Past Events

Coventry Constructivist Centres 2022 Personal Construct Psychology Foundation Course will shortly be open for applications.

We limit the number of participants each year to 16, to ensure there are plenty of opportunities for participation and personalisation.

To see feedback from our 2021 course, please see below:

I was amazed at how well both the depth of the theory and application of the tools were covered. 

I felt I left with a much better understanding of the theory (and lots more reading to do) as well as tools that I could go out and use straight away. 

It was a great course and I’d recommend it to colleagues. 

Thank you for an enriching experience. A very interesting and enlightening course.

 I am so happy I had the opportunity to participate and study the foundation course. 

I have added a lot to my toolbox and skill set so thank you to all of you. 

The structure of the sessions was great as there was a good balance of theoretical and practical input. 

I think (PCP) is highly useful for my role and fully intend to further develop my skills. 

I loved the course. I love PCP. I could go on and on! 

They specifically liked:

• The level of interaction and group work was very good.
• Excellent presentations
• Great to be able to do the course online as otherwise it would have been very difficult.
• The variety of presenters and presenting styles.
• Practical content – having activities modelled to us and the chance to practice with each other.
• Good breakout sessions that worked.
• The demonstration videos were perfect.
• Having a book summarising everything.
• The requirement to read the relevant chapter ahead of the session was incredibly valuable.
• It ensured that a foundation understanding was I could go on and on…. 

The title is “ Who cares, and how? Construing the transition to caring roles” The session will include a workshop element, as normal, to give participants a chance to apply PCP techniques and to have some discussion. 

This event has passed.

Diane Allen and Peter Cummins have produced “The beginner’s guide to Personal Construct Therapy with adults and couples". 

Both are available from Amazon in both kindle and paperback format, and in keeping with the rest of our activities at Coventry Constructivist Centre, they are priced affordably.

Contact for this day – Heather Moran 07921 082 384-heatherjmoran@yahoo.co.uk

- September 16th - The Work of Miller Mair: The Community of Self and Towards a Radical Redefinition of Psychology, with Sally Robbins and Diane Allen
- December 9th - Prof David Winter – Extending the Range of Convenience of PCP to the Extremes of Human Experience

March 11th 2016 Tyranny and the Structures of Hostility – and what to do with them in society and in therapy, with Dennis Bury
June 17th 2016 The impact on Construal of Self of Palliative Care and Chronic Pain with Chris Cutler and Grant Weselby

Miller Mair’s last book has just been published. As its editor ( Simon King- Spooner) says on the cover “ Another way of knowing has the theme of a personal journey, taking in smaller themes as it feels its way forward………… It should be read by anyone tired of bullying know-all reductionism, and feeling the need for another way of knowing”.
Available direct from the publishers Lulu Press, or from Amazon.

This 2 day workshop has been designed for practitioners in any field with at least an introductory level understanding of Personal Construct Psychology, and an interest in understanding the meaning of Trauma and Stress.
We will consider how Trauma and Stress can be construed from a PCP perspective and will explore these issues in Health, Work and Relationships.

Introducing an exciting new programme of independent and collaborative learning drawing on constructivist theory and practice, with special reference to Personal Construct Psychology (PCP).With its focus on the developmental challenges of everyday life, the philosophy and theory of PCP offer a robust and comprehensive framework for coaching practice. This is a relatively new field of application of PCP and students will be located at the leading edge of professional development in this area. It is expected that students will have completed at least a foundation course in PCP, and will have attended the 2-day introductory workshop ‘Constructivist Coaching’ run by PCPA at the Coventry Constructivist Centre. The certificate programme runs over 6-9 months depending on scheduling which will be done in collaboration with students. Please note: this programme is not a comprehensive education or accreditation for people wishing to become coaches. It is designed for those already working as coaches, or who have a coaching component in their work as therapists, counsellors, trainers or managers, for whom it offers an extended and rigorous programme of professional development. 

Aims of the programme:

• to enable those engaged in coaching to locate their work in constructivist theory
• to examine the implications of constructivist ideas for coaching practice
• to explore the construction of self as coach, and of coaching in the context of organisations and contemporary working life
• to strengthen confidence and competence in using constructivist approaches
• to contribute, individually and as a group, to the emergent field of constructivist coaching theory and practice

Additionally, the structure of the programme offers a unique opportunity to experience, and experiment with, constructivist group learning processes including action learning, practice-in-the-group, peer consultation and collaborative assessment 

Programme structure: The programme is based on supported independent and group learning. Students will be encouraged to maintain learning logs and/or reflective journals throughout the programme. From the very start, students will be invited to locate and share ideas and resources, selecting and reviewing material from a constructivist perspective, and building the range of course materials as a collaborative process. The programme will be supported by Moodle, an academic online learning portal based on constructivist principles, where students can upload and share work and resources and exchange news and views. The course page will include a student discussion forum, group wiki for collaborative writing, an online library and reading list & other learning resources. 

The formal programme structure includes:

• Induction day in Coventry (getting to know each other, how to use Moodle, sharing our constructions of coaching and being a coach, agreeing online session dates & times)
• 6 x 2 hour learning group sessions via Citrix online conferencing (small groups of 4 - including themed discussion, coaching practice and peer consultation)
• Submission of a case study or reflective practice paper (after group session 4)
• Preparation of a paper/presentation on an aspect of PCP coaching theory or practice (for the final meeting)
• A final colloquium in Coventry to share and present work (a mini-conference of students’ papers/presentations, open to selected others, and with a view to developing a shared e-publication on coaching and PCP)

There will also be potential to develop as a PCP coaching interest or supervision group beyond the programme. 

Staffing: The Programme Director will be Peter Cummins, to whom initial queries should be addressed. Peter is a psychologist, psychotherapist and coach based at Coventry Constructivist Centre and is a Director of PCPA: contact

The Group Facilitator will be Mary Frances. Mary is an independent coach and consultant, and a teacher of PCP and constructivist approaches. Mary works with individuals, teams, organisations and academies across the UK and in Europe: contact

The programme is additionally supported by a small team of advisers: Helen Jones, a PCP counsellor and therapist who has a distinguished background in the development of organisations and their staff specialising in leadership development. 

John Fisher, a PCP practitioner with extensive experience of coaching, counselling, training and organisational development across a range of industries. 

Jelena Pavlovic, the Director of Research & Development at the Serbian Constructivist Association who is currently a tutor and course leader on the first ever accredited PCP Coaching qualification programme in Belgrade.

They gave an account of their use of popular Anger Management strategies that have owed much to Ray Novaco, portrayed as helpful. At a certain point, though, almost paralleling their treatment progression, the presenters gave their cardinal view that it is structure of meaning issues that lie behind anger. In essence, they demonstrated very clear researchable indications that anger is the expression of some initial change in structure of meaning and subsequent fixity.

Normally, PCP protagonists blather incomprehensibilities about the theory but on this day it slipped in so easily how invalidation of a frame of meaning can in the end lead to stuckness, hostility and, quoting Leitner, “Structural Arrest”.
We received many illustrations of the ways in which, within a semi manualised framework (and, modesty forbids, informed and fluid facilitation) people reconstrued themselves and their anger. And there were graphs to prove it!!

In this day presentation there was everything which the evidenced-­‐based afficionado desired and also something more about wider meaning than just the dehumanising label of ‘anger’. 

Reference: The supporting literature is available in the text called “Working with Anger: a Constructivist Approach” by Peter Cummins (2005) and published by Wiley. If you are thinking of running an anger programme then this is well worth the investment.