Constructionism

Constructionism is a relatively new approach to psychotherapy that has evolved from Philosophy, Sociology, Linguistics, and Psychology.  Cultural Anthropology and Sociology have shown that the definition of "what is real" and "what is a good life" have varied widely across culture and across time.  Each culture is confident that their definition of what is "real and true" is the accurate and complete definition.  Each member of the culture is confident about their view of reality in part because everyone around them--the other members of that culture--believe the same thing.  These wide variations of reality across culture and time lead to the simplest definition of Constructionism:  “reality is created not discovered.”  However, this reality feels "discovered and true" not an "arbitrarily invented creation" primarily because all other cultural members accept the same reality and live it to each other.  This way in which a given view of reality requires social support is why Constructionism is often called Social Constructionism.

These ideas have huge implications for almost every branch of knowledge--from political science and law, to literature, and yes, even to biology and physics.  But no discipline is more vulnerable to a Constructionist analysis than Psychology.  Phrases such as:  "Alcoholism is a progressive Disease," "if an individual wasn't loved and safe as a child, he is incapable of being truly intimate as an adult," and "Clinical Depression is a biochemical condition that requires life-long medication" are all theoretical concepts which are presented as obvious and fundamental truths.  They have implications for treatment, life choices, and whether a person is seen as "normal" or "sick."  And Constructionism asks:  are these "truths" discovered or are they created/invented?  Even more importantly, it asks:  are these "truths" helpful to a person and their psychological work or would other "truths" be more useful?

Constructionism is critical of all that is “obviously known;” it takes apart all easy assumptions; it emphasizes being awake and conscious.  It studies how reality is co-created and sustained by the verbal and nonverbal interactions between people.  Finally it places a primacy on understanding how one’s personal identity and sense of self are much more plastic and malleable than they seem.  These understandings lead to a sense of freedom, but implicit in this freedom is the requirement  to take conscious responsibility for one’s choices and experiences.  Because this brief introduction cannot do even partial justice to such a complex topic, the interested reader is referred to the following constructionist authors for further exploration: Kenneth Gergen, Vivian Burr and Peter Burger. 

One of the first benefits of Constructionism is that the constructionist psychotherapist is able to be especially eclectic in his theoretical approaches to the client; given that he has little attachment to the ultimate truth of any therapeutic system, he is free to meet the client exactly where they are.  Second, the constructionist therapist has much greater sense of the possibility of unlimited change with each client as the traditional therapist’s assumptions that the client can get “only so much better”  and “therapy is a long, slow and painful process characterized by resistance and blocking” are disputed by Constructionism.  Obviously a client benefits enormously when his therapist believes he has the capacity to make necessary or desired changes.   Finally, Constructionism teaches the primacy of the relationship over any system of therapy; in that sense,  the constructionist therapist always maintains his concentration on the relational factors, and research supports that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is the best predictor of a positive therapeutic outcome. 

I am currently in the process of writing a book  with the working title: Constructionism, , Mysticism, and the Therapeutic Process.  In this book I present an overview of Constructionism, introduce the implicit constructionist ideas contained  in the mystical writings and stories of a variety of spiritual traditions, and discuss practical implications for applying these principles to psychotherapy.