Whatever Became of Constructivism? Part 2: Psychotherapeutic Practice

Beyond its influence and significance in psychology, constructivist epistemology inspired a variety of psychotherapeutic approaches. I group these approaches under two related but relatively independent traditions, one centered on the person as a generic entity and the other revolving around systemic dynamics and narratives. Today, this diversity yields a fragmented landscape, which might help explain its heterogeneous impact. On the positive side, social constructionism is widely adopted among systemic therapies, and other constructivist approaches are valued and regarded as germane in the humanistic-existential model. On the negative side, the impact of constructivist approaches remains marginal within the dominant models of CBT and psychoanalysis. Finally, the paper discusses other reasons explaining their limited influence and proposes three suggestions for future development intended to extend the reach of constructivist perspectives in psychotherapy.