perspectives within constructivist psychology. The chapters stand on their own as unique contributions, while also expounding on important personal/social themes.

Table of Contents

1. Social and Personal Construction: Two Sides of the Same Coin
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Eliot Paris and Franz Epting

2. Relational Bridges Between Constructionism and Constructivism
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheila McNamee

3. Steering Personal Construct Theory Toward Hermeneutic Constructivism
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gabriele Chiari and Maria Laura Nuzzo

PART II: THE PERSONAL AND SOCIAL IN PSYCHOTHERAPY

4. Epistemology and Psychotherapy: A Constructivist Conversation
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert A. Neimeyer and William E. Cabanillas

5. The Healing Power of Telling Stories in Psychotherapy
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lara Honos-Webb, Sunwolf, and Jerrold Lee Shapiro

6. Making Meaning of Child Abuse: Personal, Social, and Narrative Processes
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephanie Lewis Harter

7. The Search for Emotional Meaning and Self Coherence in the Face of Traumatic Loss in Childhood: A Narrative Process Perspective
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lynne Angus and Beverley Bouffard

8. Looking Through the Mask: Transforming Trauma by Restorying the Self Through Action
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrice Keats and Marla J. Arvay

PART III: THE PERSONAL AND SOCIAL IN RESEARCH

9. The Zen of Social Phobia: A Context-Centered Group Treatment
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jay S. Efran and Sanjay R. Nath

10. Reconstructing Sociality After Bereavement
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kenneth W. Sewell and Louis A. Gamino

11. Constructivist Stances for Promoting Justice in Spirituality Research
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Derrick Klaassen, Marvin McDonald, and Matthew Graham

PART IV: DIALOGUE, REFLECTION, AND ANTICIPATION: FUTURE DIRECTIONS

12. Adlerian Psychology and Psychotherapy: A Relational Constructivist Approach
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard E. Watts and Kati A. Phillips

13. Constructive Alternativism and the Self
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spencer A. McWilliams

14. Personal and Social Responses to Tragedy: A Case for “Both/And” Constructivism
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara K. Bridges

15. The Permeability of Personal Construct Psychology
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jonathan D. Raskin

Appendix A: About the Personal Constructivist Network
Index of proper names
Subject index