A constructivist pioneer of formulation: A commentary on chapter "strengths and limitations of case formulation in constructivist cognitive behavioral therapies"

Abstract

George Kelly introduced the notion of formulation in his personal construct psychology and its associated form of psychotherapy. The process of assessing and sharing the formulation, in which the clinician attempts to construe the construction processes of the client using a set of diagnostic constructs, is an example of what Kelly termed sociality. Psychological disorders are viewed as personal constructions which are used in spite of consistent invalidation and may involve the use of strategies to avoid invalidation. Later developments have given somewhat greater attention to the relational and developmental aspects of disorders. Four principal features of the personal construct approach to formulation are worthy of note: the diagnostic constructs refer to processes that are neither healthy nor unhealthy, and lead to a transitive diagnosis that indicates the pathways of movement open to a person rather than a fixed diagnostic category; this is followed by a plan for treatment tailored to the client's construing; the personal construct formulation process is a collaborative affair; and the clinician has expertise in various tools that may aid the formulation and testing of hypotheses. Personal construct psychology provides an illustration of a constructivist approach that has accepted the empirical challenge.