SGCP Workshop report

Jennifer Liston-Smith

Personal Construct Psychology as a Resource for Coaching Psychologists
Presented by Kieran Duignan, MSc, Dip Couns, Dip Consult, C Psychol, RSP. MIOSH, MErgS. Coach - Active Ergomonics; Work Commitment: Enabling People!

Aim

The agenda proposed:

1. An exploration of the professional heritage and culture of Personal Construct Psychology (PCP);
2. A working definition of coaching, from the standpoint of the PCP;
3. An examination of resourceful perspectives in PCP that can be fruitful in coaching;
4. A look at psychological research, outside PCP, that can be drawn on to revitalise coaching with methodologies which build on PCP’s heritage and facilitate exploration of the structure of conscious experience, while being congruent with its assumptive framework and with expectations of coaches in present society.

George Kelly’s clinical approach was based on ‘constructive alternativism’: simply encouraging his client to develop alternative construct systems through which to construe life events.

Personal Construct Psychology rests on one ‘Fundamental Postulate’ and 11 corollaries which together explain how we interpret information, why we often see the world differently, and how we influence the perceptions of others. The ‘fundamental postulate’ is that: ‘A person’s processes are psychologically channelized (sic) by the way in which he anticipates events’ (Kelly, 1955/1992, p.46). Kelly saw all people as personal scientists engaged in anticipating the world. His first corollary, the ‘Construction corollary’, suggests that we anticipate future events according to our interpretations of recurrent themes.

Kieran Duignan explains that his own ‘social behaviourist’ framework for coaching and counselling incorporates Personal Construct Psychology ‘as one of several modalities in a repertoire of authoritative and facilitative styles of intervention’. The basis on which a coaching psychologist might chose to include PCP is an acceptance of Kelly’s assertion that it helps people be honest about their experience; and that this would include the coach as well as the client. (Kelly, 1955/1992). Coaching is then a dialogue in which all concerned are committed to learning from the goal process.

PCP offers many approaches and questions that can assist directly with clients and also challenge us to re-examine our assumptions and professional constructions. Though difficult to convert phenomenological work into easy tools, there are directions that can be looked for. According to Duignan, a PCP coach should, among other things, ‘increase the client’s data on their own motivations’. The levels of interest behind this may be seen in the suggestion that, for example, a Repertory Grid (e.g. Fransella, Bannister & Bell, 2004) completed before and after coaching by the manager of a client serves both to highlight individual change and also ‘to help the manager see how he or she sees others’.

Language is generally taken to be free from bias, including such forms of language as psychological tests and companies’ Annual reports. Writing a self-characterisation reminds us that we choose the language. The self-characterisation of oneself as a coaching psychologist was written in the third person as if describing the principle character in a play. Twelve minutes work on this exercise produced some telling commentaries with wide-ranging points of focus from the group of three in which I was working. Kieran Duignan was a helpful role model in setting up the exercise with minimal cueing: the introduction to this task does not speak of constructs; the client is not encouraged to acquiesce. There is, therefore, a risk on both sides.

One practical tool or idea you could take forward
Applying the fundamental postulate and selected corollaries to your self-characterisation

1. Sketch out a self-characterisation (above).
2. Explore how Kelly’s fundamental postulate (see above, under Theoretical roots) may throw some light on what the coaching psychologist in your selfcharacterisation ‘anticipates’.
3. Explore applying Kelly’s corollaries to the coaching psychologist in your selfcharacterisation, with reference to a specific client, past or present. For example:
   Sociality: to improve how well you listen ‘credulously’ to the client, to simply appreciate just how he/she makes sense of her situation and of constructs he/she uses to do so.
   Dichotomy: to gently enquire about ‘the implied pole’ of constructs he/she uses, in order to flesh out with him/her what the situation means for him/her.
4. In light of this, consider how you might phrase feedback or questions and what barriers may get in the way of fruitful communication during ‘conversational learning’.

Kieran Duignan briefly touched upon the question as to why the PCP Repertory Grid is not at present considered for inclusion in Level B Psychometric Testing qualifications. PCP can be said to encourage qualitative and quantitative engagement and brings the skillful coach to be candid about their own bias.

SGCP events will be reported regularly adopting a similar format, enabling readers to pick up on some of the essential elements conveyed. Feedback would be welcome to: SGCPevents@pip.co.uk

The following sites offer software for conducting repertory grid interviews.

www.enquirewithin.co.nz/
www.gridsuite.de
http://repgrid.com

References

Fransella, F., Bannister, D. & Bell, R. (2004). A manual for repertory grid technique. John Wiley & Sons.

Kelly, G.A. (1955/1992). The pychology of personal constructs. Vols. 1 & 2. Routledge.