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CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY
DEFINITIONS
There is no question that the influence of postmodernism's challenge of the "objectivist"
position in psychology has been central in the evolution of constructivist therapies. The
abandonment of the certainty of modernist positions for the tentative, constructed meanings in
the postmodern world have given rise to a number of therapeutic approaches that eschew wellestablished, contemporary icons in psychology. Objective assessment of personality, abilities,
and psychopathologies has given way to a more interpretive, hermeneutic approach to
understanding the world in which we live. The spirit of uncertainty that pervades postmodern
discourse is evident when we try to find a fundamental definition of constructivism.
Eloquently, Robert Neimeyer (Neimeyer, 1995) invoked a musical metaphor in
describing the state of postmodernism: “ . . .any close listening to the postmodern chorus reveals
a polyphony of voices - not all of which are singing in the same key” (p30). He and
Polkinghorne, among others argue that the constructivist movement in psychotherapy is
characterized by a truly postmodern lack of foundationalism, a lack of agreement on many of the
particulars. In general, constructivist theorists have an intellectual allergy to the metaphysical
realist position that sets forth an understanding of the world that is independent of our own,
human experiences of the world. There are several points of view that are based on constructivist
ideas: radical constructivism, social constructionism, …. According to the new APA Dictionary
(VandenBos, 2007), constructionism is:
the theoretical perspective, central to the work of Jean Piaget, that people
actively build their perception of the world and interpret objects and events
that surround them in terms of what they already know. Thus their current
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state of knowledge guides processing, substantially influencing how (and
what) new information is acquired (p. 221).
Radical constructivists such as philosopher Ernst von Glaserfeld (von Glaserfeld, 1984),
and psychotherapy pioneer, Paul Watzlawick (Watzlawick, 1984) of the Mental Research
Institute hold that all we can know of the world are the products of sensory/perceptual processes
that take place within our bodies. The radical constructivists do not deny, in a solipsistic way the
existence of reality outside. Rather, they argue that there is no eidetic correspondence between
what is “out there” and our internal perceptual constructions. Paul Watzlawick's well-known
metaphor invites the reader to imagine she is piloting a large ocean liner through an impenetrable
fog at night. In such circumstances, the ship's captain has no direct visual representations of the
rocks or icebergs that might lurk in the darkness. The captain must rely on the iconic
representations given by radar and sonar, and other electronic sensing devices to make
interpretations about what is "out there." Successful adaptation, under these circumstances is not
measured by how accurately the captain was able to describe what was "out there," but by
whether or not the ship crashed into the rocks. So for the radical constructivist,
sensory/perceptual habits that endure are regarded as reality.
Another constructivist approach is that of social constructionism, which owes an
intellectual heritage to Berger and Luckman's (Berger & Luckman, 1966) early work: The Social
Construction of Reality. There are several more recent extensions of that early work by Gergen
(Gergen, 1985, 2001; Gergen & Miller, 1992), Sarbin (Sarbin & Kitsuse, 1994), Polkinghorne
(Polkinghorne, 1988, 1992) , Shotter (Shotter, 1992) and others. Sarbin and Kisuse open their
collection of essays on social constructionism with the story of
three baseball umpires reflecting on their professional practice of calling balls
and strikes. The first, a self-confident realist, says, 'I call 'em the way they
are,' to which the second who leans toward phenomenological analysis says,
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'I call 'em as I see 'em,' and the third closes the discussion with 'They ain't
nothin' until I call 'em'" (p. 1).
The third umpire illustrates that "central to constructionism is the premise that human
beings are agents rather than passive organisms . . . that process information" (p2). Social
constructionism moves the interpretive act of reality construction away from individual's interior
constructions to a social endeavor heavily reliant on language, customs, culture and other
contextual factors. Social constructionism, then adds a layer to the radical constructivist's
formulation by including the social nature of reality construction.
George Kelly is usually identified as an early example of the application of constructivist
theories to therapy. He developed Personal Construct Therapy (George Alexander Kelly, 1955;
G. A. Kelly, 1963). At about the same time that Kelly was elaborating the idea that people
approached their phenomenological world much like scientists: generating theories, testing
hypotheses, and revising their expectations of the world based on these experiences. Kelly did
deny the existence of a reality “out there,” he thought that we all construct a different “out there”
based on our experiences and expectations. Kelly called his particular philosophy constructive
alternativism to reflect that everyone constructs an alternate reality based on their unique
experiences.
At the same time Kelly was developing his Personal Construct Theory, the anthropologist
Gregory Bateson as developing an approach to treatment of disorders based on radical
constructivism (Ernest von Glaserfeld, 1984). Bateson’s team originated the seminal idea in
American psychology that the origin of psychological difficulties was in the interactions between
people (Bateson, Jackson, Haley, & Weakland, 1956; Watzlawick & Weakland, 1977). The wellknown double bind theory of schizophrenia was an early attempt to explain the effect of
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interpersonal communication on psychological development (Bateson, 1976; Bateson, Jackson,
Haley, & Weakland, 1956, 1965).
The social constructionist view owes its early intellectual heritage to the work of
Vygotsky (Daniels, 1996; Vygotsky, Rieber, Robinson, & Bruner, 2004) and others. Gergen
(Gergen, 1992, 2001; Gergen & Miller, 1992) is perhaps the most well-known American
psychologist writing about social constructionism. The essential feature of social constructionism
is the notion that our reality construction is the result of meaning making activities that take
place in our relationships with other people and our cultural/environmental/linguistic contexts.
The social constructionists, then move beyond the constructivism of Glaserfeld, Watzlawick, and
Kelly by invoking the social nature of human meaning making. Although language is frequently
seen as the primary constituent of social constructionism, language is but one aspect of the
cultural/biological context that influences meaning construction. Social constructionists, like the
radical constructivists, prefer to avoid becoming bogged down in the ontological debate in the
existence of reality. They are more interested in epistemological understandings of how we come
to adapt to the varieties of realities we construct.
Constructionism has found expression in a variety of psychotherapeutic approaches. The
early work of Kelley’s Personal Construct Therapy and the Bateson group’s application of
radical constructivism have already been described. The Solution-Focused therapies of de
Shazer’s group (De Shazer et al., 1986), the Solution-Oriented variations of O’Hanlon and
Weiner-Davis (O'Hanlon & Weiner-Davis, 1989) arose in the 1980’s, and represented a move
away from radical constructivism to a more pragmatic focus on problem resolution. The rising
influence of social constructionism has enabled therapists to develop approaches based on
contextual formulations of problems and their resolutions.
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The most dramatic example of this trend is seen in the work of therapists who employ a
narrative metaphor in their work. Although there are a group of therapies that refer to themselves
as narrative therapists (White & Epston, 1990), there is a strong narrative tradition in
psychoanalysis as well (Spence, 1982). Narrative therapies for the most part, derive their
working metaphors from literary criticism and hermeneutics. The influence of narrative therapies
can be seen in their influence on more conventional therapies. Recently, some cognitive
behavioral therapists have begun to describe their work as having a basis in constructionism. For
example, recently Michenbaum has described his therapy as “…helping clients generate a new
narrative . . . I help them alter their stories” (Hoyt, 1996).
RESEARCH SUPPORT
A body of research support for constructivist therapies is growing. Practitioners of
constructivist theories are generally unsympathetic to positivist approaches to research.
Accordingly, the tradition of empirical studies involving carefully constructed experimental
controls on treatment is sparse for constructivist therapies. Empirical support for constructivist
therapies has come largely from case studies. (Bonjean, 2003; Bonjean, Ronch, & Goldfield,
2003; Fritz, 1997; Hurn, 2006; L. D. Johnson & Miller, 1994; Plasencia, 2002; Polk, 1996;
Strong & Flynn, 2000) and anecdotal reports (Bliss, 2005; Friedman, 1997; Selekman, 2003;
Sween, 2000).
Solution Focused Brief therapies have been more widely researched in recent years than
any other approach. A recent review of 15 controlled studies of the effectiveness of SFBT found
that SFBT provided significant benefits. Solution Focused Brief therapy has been demonstrated
to be effective in working with at-risk junior high school students (Newsome, 2005), high school
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bullies (Banks, 1999; Sue Young & Holdorf, 2003; Young & Holdore, 2003), juvenile offenders
(Seagram, 1998) older adults (Dahl, Bathel, & Carreon, 2000), adolescent substance abusers
(Kruczek & Vitanza, 1999) a university counseling center (Beyebach et al., 2000), and domestic
violence (Lee, Uken, & Sebold, 2004). Support for solution focused approaches in working with
parenting groups (Zimmerman, Jacobsen, MacIntyre, & Watson, 1996), chronic illness (C.
Johnson & Webster, 2002).
Empirical evidence for narrative approaches also exists. Narrative therapy has been
reported to be successful in treating abuse (Carlson & Erickson, 2000; Draucker, 2003; Sliep,
Weingarten, & Gilbert, 2004), older adults (Grimm, 2003), and athletes (Mascher, 2002).
Malgady (Malgady, Costantino, Kazdin, & Weisz, 2003) and Constanino (Costantino, Malgady,
Cardalda, Hibbs, & Jensen, 2005) and their colleagues have demonstrated the usefulness of
narrative therapy in working with Hispanic children and adolescents.
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