Therapy as Social Construction

Sheila McNamee, Ph.D. is Professor Emerita of Communication at the University of New Hampshire and Vice President and Co-Founder of the Taos Institute.  She is internationally known for her contributions to social construction theory and practice, focusing on dialogic transformation in psychotherapy, education, healthcare, organizations, and research.  She is author of several books and articles, including Research and Social Change: A Relational Constructionist Approach (with D. M. Hosking, Routledge, 2012), Relational Responsibility:  Resources for Sustainable Dialogue (with K. Gergen, Sage, 1999), and is co-editor of The Sage Handbook of Social Constructionist Practice (with M. Gergen, E. Rasera, & C. Camargo-Borges, 2020) and Education as Social Construction:  Contributions to Theory, Research, and Practice (with T. Dragonas, K. Gergen, E. Tseliou, Taos WorldShare, 2015). Kenneth J. Gergen is a Senior Research Professor in Psychology at Swarthmore College, and the President of the Taos Institute. He is internationally known for his contributions to social constructionist theory, technology and cultural change, the self, aging, education, and relational theory and practices. His major writings include, Realities and Relationships: Soundings in Social Construction, The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life, and Relational Being: Beyond Self and Community. His most recent work Beyond the Tyranny of Testing: Relational Evaluation in Education (with Scherto Gill) offers a relational constructionist alternative to the destructive practices of testing and grading in education. Gergen lectures throughout the world, and has received numerous awards for his work, including honorary degrees in both the U.S. and Europe.

`An interesting collection of the state of the art of social constructionism and therapy, and a major contribution to reflection on therapeutic theory and practice′ - Changes`An important work which propels us into a new era for therapeutic practice. The diverse contributing authors illustrate newer developments in the arena which previously has been promoted as systemic therapy. The current focus moves us away from a constructivist, solipsist epistemology, with its impairing dilemma of neutrality, towards a therapeutic understanding which gains inspiration from the social realm... [The book] offers an elaborate understanding of the significance of the social constructionist epistemology when applied in the therapeutic domain. The volume′s essays are well-written and suited for individuals within all areas of the helping professions... reading similar explanations in different "voices" provides a richness of perspective which leads to a complex understanding of the primary aspects of constructionist therapeutic practice... an outstanding work which can be highly recommended′ - Nyhedsbrev, Centre for Qualitative Research Newsletter, Denmark`This book can be read both as a study of reframing, with some extended examples, and as a daring exploration into the foundations of therapy′ - Counselling, The Journal of the British Association for Counselling`The chapters are interesting as windows into wider debates beyond therapy to those within the human sciences over the organization of meaning and change in culture... the value of this book is that it makes it possible for the reader to step back and think that therapy may mean different things to different communities, that therapy is not the touchstone but only one of many social constructions′ - British Psychological Society Counselling Psychology Review`I found reading this book a stimulating experience... it makes some very useful points and I recommend it to anyone who would like to discover a new and interesting model for the therapeutic process′ - Clinical Psychology Forum` of the central themes of this book is the rejection of the therapist as an expert... (with) the emphasis on process and on the mutually enriching and developmental elements inherent in a trusting therapeutic interaction′ - Self & Society`These readings about the application of social constructionism to psychotherapy are unique because the authors reside in a number of different countries and come from a wide range of professional backgrounds. Despite its small size, the books covers a breadth of topics′ - Choice

• Introduction - Sheila McNamee and Kenneth J GergenPART ONE: CONSTRUCTING THE THEORETICAL CONTEXTA Reflexive Stance for Family Therapy - Lynn HoffmanThe Client is the Expert - Harlene Anderson and Harold GoolishianA Not-Knowing Approach to TherapyTherapeutic Process as the Social Construction of Change - Laura FruggeriPART TWO: FORMS OF PRACTICEReflections on Reflecting with Families - Tom AndersenPostmodern Thinking in a Clinical Practice - William D LaxConstructing Therapeutic Possibilities - Gianfranco CecchinA Proposal for Re-Authoring Therapy - David Epston, Michael White and Kevin MurrayRose′s Revisioning of her Life and a CommentaryPART THREE: CONSTRUCTION IN ACTIONTherapeutic Distinctions in an On-Going Therapy - Karl, Cynthia, Andrew and VanessaHistory becomes Her Story - William Hudson O′HanlonCollaborative Solution-Oriented Therapy of the After-Effects of Sexual AbuseNarrations of the Self - Annibal Coelho de Amorim and Fatima Goncalves CavalcanteVideo Production in a Marginalized SubculturePART FOUR: REFLECTION AND RECONSTRUCTIONBeyond Narrative in the Negotiation of Therapeutic Meaning - Kenneth J Gergen and John KayeReconstructing Identity - Sheila McNameeThe Communal Construction of CrisisConstructionist Therapy - Jay S Efran and Leslie E ClarfieldSense and Nonsense