Live webinar air date: May 6, 2026, 3:30 p.m., Eastern time
Date
CE credits
1.5
Exam items
9
Series
Description
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. This presentation introduces theories of constructivism and constructive psychotherapy. It examines the key therapeutic aims and techniques of constructive therapy, offering a nuts-and-bolts description of the therapy process. Ample case examples are provided to illustrate constructive therapies in action.
Learning objectives
- Describe three main constructivist theories: personal constructivism, radical constructivism, social constructionism.
- Explain how to apply concrete techniques from constructive therapies into clinical practice.
- Identify ways in which constructive therapy can be used with a diverse range of clients and client presenting problems.
Presenter
Jonathan D. Raskin, PhD
Raskin is a psychology professor and interim associate provost at SUNY New Paltz. He earned his BA from Vassar and PhD from the University of Florida. A licensed psychologist with a private practice, Raskin has published extensively on constructive therapies. He is author of Constructive Psychotherapies (2025) and Psychopathology and Mental Distress: Contrasting Perspectives (2nd ed., 2024). Raskin is past president of APA’s Society for Humanistic Psychology and a consulting editor for the Journal of Constructivist Psychology.
