SATURDAY PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Saturday, 9:15—10:45

Maureen O’Hara

Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco

WHAT TO DO IN A CONCEPTUAL EMERGENCY

We live in challenging times—citizens of a global society, living in unprecedented conditions of boundless complexity, rapid change and radical interconnectedness. Old identities, rules and models of behavior and understanding have been swept into a confusing and fast-changing mix, and no new certainties as yet stand reliably in their place. With psyches constructed in and for a world that is no more, from tribal village to Silicon valley, humanity faces a conceptual emergency. In this presentation Dr. O’Hara will address the global capacity gap as both a threat and an evolutionary opportunity and will suggest some ways constructivists can become hospice workers for the dying cultures and midwives for the new.

CLINICAL CASE

Saturday, 11:00—12:00

Western Illinois University

SINGLE-SESSION RESOLUTION OF AN UNDISCLOSED CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND ITS SEQUELAE: CHALLENGES AND IMPLICATIONS

Empirically supported treatment approaches encourage our neglect of fundamental client contributions. Vital client factors are illustrated by this unique case, in which a client requested a specific treatment approach while refusing to reveal the nature of her difficulties. Single-session treatment, based exclusively upon the client’s theory of change, was successful.

PAPER

Saturday, 12:05—12:45

University of Notre Dame

ADOLESCENT TREATMENT PROGRAMS: ESCAPING INDIVIDUALISM

CLINICAL CASE

Saturday, 2:15—3:15

The University of Texas at Austin

AN ATTACHMENT THEORY APPROACH TO THE TREATMENT OF BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER USING CLINICAL CASE EXAMPLES

Attachment theory provides a theoretical backdrop for clients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). The current presentation outlines the shift from modern cognitive approaches that emphasize cognitive control, to postmodern, constructivist approaches that emphasize cognitive construction in the development and treatment of BPD. “Thelma” is used as a case example.

PAPER

Saturday, 2:15—2:45

Miami University

RECONSTRUCTION OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS: PERCEIVED SHORT-TERM ACCULTURATION OF ASIAN INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS.

When people move to a new culture, they experience various changes. This study explored changes in Asian international students’ ways of interacting with people within 12 months of living in America. Kelly’s theory was used to interpret the changes in Asian international students’ interpersonal relationships.

PAPER

Saturday, 2:15—2:45

South East European University

SELF, GROUP, AND COUNTRY: SEARCHING FOR A MIDDLE GROUND AMONG MACEDONIA’S EMERGING POLITICAL IDENTITIES

This investigation of Macedonia’s developing identities is essentially a search for common ground. Conventional wisdom views Macedonia as a state divided by conflict between two, or at best three competing identity groups. This research seeks a more valid understanding by employing Kelly’s grid methodology to compare frames of reference across a population.

CLINICAL CASE

Saturday, 2:45—3:45

Women’s Therapy Center

ORIENTING TO SEXUALITY IN A PSYCHOTHERAPY GROUP

Homogenous groups for sexual minorities and heterogeneous groups that include sexual minorities offer opportunities and challenges for the group therapist. The effort to reduce interpersonal uncertainty and the impact of sexual orientation in these two group formats will be explored using clinical examples.

PAPER

Saturday, 2:45—3:15

University of Memphis

CONSTRUCTIVIST ASSESSMENT: NUMERICAL AND NARRATIVE CONVERGENCE ACROSS MEASURES

This paper evaluates the degree of convergence of structure (i.e. complexity and self-esteem) and content of constructs across three constructivist measures (repertory grids, ladders, and self-characterizations), and is the first to explore the stability of structural and content scores derived from ladders and characterizations over a brief interval (4-6 weeks).

PAPER

Saturday, 3:15—3:45

Ohio University

BIOMEDICAL METANARRATIVES OF MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE MEDIA: WHERE DOES PSYCHOTHERAPY FIT IN?

Briefly presented are results from an empirical study investigating the question of whether or not the biomedical model of depression biases people to see medication as a form of treatment for depression that is superior to psychotherapy. This will be followed by a more theoretical discussion about where psychotherapy fits into a cultural context where the biomedical model of depression is the dominant media metanarrative.

PAPER

Saturday, 3:15—3:45

University of Florida

KELLY AS A POSTMODERNIST: LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND PERSONAL CONSTRUCTS IN CONTEXT

PCP is both a forerunner of postmodernism and a way of grounding current postmodern approaches in a more humanistic, person-centered, and pragmatic framework. In reading postmodernism into Kelly and Kelly into postmodernism, we propose learning to understand personal constructs within the social contexts in which they become meaningful.

WORKSHOP

Saturday, 4:00—5:30

Sam Houston State University

TEN YEARS AFTER: THERAPIST, SUPERVISOR, AND CLIENT RE-EXAMINE THE TRANSFORMATION OF ANOREXIA

Modernist approaches to providing therapy to clients diagnosed with “eating disorders” tend to be deficiency-based and place the problem definition and treatment within the pathology of the client/system. In this postmodern conversation, multiple voices re-unite ten years after collaborating in the development of transformative narratives surrounding themes of anorexia.

SYMPOSIUM

Saturday, 4:00—5:30

The University of Texas at Austin

COMPETING IDENTITIES: NEGOTIATING RELIGIOUS IDENTITY WHEN ONE’S SEXUAL IDENTITY IS GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, OR TRANSGENDER

Quantitative and qualitative data is used to investigate how GLBT individuals negotiate religious identity. Quantitatively, exposure to conservative religious teachings during development is associated with poorer outcomes, but with negligible effect sizes. Qualitative data reveal themes outlining the process and construction of religious identities in light of competing sexual identities.

WORKSHOP

Saturday, 4:00—5:30

West Coast Center for Social Therapy

GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY AS PERFORMANCE

This presentation will examine group psychotherapy as ensemble performance. The presenters will theoretically and experientially explore with participants the benefits and challenges they have experienced in doing group psychotherapy including focusing on the performance of group rather than on content or interpretation. Implications will also be drawn for other settings in which team building is central.