Constructivist psychotherapy remains somewhat unfamiliar to many clinicians, despite offering a variety of innovative and practical therapeutic approaches and techniques. In this volume, constructivist psychology is presented as it relates to everyday practice. The chapters provide many examples of what constructivist psychotherapy looks like in the real world, showing how one can make the transition from constructivist theory to constructivist practice with ease. Constructivist therapy often gets labeled as too theoretical and lacking in clinical specificity. Yet here is a volume with chapters that succinctly and cogently explicate basic theoretical concepts and then demonstrate them with vivid case examples taken from applied experience in the field.

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.

This volume marks an effort by prominent constructivist scholars both to overview varieties of constructivism and to examine the implications of constructivism for psychological research, theory, and practice. Among the constructivist approaches compared, contrasted, and integrated throughout the book’s fifteen chapters are personal construct psychology, radical constructivism, and social constructionism. Specific topics include sexual abuse, abnormal behavior, psychotherapy, human science research, and applied psychology. The contributions contained herein highlight current thinking and new directions on the burgeoning constructivist landscape.