Drawing the Ideal Self (Personal Construct Psychology - PCP)

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• Ravenette on a ‘construct’. Ep.65 29.06.2026 13dk

  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 another explanation - you might find it validates your current knowledge but maybe that it extends it a little too. Reference:Ravenette, T. (1985). Practitioners who work with children in Ravenette, T. (1999) Personal Construct Psychology in the practice of an Educational Psychologist. A Practitioner’s View. 
• Siblings' influence on construing of self - a prompt from Dalton Ep.64 30.05.2026 24dk

  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 here: https://www.pcp-net.org/journal/pctp12/frances-dalton12.pdf.Peggy reminds us of the importance of exploring the construing of siblings, and the construing of self though the eyes of siblings. This applies to all of us with siblings, so you can listen with thoughts about how your siblings construing has influenced you, as well as thinking about the people you work with. The PEG is probably the best technique to explore this and you can find the instructions on my website here https://drawingtheidealself.co.uk/resources.I would also recommend Peggy’s book A Psychology for Living, Personal Construct Theory for Professionals and Clients (2005) as a great introduction to PCP.This paper was presented in 1992 so the names she gives to the children mentioned seem quite old fashioned and are not representative of today's population. Reference:Dalton, P. (1994). My sister, my brother, myself - sibling factors in the child’s construing of self. in European Perspectives in Personal Construct Psychology. Selected Papers from the Inaugural Conference of the EPCA 1992
• Rowe’s construction of depression as a prison. Ep.63 29.04.2026 17dk

  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, F. & Landfield, A.W. Anticipating Personal Construct Psychology. Uni. of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London.
• Children behave in particular ways because it makes sense to them - Butler & Green's reminder. Ep.62 30.03.2026 14dk

  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. & Green, D. 2007). The Child Within. Taking the Young Person's Perspective by Applying Personal Construct Psychology. 2nd Ed.
• PCP Corollaries: a lovely summary by Button Ep.61 28.02.2026 6dk

  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.) Personal Construct Theory and Mental Health. Croom Helm. (Now out of print but you might find it second hand.)
• The Lying Game: A PCP technique to explore the wish to change Ep.60 30.01.2026 20dk

  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 reference book could also be useful for anyone thinking of carrying out research and wants to know what they could use to explore a person’s construing.ReferencesCummins and Moran (2023). The PCP Pocketbook of PCP Techniques. Amazon https://amzn.eu/d/40nfBf3 The Traitors UK https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0db9b2t https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/psychology-behind-traitorshttps://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/traitors-cultural-and-psychological-phenomenon
• How to develop hope using a PCP approach. Ep.59 29.12.2025 29dk

  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. These are useful videos to learn more about hope:Podcast: Why we need hope, with Chan Hellman, PhD, and Jacqueline Mattis, PhD | Speaking of Psychology https://youtu.be/g5v8e3ZK2Xw?si=FrsPae6EeVKADE6XTED talk: Chan Hellman: The Science and Power of Hope https://www.ted.com/talks/chan_hellman_the_science_and_power_of_hope?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare And a straightforward explanation as a summaryHope Theory - Make Your Life Better: https://youtu.be/ZuHZhi1B4T4?si=fX5nWpTEsM0rJe8p Adult Hope Scalehttps://backend.fetzer.org/sites/default/files/images/stories/pdf/selfmeasures/PURPOSE_MEANING-AdultHopeScale.pdfChild Hope Scalehttps://ospi.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/2023-11/hopescale_hys.pdf
• The meaning of acceptance in PCP. Ep.58 30.11.2025 18dk

  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/carers and professionals: https://livesinthebalance.org/ .His resources for the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions are free: https://livesinthebalance.org/cps-materials-paperwork/
• What are Kelly’s Corollaries? 31.10.2025 35dk

  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 rather dry but in terms of completeness, any person can get the basics of PCP by listening to all the episodes of this podcast.ReferencesKelly (1963) A Theory of Personality. The Psychology of Personal Constructs.Cummins & Moran (2022). A Foundation Course in Personal Construct Psychology: The Coventry Course handbook (Coventry Constructivist Centre Publications on Personal Construct Psychology). Kelly, G.A. (1955 and 1991) The Psychology of Personal Constructs.
• What is Kelly’s Fundamental Postulate? 28.09.2025 22dk

  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 understanding the theory matter? If you want to understand how to apply the theory to a new experience, or if you want to devise new techniques to understand the people you work with, then understanding of the theory will be helpful. ReferencesKelly (1963) A Theory of Personality. The Psychology of Personal Constructs.Cummins & Moran (2022). A Foundation Course in Personal Construct Psychology: The Coventry Course handbook (Coventry Constructivist Centre Publications on Personal Construct Psychology).
• Key messages for PCP therapy 31.08.2025 22dk

  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 28.07.2025 33dk

  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 Personal Construct Psychology in Pictures. Key aspects of PCP theory - available free rom my website: drawingtheidealself.co.uk.
• A PCP model of counselling in schools from Truneckova and Viney 29.06.2025 35dk

  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/10.1080/03069885.2012.718739 Cummins & Moran (2023) The PCP Pocketbook of Personal Construct Psychology Techniques Moran (2023) PCP in Pictures. Free via drawingtheidealself.co.uk
• Dementia and the construing system Ep.52 29.05.2025 37dk

  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 be described as having difficulties with anger, there is a new lost cost book out from Peter Cummins and Diane Allen at the Coventry Constructivist Centre: A Beginner's Guide to Interpreting Anger using Personal Construct Psychology. It is  available only on Amazon because that keeps our costs to a minimum level and we don't need to make the book more expensive. You can use this link or do a search on Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/ilpCNc0. ReferencesBender, M. and Robbins, S. (2006). Making sense of dementia Ch. 10 in Caputi, P, (Ed.) Personal Construct Psychology: New Ideas.Mitchell, W. (2009) Somebody I Used to Know.
• Single session PCP therapy 30.04.2025 26dk

  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 ‘one-off’ interview. Ch. 13 in Ravenette, T. (1999). Personal Construct Theory in Educational Psychology. A Practitioner’s View. Windy Dryden Single Session Therapy on You Tube:https://youtu.be/wIcuOVOABRw?feature=shared https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT_XmacU83U
• What is a disorder? Ep.50 31.03.2025 19dk

  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 is something that could change. Kelly said, "Perhaps the proper question is not what is a disorder but where, and the therapist question is not who needs treatment but what needs treatment" (Kelly 1991).Reference: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00291y8
• Loose construing 28.02.2025 13dk

  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 Construct Theory & Mental Health.Room Helm,Australia
• PCP Formulation 31.01.2025 39dk

  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 the construing system and its constructs. Remember that more than one thing can be going on at a time, and that we would always check out a formulation with the client because we might be missing something. Also note that Kelly does not separate the assessment and intervention because the assessment will always be live - people are likely to offer more relevant information about their construing as they develop a relationship with the therapist. Construing will develop and new constructs and connections will emerge over time, sometimes leading to them being able to explain their experiences and the impact on their construing for the first time. Reference:Kelly, G.A. (1955 and reprinted 1991) The Psychology of Personal Constructs.
• Set your own learning path through this podcast by using the DiS podcast navigator 31.12.2024 8dk

  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 28.12.2024 33dk

  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 good or bad reasons. Learning to use laddering is very important for PCP practitioners because it is a way to explore how the person’s choices in their daily life are connected to their core constructs. This episode looks at two papers on laddering, one by Fransella and one by Walker and Crittenden. Laddering is something that looks and sounds very easy but it requires theoretical understanding to use it well. Kelly proposed that a person has many, many constructs and that they are organised in a hierarchical system. Some constructs will be extremely important to the person - their core constructs. Having an awareness of a person’s core constructs will be very important if we want to understand them better. The authors here describe laddering and pick up some of the common questions about process. Fransella, F. (2003). Some Skills and Tools for Personal Construct Practitioners. Ch. 10 in Fransella, F. (Ed). International Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology. Walker, B., and Crittenden, N. (2012). The use of Laddering: Techniques, Applications and Problems. Ch. 3 in Caputi, P., Viney, L.L., Walker, B., and Crittenden, N. Personal Construct Methodology.