Constructive Psychotherapies (Theories of Psychotherapy Series®) - Softcover

Raskin, Jonathan D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1433839954 ISBN 13: 9781433839955

Publisher: American Psychological Association, 2025

Synopsis

This book examines the history, theory, practice, and empirical evidence for constructive psychotherapy.

Human beings exist within a context that is constructed by our language, worldview, and the stories we tell. Alone and in concert with one another, we construct meaningful understandings of the world. Because the invented nature of our reality is so often forgotten or overlooked, we can easily find ourselves trapped in prisons of our own making. Constructive theories are therefore useful to psychotherapists, who work with clients at the intersection between constructed meaning and experiential reality. Constructive therapies enable therapists to disrupt and reinterpret the meanings clients assign to their experience, and then initiate reconstruction processes that can open clients up to new possibilities.

Chapters in this volume describe the history and theory of constructivism and constructive psychotherapy, examine the key therapeutic aims and techniques of constructive therapy, provide a nuts-and-bolts description of the therapy process, and summarize the empirical evidence for the effectiveness of this therapy.

About this title

About the Author

Jonathan D. Raskin, PhD earned his BA from Vassar College and his PhD in counseling psychology from the University of Florida. He is a professor of psychology and counselor education at the State University of New York at New Paltz, where he currently serves as interim associate provost for academic advising. In addition to his many journal articles and book chapters on constructive therapies, Raskin is author of Psychopathology and Mental Distress: Contrasting Perspectives (2nd ed., Bloomsbury). In 2020-21, Raskin served as president of the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32 of the American Psychological Association). He previously served as co-editor of the Journal of Constructivist Psychology. Dr. Raskin is a licensed psychologist with an active private practice.

Edition details

• Publisher: American Psychological Association
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1433839954
• ISBN 13: 9781433839955
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 161