Cognitive-Constructivist Therapies: characteristics, types and objectives

Let's see what Cognitive-Constructivist Therapies are and their main types.

The cognitive-constructivist therapy has been created with the aim of proposing an alternative to the modern theories of the previous century, in order to develop a theoretical model for which the knowledge of each human being is individual, fragmentary and in constant change and development by the incorporation of new information.

All this, unlike the modern postulates, which advocated an objective and universal theory of human knowledge.

We will see below some fundamental postulates of all the models that comprise the constructivist therapies.

The characteristics of Cognitive-Constructivist Therapies

Cognitive-constructivist approaches are based on very diverse theoretical foundations, in addition to having strong philosophical roots, leading to a great plurality of theories to understand the human being.

It is for this reason that we we review some ideas put in common by the various currents that encompass cognitive-constructivist therapy..

1. Perceived reality is influenced by experience.

First of all, for all constructivist models, the reality perceived by a person is influenced by experience. the reality perceived by a person is conditioned by his or her previous knowledge and, consequently, is somewhat biased.. One could say that constructivism is the opposite of purely objective realism.

2. Information processing is regulated by three fundamentals

In relation to the previous premise, although it is true that each person has his own unique way of perceiving and processing the information that surrounds him, creating cognitive structures that provide him with a sense of identity, this is accompanied by three coordinating foundations, which are the following: first, a need to order his experience and the information he perceives; second, a need to permanently maintain his perceptions; third, the human being has a compelling need to make sense of what happens to him. an imperative need to make sense of what is happening to him..

3. Each person has a unique way of thinking

A postulate of constructivism is the fundamental dissimilarity that people have with respect to the other species: the capacity they have to be able to to reflect on what happens to them..

4. Human beings are proactive information processors.

That human beings have the capacity to actively process information is another premise of constructivism. An example would be Kelly's idea about the functioning of the human mind with his term known as the personal scientist.

This term refers to the fact that, as in the scientific process, theories and models are developed in order to understand certain phenomena, each person is like a scientist who is continually developing his or her own theories in order to understand what he or she in order to understand what surrounds him.

5. Special relevance in the way of constructing thoughts

For constructivists, what is relevant in understanding human thinking is not the content of their thoughts, but rather the development by which this content has been constructed.

In contrast to classical psychotherapy models, whose theory focuses mainly on a series of cognitive schemas that all people have in common (e.g., automatically arising thoughts, irrational ideas or maladaptive schemas).

6. It adds importance to human interrelationships and language.

The construction of meanings of what surrounds us through interaction with other human beings is also relevant.

Therefore, our language is a primary tool, our language is an essential tool in the formation of our knowledge.The knowledge that we have formed through a conversation fixes in our knowledge in the form of a story that provides a coherent meaning to our life.

Historical development of Cognitive-Constructivist Therapy.

All these postulates that have just been presented form a compendium that demonstrates the evolution of cognitive-constructivist therapy in the most recent decades, without leaving aside that each author of those who belong to this therapeutic current has his own ideas and theories. For this reason, the most relevant theories within the cognitive-constructivist model will be briefly presented below.

Constructivism comes from the theories of philosophers such as Immanuel Kant. It was later established in psychology through Jean Paiget, who introduced it in his theory of childhood learning; although the first psychologist to use constructivism in his personality model was George Kelly. the first psychologist who used constructivism in his model of personality was George Kelly, whose model is known as the theory of personal constructs.whose model is known as the theory of personal constructs.

Cognitive-constructivist therapy was developed as an alternative to the modern theories that were on the rise at the beginning of the 20th century.. For these theories, knowledge of all phenomena on the planet could be discovered through objective reasoning.

To the detriment of these theories, the end of the 20th century saw the emergence of postmodern currents, such as cognitive therapy.The post-modern currents, such as cognitive-constructivist therapy, which are based on the idea that it is impossible for there to be universal and objective knowledge in all fields, emerged at the end of the 20th century. For these postmodern currents, the knowledge of the human being is fragmentary, in addition to the fact that it will always be changing and developed through theories that will not necessarily be completely objective.

From the point of view of constructivism, it could be said that the human brain is not capable of encompassing the whole of the human brain. the human brain is not capable of encompassing the knowledge of such a complex world and the only thing human beings can do is to develop theoretical models in order to try to understand it. in order to try to understand it. In addition, each person creates their own subjective hypotheses in order to understand the world around them based on their personal experience, i.e., each person has a different prism when perceiving and understanding the phenomena in their environment, as well as when making an introspection to understand their inner world.

The pioneer in applying constructivism in psychological therapy is Kelly, as mentioned above, in his theory of personal constructs. Neimeyer continued to develop Kelly's theory, Guidano used constructivism in his post-rationalist cognitive therapy, Gergen used constructivism in his theory of social constructivism, Gonçalves developed narrative constructivism and it was Michael Mahoney who brought together all the previous techniques and theories in a single model of psychotherapy.

Types of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies

Below we will review the main types of therapy belonging to the branch of cognitive-constructivist therapies.

1. Kelly's therapy

The fundamental goal of this therapy is to find different ways to use existing personal constructs or to construct alternative cognitive theories, in order to develop new ways of behaving that can help the patient to compose constructs that will be more useful in his or her life.

The psychologist who performs this type of therapy must act with an attitude of acceptance and openness towards what the patient brings to the consultation, treating it as if it were a conversation.treating it as if it were a conversation from expert to expert in a theory and, starting from that basis, helps to favor the change towards the development of personal constructs that allow him/her to act in accordance with them so that he/she feels in harmony. This way of positioning the psychotherapist is known in psychotherapy as "collaborative empiricism".

Let us now see what are the "personal constructs" associated with this therapy. These constructs are based on the fact that people are like informal scientists who construct their own theoretical hypotheses in order to be able to anticipate the events that occur during their lives. Therefore, the behavior of human beings forms a kind of experiment in which their personal constructs are tested.

1.1 Individualized

These are different in each personalthough there are some that are common in a group of people belonging to the same culture.

1.2 Dichotomous

They are integrated along a continuum divided between two extremesThis means that they go from the pole of similarity (e.g., what is similar about two people or events) to the opposite pole of contrast (e.g., what is different about them).

1.3 Hierarchical

They are organized hierarchically, such that there are some constructs that are fundamental and give meaning to each person's behaviors.

1.4 Diverse

They have a wide variety and are activated in each situation, without the need for all of them to be the same in different situations (e.g., someone can be helpful in different situations).They do not all need to be the same in different situations (e.g., someone can be helpful in one context and behave in the opposite way in another).

2. Guidano's post-rationalist therapy

Guidano's theory, on which his therapy is based, is based on the premise that the cognitive development of human beings is determined by the fact that our upbringing takes place in an environment in which we are surrounded by other human beings, and in this context emotions play a primordial role.. It also suggests that people's knowledge seeks organization and a sense of coherence in a fundamental way.

As a consequence of the above, human beings actively process the reality that surrounds them, creating knowledge in a self-referential way; that is to say, each person makes the events of his or her history his or her own.This means that each person makes the events that have occurred throughout his or her history his or her own. That is why the identity or self of each person is continuously changing due to the constant inclusion of new experiences. Guidano calls the result of all this process as organizations of personal meanings (OSP).

Therefore, the aim of Guidano's post-rationalist psychotherapy is to learn how to make the organizations of personal meanings more flexible so that the patient learns how to understand the events that happen to him/her and the environment around him/her in a way that helps him/her to adapt to the events that happen to him/her and the environment around him/her..

This therapy should be carried out in a safe context that facilitates the patient's free expression of his emotions so that he can train in their management.

The way of change on the part of the patient in this therapy is known as "the moviola". And this technique consists of facilitating the patient to reconstruct certain events of his life.

3. Gonçalves' cognitive-narrative psychotherapy

The constructivist theory of Gonçalves is based on the idea that people construct their personal reality through integration with others, and this is achieved through language.. This type of therapy gives great importance to the way in which each person interprets his or her individual reality and the effect this has on his or her existence.

The main objective of Gonçalves' narrative therapy is to to help the patient in the construction of a narrative discourse full of content.It is also flexible and coherent, making it easier for them to be more open to the complexity of their own experience.

4. Mahoney's constructivist therapy

As mentioned above, Mahoney integrates in his constructivist therapy many of the premises of the theories of the above mentioned authors.It is for this reason that his theory for understanding the human being is a good compendium of cognitive-constructivist therapy, highlighting the technical eclecticism used in his therapeutic model, which is nourished by cognitive, behavioral and experiential models.

This therapeutic model seeks to help the patient in his search for a new way to bring order to his life.. To achieve this, the psychologist encourages the patient to take on the challenge of trying to change his or her ways of coping by trying new ways of thinking and behaving. In addition, the therapist must actively listen to the patient with respect and compassion, in order to become a source of care, relief and encouragement for the patient.

This therapy starts by supporting the patient so that he/she can regain balance and calmness through "centering" techniques. and calm by means of "centering" techniques.. The task of these techniques is to solve the patient's current problems, followed by changing the patient's dysfunctional thought patterns and behavior, and finally by addressing the core processes.

There are several core ordering processes (SOPs) of people:

• Reality: the way of organizing information in a categorical way and seeking a sense of coherence.
• Identity: seeks to give meaning to what is happening around the person.
• Value: which is composed of the personal judgments that the person makes about the events that have occurred.
• Power: the way in which one perceives oneself as the protagonist of one's life and, based on this, arranges circumstances according to what is within one's control and what is not, what one is capable of and what is impossible for one, etc.

This therapy is successful when the patient is able to change the focus of attention with respect to his or her circumstances, so that he or she learns to regain control over his or her circumstances.The patient learns to regain calm and to reorient his or her daily life, as well as to review his or her own life history.