Drawing the Ideal Self (Personal Construct Psychology - PCP)
Learn about Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) and how to use it in your work with Heather Moran, an educational and clinical psychologist. Heather has worked with young people and professionals for over 40 years and has developed techniques for therapy, counselling, and coaching. She aims to introduce PCP to newcomers and support those wanting to refine their skills with children, young people, and adults. More information is available at drawingtheidealself.co.uk.
Episodes
Ravenette on a ‘construct’. Ep.65
Tom Ravenette is often thought of as the psychologist who gave us techniques for interviewing children and young people but he was also very hot on the theory of PCP. This is a short section from a paper which gives us another explanation of what Kelly meant by a construct. In order to use PCP in our practice we need to have a sound theoretical knowledge andI think it is always helpful to have ano
Siblings' influence on construing of self - a prompt from Dalton Ep.64
This episode is a look at some useful reminders in parts of a conference paper by Peggy Dalton. Unfortunately, Peggy died in 2012 but I was lucky enough to attend some of her PCP workshops. I always left them thinking hard about my work and about PCP theory. In case you would like to know more about Peggy, and her role in the world of PCP, there is a link to a thoughtful obituary by Mary Frances
Rowe’s construction of depression as a prison. Ep.63
Dorothy Rowe is probably somewhere at the top of a list of popular psychology writers. This chapter was written a long time ago but it provides an introduction to her later work. Although she does not explicitly reference Kelly in this work, Rowe was a PCP therapist who wrote in a style that enabled people to understand her work easily. Reference:Rowe, D. (1985). Depression is a Prison. In Epting,
Children behave in particular ways because it makes sense to them - Butler & Green's reminder. Ep.62
This episode is a great reminder of why we should always explore young people's own views of when we try to understand their problems. Butler and Green explain the value of taking a PCP approach to working with young people but their reasoning and the application of theory applies equally well to adults. Note that they use the term PCT here i.e. Personal Construct Therapy.Reference:Butler, R.J. &
PCP Corollaries: a lovely summary by Button Ep.61
Eric Button wrote a summary of Kelly's corollaries in a very accessible way. This was taken from a paper in Personal Construct Theory and Mental Health, (1985). Don't think that because it was a long time ago that it won't be just as useful now! This should be particularly useful for anyone studying PCP theory.Reference:Button, E. (1985) Personal Construct Theory: The Concepts. In Button, E. (Ed.)
The Lying Game: A PCP technique to explore the wish to change Ep.60
The Lying Game is a PCP technique developed by J.C. Bright. It is a way of exploring a person's desire for change through inviting them to tell lies about themselves. It could be particularly useful for work with young people. This episode talks through the instructions for the technique. The instructions are not published anywhere other than in The PCP Pocketbook of PCP Techniques. This low cost
How to develop hope using a PCP approach. Ep.59
Hope has been found to be the key to wellbeing and with impacts physical and psychological health. Research has found that it is measurable through questionnaires (links below) and that people can learn to be hopeful. This episode references the research findings of Prof. Rick Snyder, who specialised in Positive Psychology, and Prof. Chan Hellman, Founding Director of the Hope Research Center. The
The meaning of acceptance in PCP. Ep.58
This month, we are going to look at what Kelly meant by ‘accepting' our client. He was focussed on accepting our client’s constructions, and we need to able to do that at the same time as holding our own professional constructions of the client's construing. During this episode I refer to Dr. Ross Green, author of The Explosive Child. He shares his approach and resources on his website for parents
What are Kelly’s Corollaries?
This episode is a summary of the corollaries. Knowing about them is essential if you are trying to understand the theory of Personal Construct Psychology. A corollary is an implication of a theory, so if the Fundamental Postulate is accepted this means that people DO anticipate events, these 11 corollaries follow on from this. They are the detail of the theory. You might find that this episode is
What is Kelly’s Fundamental Postulate?
Kelly’s Psychology of Personal Constructs is his theory of personality and I thought we would have a few sessions about basic PCP theory. The theory may be new to you, or provide a refresher and I will include Kelly’s own explanations. Some of the terms he uses are not so familiar to today’s population so I will do my best clarify and elaborate in everyday language and provide examples. Why does u
Key messages for PCP therapy
This episode provides my own key messages for PCP therapy, using the introductory chapter of my book, A Beginner's Guide to Personal Construct Therapy with Children and Young People. The principles apply to working with any other age group too.Details of where you can find the book are here: https://drawingtheidealself.co.uk/bookshop.
Using a timeline to explore the development of a problem
Creating a timeline is really useful way to explore a problem. Here we think about the kind of questions we might ask a client so we get a better understanding of the development of a problem over time. They key is to be very curious and to ask searching questions gently and the timeline provides a visual guide to that discussion.ReferenceKelly's seven questions are summarised on p.84-5 in Persona
A PCP model of counselling in schools from Truneckova and Viney
This episode has a focus on counselling in schools but the principles will also be useful for other counselling work. Truneckova and Viney’s model is laid out nicely in their paper and I summarise it here.References:Deborah Truneckova & Linda L. Viney (2012) Personal construct psychologymodel of school counselling delivery, British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 40:5, 431-448. https://doi.org/
Dementia and the construing system Ep.52
This episode focuses on construing in dementia and the challenges that presents to the carer, particularly if they are caring for a parent. I refer to a paper by Mike Bender and Sally Robbins who write about the impact of dementia on construing and on the construing system. The implications of changes in the construing of the person and their child are significant.If you work with people who would
Single session PCP therapy
This episode is about the PCP way of doing a useful therapy session in a one-off session. The evidence for using a single session, or One-at-a-time therapy is that a single session can be helpful. Tom Ravenette has a useful paper on this which I use in this episode but you can also take a look at Windy Dryden’s model.References:Personal construct Psychology and the assessment of young people: the
What is a disorder? Ep.50
The inspiration for this episode came from a BBC Radio 4 programme, The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O'Sullivan. The programme is an abridged version of her book. This episode looks at Kelly's definition of disorder, something quite different from current diagnostic manuals. His version is more likely to help us to understand and help the person because it is focussed on their construing and this i
Loose construing
This episode looks at De Boeck’s (1981) analysis of Kelly's statements about looseconstruing. This is a helpful summary. If you would like to read the paper, it is largely aboutgrids analysis of construing in schizophrenia, so it may not suit everyone.ReferenceVan den Bergh, O., de Boeck, P., and Claeys. W. (1985) Schizophrenia: What is Loose inSchizophrenic Construing? Button, E. (Ed.) Personal C
PCP Formulation
Kelly’s theory is all about the anticipation of experiences and how we make sense of experiences in the light of our personal construing. A PCP formulation will focus on what is seems to be going on in the person’s construing system. Kelly has six important questions for the therapist to help them to formulate and then uses particular terms to describe what seems to be happening - a reference to t
Set your own learning path through this podcast by using the DiS podcast navigator
This episode introduces the DiS podcast navigator booklet which you can get the link below (it is free). The aim is to help you to find past episodes more easily by sorting them by their topic. The booklet has hyperlinks directly to the podcast episodes on You Tube.
The link is: https://BookHip.com/NCWLAVV
Laddering: a really useful PCP technique. Ep.32
This month the episode is about laddering, which came as a request from a listener. A great request because it is an extremely powerful technique so should be used with great care and full attention being paid to the person you are working with. Laddering can very quickly get to aspects of a person’s construing they may not have expressed in words, so the experience can be surprising to them - for
Tell me what you’d like to hear about in this podcast
Today is not a usual episode but an invitation to tell me know whether you find the podcast useful and what you’d like to hear about in future.
Finding out about a person’s construing is the key to understanding their problem . Ep.46
If we want to be able to help people, we will need to understand their personal construing of the problem. Exploring this with them- finding out about their constructs - will enable us to begin this process. This episode includes a typical referral for an anxious child, with three very different possible constructions of the problem. This is a reminder that construing is personal and individual, a
Kelly's definition of hostility applied to an event in the recent news Ep.45
n this episode we will think about Kelly’s definition of hostility applied to an aspect of the recent race riots in the UK. On the whole, as we have experiences, we make adjustments to construing, based on fresh evidence. However, there will be times when, despite all the evidence, we hang on to our current construing. Kelly’s professional or transitional constructs offer potential explanations fo
Drawing the Ideal Retired Person (to prepare for the future). Ep.44
Have you considered what lies ahead when you retired from working? Whatever you do now, one day that will happen, so it is better to be prepared for it. This month’s episode is a new technique, Drawing the Ideal Retired Person. This is an exploration of the future, aiming to promote a smoother adjustment to that phase of your life. There will also be a step-by-step video on You Tube so you can see
Construing my body - a new technique to understand the impact of physical health problems. Ep.43
This episode introduces a new technique to explore the impact of physical health problems through the exploration of personal construing. Concerns about our bodies can be persistent and may be very distressing so understanding what lies behind the distress is important if we want to help someone. The steps of the process are described here but there is also a more detailed video example on my You
Time - a personal construction. Ep.42
This month’s episode will be focussed on time. I listened to a few things on the radio about time and read some articles which were all very interesting and sparked this episode. I summarise the information from them and think about what Dorothy Rowe had to say about it and a few ideas for exploring a person’s personal constructions.
References
All in the mind(Why it is hard to recall 2021)
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Explore how fiction has influenced your construing. Ep.41
I thought it was time to invite you to have a go at something you could easily use with people you are working with. This involves eliciting constructs, identifying the more important ones and then pyramiding those constructs. You will use fantasy characters or stories that had an impact on you when you were growing up and it does not matter what sort of media they are from - books, TV, film, game
Miller Mair’s The Community of Self: a creative way to explore the self. Ep.40
This episode has an idea you can experiment with as an exploration of yourself. Miller Mair’s Community of Self is an interesting and rather playful way to take a look at yourself as a number of characters engaged in ‘producing’ you. I have taken some excepts from a paper by Mair and if you are interested, it would be worth reading the whole paper for more about the background to it.
References:
T
The influence of teachers’ constructions on a sense of self Ep. 39
Happy New Year! This month I have been thinking about the way we might experience being construed by teachers. This is meaningful throughout our lives and can affect the way we construe ourselves. It was sparked by listening to the BBC Radio 4 Life Changing programme which reminded me how important that is:. The episode was from May 2023: Overheard. The programme blub says, “Dr Sian Williams talks
How could choosing to serve a longer prison sentence ever make sense? Ep. 38
This month’s episode will consider how validation is a more useful construct than reinforcement when we wonder why someone made a challenging choice. It also summarises a paper about the impact of wrongful imprisonment on a person. The paper is freely available - details below. A dilemma faced by one such prisoner is used as an example. I have been thinking about that situation ever since I heard
Dr. Emily Strong: Using PCP to explore the Speaking and Non-Speaking Self. Ep.37
You may be thinking about how you might use PCP in research. This episode features an interview with Dr. Emily Strong, Educational Psychologist, whose research has focussed on children who speak selectively. This is one of the tricky issues to get around, especially when we need to explore a child or young person’s views. The interview with Emily you will hear what she did and what she found throu
What is a construct? Butler’s neat explanation. Ep.36
Often it can be helpful to go back to the basics of PCP theory and get a clearer understanding than you had first time around. I found a really nice explanation of a construct in Richard Butler’s book. I think he provides a good summary and I wanted to share it with you. If you already feel secure in your understanding, you might like to hear the way he expresses it and then take some time to con
The client's expectations of counselling. Ep. 35
This episode is about exploring what the client expects from their counselling sessions. Fay Fransella and Peggy Dalton remind us how important it is to do this early in the counselling relationship and they provide a description of a first session in PCP counselling. I hope you find it useful.
Reference
Fransella, F., and Dalton, P. (1990). Personal Construct Counselling in Action. Sage.
A PCP model of post-traumatic stress. Ep.34
Watching the news has been pretty miserable over the last year or so with so many people trying to flee awful situations. I have been thinking a lot about the people who are traumatised by experiences, and about the people who seem to recover well from similar experiences. This is unrelated to an objective assessment of the experience’s awfulness and closely related to their personal construing. S
Construing your admin tasks: why are some more difficult for you? Ep. 33
This episode explores the difficulty of getting some tasks done and refers to an exercise you can download from my website - drawingtheidealself.co.uk.
The exercise follows a process for exploring your personal construing of the admin tasks you have to do. It is not specific to an age for use (even children have their tasks at school and home), nor to a profession (a homemaker also has many admin
Where to find further training in PCP Ep.31
If you are enjoying learning about Personal Construct Psychology, you may be interested to take it further. This episode has information about some of the possibilities available, some paid and some for free.
References
Foundation courses
Coventry Constructivist Centre
Cathy Sparkes and Adele Pile
Claire Morris
Masters course
Padua masters course (taught in English)
Quarterly stu
A PCP intervention for menopause Ep.30
I thought it might be useful to see how a PCP approach might be useful in exploring the menopause. I found a paper by Foster and Viney describing a group approach. They developed a model of menopause based on a personal construct account of change and informed by women’s meanings and then a brief intervention aimed at tackling the psychological impact of the menopause. Their study is a nice exampl
2nd edition of the ESP cards will have the cards in order Ep.29.1
I am sending this message now in case anyone is just about to print and make the ESP cards!
I have been able to re-order cards, making it easier to see what is in each category and to print the sets. I have also added a few more cards, based on my work with children in the last couple of weeks. I will be adding the new document to my website by the end of 12/11/22. In future, if I add new cards, I
Exploring situations and problems with children: the ESP cards Ep.29
The Exploring Situations and Problems (ESP) cards are a new tool for exploring construing in children. They might be useful if your time with a child is very limited, or you need something to use with children with poor attention or are not easy to engage. The cards can be the beginning of a PCP elaboration and an in-depth exploration of the constructs.
The ESP cards are used to create a storyboar
PCP in an Educational Psychologist’s practice: an interview with Sam Beasley Ep.28
This month is an interview with Sam Beasley, Educational Psychologist, working in Hampshire, UK. It is not only for educational psychologists because there will practitioners in lots of services that work in similar ways to EPs - professionals who have very limited time in their contact with children and young people. Sam talks about how her interest in PCP began and how she uses PCP within her wo
The impact of a physical illness or injury on construing. Ep.27
This month’s episode is about the impact on our construing of having a of physical illness or injury. I found a really PCP model in a paper by Linda Viney (1990): Constructivist Model of Psychological Reactions to Physical Illness and Injury. Everyone will have experience of illness and injury so I hope this will have universal appeal.
If you would like a written copy of the model, it can be downl
PCP sports coaching (with some useful things for other kinds of coaching) Ep. 26
Although this month’s podcast is about sports coaching, the ideas are suited to many other coaching encounters. I refer to a diagram which you will be able to see via the link on the podcast description on my website (see below).
The Expectation Effect by David Robson BBC R4
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00199wp
Richard J Butler (1996). Sport Psychology in Action
Nadal’s pre-serve ritual video
Understanding constructs Ep.25
This month the podcast is about constructs. If you are new to PCP, I hope this might summarise what a construct is, the difference between constructs and elements, and verbal, non-verbal and pre-verbal constructs.
References
A drawing and its opposite: an application of the notion of the ‘construct’ in the elicitation of children’s drawings. Chapter 9 in
Ravenette, T. (1999). Personal Construct T
Slot rattling: change that may not stick Ep.24
This month’s episode is about slot ratting or slot movement. Have you wondered why you haven’t been able to keep up with a desired change in yourself? Have you tried to help someone who wants to make changes, knows what to do/how to be in their new self, and yet they cannot sustain them. Slot rattling is a really useful concept that can help us to understand one reason this might happen.
Construing holidays. Ep.23
April’s episode is about holidays, from a PCP perspective. I thought it might be interesting to have a think about this is case you want a little light PCP thinking to consider whilst you are away. If you haven’t decided on a holiday yet, you might find it useful to think about some of this before you make your arrangements. I reference an interesting paper by Beverley Walker: Travelling: “We don’
One way of working with children and young people. My process. Ep.22
This episode is an answer to a question I hear often, "How can I use PCP approach in work with children and young people?" I thought I would talk about my own approach but please remember that other practitioners will have a completely different and equally successful approach. This is one of the great benefits of PCP - there is no prescribed way, so it is about gradually working out your own way
Social work and PCP: Ian Gillman-Smith. Ep. 21
Ian is a PCP psychotherapist and a social worker who has been using a PCP approach throughout his career. He talks about his journey to date and how he uses PCP in his daily work.
Ian’s contact details are Ian Gillman-Smith, Independent Social Work Consultant, UKCP Registered Psychotherapist, Registered Social Worker
Email: ian@gillmansmith.com
Website: www.iangillmansmith.co.uk
References
Peggy D
Who are you? A structure for exploring a ‘sense of self’ from Tom Ravenette. Ep. 20
This month I re-read Tom Ravenette’s paper, Who are you? A structure for exploring a ‘sense of self’ (1989) and was reminded how creative Tom was and how good he was at designing PCP techniques. This is a paper which describes his exploration process, something he developed from what he learned from his practice. So, that is the topic for today’s episode. A copy of the technique can be found at th
How a PCP approach can suit very different roles: Jenny Newland, Ep.19
This episode is an interview with Jenny Newland. Jenny is a psychotherapist but she is also a maths tutor and coaches kayaking - a rare combination I expect! We talk about how she came to PCP and how she uses a PCP approach in her three different roles. If you would like to explore more or get in touch with Jenny, her details are below.
Jenny’s contact information:
For therapy and getting in touch
Thinking about Kelly’s version of aggressiveness. Ep.18
It is coming up to the new year and you might be thinking of making some changes in your life - maybe starting something, or stopping something. I thought it could be useful to think about Kelly’s version of aggressiveness which has a different meaning from the dictionary definition. Exploring the implication of changes before making them will help you to anticipate their potential impact - your o
Exploring a Role. Ep.17
We all have roles to play, some more comfortably than others. This new technique is a variation on Drawing the Ideal Self for use with adults, children and young people. It explores a role (e.g. sister, parent, athlete, teacher, reader) and can be used to find ways to move forward in the role or to set personal targets. It may be useful to professionals to explore with people they try to help but
Moving to a new school: how the PCP definition of anxiety can be helpful Ep.16
This month's episode is rather seasonal: as the new school year starts, this episode is about Kelly's definition of anxiety and transition.
References:
Inquiring Man. The Psychology of Personal Constructs. Bannister and Fransella.
Ruby Tandoh Breaking Eggs Audio Guide
Children’s Exploratory Drawings (CEDS): Abi Cohman & Cleo Timney Ep.15
An interview with Abi Cohman and Cleo Timney, Trainee Educational Psychologists at Southampton University about The Children’s Exploratory Drawings (CEDS), their PCP technique to use in conversations and therapy with children and young people. This builds upon the work of Tom Ravenette, modernising and expanding the resources so they are suited to today’s world. We also talk about the process of t
Brain injury and PCP: Cathy Sparkes Ep.14
This month’s episode is an interview with Cathy Sparkes, Speech and Language Therapist and PCP Counsellor/Psychotherapist. Cathy works with people with brain injury and talks about how she uses PCP in her work and the impact of brain injury on identity. Cathy offers supervision and coaching: https://cathysparkes.co.uk. The details for things she highlighted as useful are:
Dependency grid - Helen J
Understanding violent offenders with PCP. Ep.13
This month’s episode is about a PCP approach to understanding violent offending. I watched a programme called Time by Jimmy McGovern on BBC TV and it got me thinking about this. I had read James Horley book some years ago and I re-read the chapter by David Winter because it made me think a great deal about the issues around it.
Using PCP in speech and language therapy: Adele Pile Ep.12
This month I have an interview with Adele Pile, a speech and language therapist and PCP psychotherapist with many years’ experience of using PCP in her work. She talks about the value PCP has brought and the influences on her PCP journey. Adele is part of the Personal Construct Psychology Association, a UK association to promote and educate about PCP. She works with Cathy Sparkes running a f
Construing the self as a reader. Ep.11
I realised that we have not had a podcast session on learning, so today’s is focussed on learning and reading. Tom Ravenette’s paper, Reading difficulties and what else? (1969). Although it is an old paper, this is a good one because he emphasises the need to spend time in assessing the person’s views of reading, the self and learning. Of course, everything Tom has to say about reading would also
The journey of a PCP therapist: Sally Robbins, Ep.10
This month’s podcast episode is an interview with Sally Robbins. You may know Sally as the organiser of the events at the Coventry Constructivist Centre (CCC) but you might not know much about how she came to PCP. Sally talks about her career path and her work with older people. Sally is the key contact for the CCC www.covpcp.com.
Sally and Diane Allen are facilitating the next quarterly study day
Experience Matters, Ep.9
This month’s podcast has a focus on experience. Experience is vital to our construing of ourselves and I thought a lot about this as I read Matt Haig’s novel, The Midnight Library. The other book mentioned in this episode is Diane Allen and Peter Cummins’ new book, A Beginners’s Guide to Personal Construct Therapy with Adults and Couples (2021).
Never, never, never give advice. A paper from Tom Ravenette. Ep.8
This month’s episode is about a paper by Tom Ravenette, Educational Psychologist and PCP interventionist. The paper presents a challenge to those of us who are in roles where people seek advice from us. The paper is ‘Never, never, never give advice’: an essay in professional practice (1980). If you work in a situation where you might be asked for your advice, Tom urges caution and has some suggest
Do I really want to change? Exploring personal barriers. Ep.7
December’s (slightly late) episode is focussed on Finn Tschudi’s ABC. This is a great tool for exploring change to a preferred pole of a construct and elaborating some of the barriers to change. I use two examples from my own life and talk through them in the podcast.
The journey of a PCP therapist: Diane Allen Ep.6
An interview with Diane Allen, Counselling Psychologist and PCP Psychotherapist.about her career path and her love of PCP.
The personal meaning of our bags Ep.5
October’s episode of the podcast is about the importance of the choice of a bag and its contents. This was inspired by an episode of Thinking Allowed (BBC Radio 4) where a paper was discussed about handbags and identity in dementia, and I give an outline of what they had to say. It made me think more about the bag in Drawing the Ideal Self and the way a bag and its contents illustrate the co
A personal guilt Ep.4
September's episode is about the way Kelly defines guilt - it is very different from the dictionary definition and is a really useful construct. I give a very personal example of my recent experience of being stuck because of experiencing guilt and how I was able to reconstrue and move on. I hope this helps you to understand what it is about and how you might help someone else or yourself. T
The surprising emergence of Drawing the Ideal Self Ep.3
August 2020's edition is in in a better podcast style. It tells the story of how the technique came out of a session with a young person at a time when I was stuck in my work with him. On the day it emerged, I had no idea that it would be so successful. I hope you will find it useful and it will encourage you to design your own techniques. The references are in the show notes available on my websi
PCP and autism Ep.2
This month's episode is thinking about PCP and why it is useful for thinking about and as a therapeutic approach to use with young people (and adults) with autism.
Adjustment to pandemic ways of working Ep.1
The idea for this came from someone on my mailing list who was asking about a PCP take on the adjustments we are making in ways of working in the pandemic.
