Constructs and Relationships An interview with Harry Procter

H. G. Procter, PhD, Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Harry Procter is Visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. He conducted his doctoral research in the early 1970’s at the Department of Mental Health, University of Bristol, on applying Personal Construct Psychology to family processes and beginning the development of a Systemic Constructivist approach to family therapy. After training as a Clinical Psychologist in Nottingham, he worked in Adult and then Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Somerset before retiring from the NHS in 2004. Currently, he is involved in supervision and teaching in a number of countries and is continuing to develop Constructivist applications to relational and organizational contexts. He has published over 40 papers and chapters covering a variety of topics including family therapy for children and adults with mental health and learning disabilities, schizophrenia, autism, hypnotherapy, reflective practice, formulation and the philosophical background to his approach. He has edited two volumes of papers of Milton H. Erickson for Paidos Publications, Barcelona, and is currently co-editing a volume of papers presented at the International Congress on Personal Construct Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, July 2015. Recently he has been researching the work of Charles S. Peirce whose work provides a fascinating meta-framework for looking at and understanding constructivist approaches. Two recent chapters for the new Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology address Relational Construct Psychology and PCP, Society and Culture. He has developed various types of Qualitative Grid, which are user-friendly methods of displaying the construing of members of groups and families, tracing their different positions and charting change over time.