Essential Practitioner's Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology

Fay Fransella is Founder and Director of the Centre for Personal Construct Psychology, Emeritus Reader in Clinical Psychology, University of London and Visiting Professor in Personal Construct Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. She has written eleven books, eight of them specifically relating to personal construct psychology and published over one hundred and fifty journal papers and chapters.She trained and worked as an Occupational Therapist for ten years before taking a degree in psychology and a postgraduate diploma in clinical psychology in 1962. It was during her first job as a lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, London that she was introduced to George Kelly’s personal construct psychology. It was a revolutionary alternative to the dominant behaviourism of the time. She found the view that we are all free agents responsible for what we make of the events which continually confront us particularly liberating. Since that time she has carried out research, mainly into problems of stuttering and weight, together with teaching and writing within the framework of Kelly’s ideas.

"...This book certainly lived up to its title as 'essential handbook'...very readable on a recreational level, yet challenging and thought-provoking on a professional level - a refreshing experience..." (The Psychologist, November 2005) "...very readable on a recreational level, challenging and thought-provoking on a professional level - a refreshing experience..." (Psychologist, November 05)"…extremely readable… challenging and extensive, making it a must read for all practitioners with an interest in Personal construct psychology." (The Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling & Psychotherapy, Summer 2007)

• About the Editor ixInternational Advisory Panel xiList of Contributors xiiiPreface xvAcknowledgements xviiSection I: What Personal Construct Psychology Is All AboutChapter 1 George Alexander Kelly: The Man and his Theory 3Fay Fransella and Robert A. NeimeyerChapter 2 The Logic of Passion 15Don BannisterChapter 3 The Power of a Good Theory 29Sean Brophy, Fay Fransella and Nick ReedSection II: What Are Some of PCP’s Techniques?Chapter 4 Some Skills and Tools for Personal Construct Users 41Fay FransellaChapter 5 A Range of Elicitation Methods to Suit Client and Purpose 57Pam DenicoloChapter 6 The Repertory Grid Technique 67Richard C. BellChapter 7 Making Sense of Dependency 77Beverly M.WalkerChapter 8 Expertise and Expert Systems: Emulating Psychological Processes 87Mildred L.G. Shaw and Brian R. GainesChapter 9 From Theory to Research to Change 95Fay FransellaSection III: How Can PCP Help Us to Understand People or Help Them to Change?Part 1: Working with the Individual or Individuals in Small GroupsChapter 10 Is Treatment a Good Idea? 109George A. KellyChapter 11 An Audacious Adventure: Personal Construct Counselling and Psychotherapy 113Franz R. Epting, Marco Gemignani and Malcolm C. CrossChapter 12 The Evidence Base for Personal Construct Psychotherapy 123David WinterChapter 13 Constructive Intervention with Children when Presented as Problems 133Tom RavenetteChapter 14 How Can We Understand One Another if We Don’t Speak the Same Language? 145Devi JankowiczChapter 15 Working with Anger 153Peter CumminsChapter 16 An Approach to Post-Traumatic Stress 163Kenneth W. SewellChapter 17.1 Nursing 173Julie M. Ellis, Jacqui Costigan and Julie WatkinsonChapter 17.2 Family Therapy 177Harry ProcterChapter 17.3 The Metropolitan Police, London: A Personal Account 181John PorterChapter 17.4 A Sporting Use of Personal Construct Psychology 185David SavageChapter 17.5 Artificial Intelligence 189Jack Adams-WebberPart 2: Working with Large Groups of PeopleChapter 18 Construing Teaching and Teacher Education Worldwide 195Maureen PopeChapter 19 Making Sense of the ‘Group Mind’ 203Adrian RobertsonChapter 20 Charting Organizational Change 213Nelarine CorneliusChapter 21 Clarifying Corporate Values: A Case Study 223Sean BrophySection IV: Where Might Personal Construct Psychology Be Going Now?Chapter 22 Personal Construct Psychotherapy and the Constructivist Horizon 235Robert A. Neimeyer and Scott A. BaldwinChapter 23 New Avenues to Explore and Questions to Ask 245Fay FransellaAppendix 1 Theoretical Definitions 253Appendix 2 Some Basic Books on Personal Construct Psychology 256Appendix 3 Internet Resources for Personal Construct Psychology 259Brian R. GainesReferences 263Index 283