Constructivism as a philosophical stance sees the world's "reality" as mediated through the experience of each individual. This is not to deny the reality of lived experience, rather that a person can change their lived experience by making sense of the world in different ways. Constructivist positions see existence as contextual and relational. The act of construal i.e. making both sense and meaning of being human can only be understood in terms of living in a shared world which is socially negotiated through shared perspectives with others.
Existential thought refuses to reduce the human way of being to any particular code, or system, and emphasizes each person's responsibility to themselves and others in the ways that they choose to live. It demands that we act truthfully, whilst recognizing human frailty and the contingency of any given truth; it challenges social norms that restrict and stultify human authenticity and creativity, urging us towards a radical engagement with the expression and meaning of existence.
Existential Psychotherapy is focused on questions of existence, which go as far back as the Ancient Greek philosophers and continue to be engaged with in the contemporary Continental philosophy of today.
These questions revolve around the fundamental challenge of who we are and how we live.
Existential Psychotherapy is phenomenological, in that it brings things to light for both client and therapist. It is not so much a set of rules, theories, and procedures for doing therapy as it is a way of being that is embodied and experiential in nature, with practitioners' therapeutic perspectives being as varied as people are themselves.
The fluid and constantly developing nature of the Existential approach lends itself well to working creatively with all aspects of human experience, whatever the therapeutic needs or problems being faced.
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Neurolinguistic Psychotherapy (NLPt) recognises the subjective nature of
experience and the ways that we make meaning and uses approaches to help
clients become more fully aware of their internal constructs. The approach
supports cognitive, behavioural, and emotional change and can range from
developing simple pragmatic strategies to deep exploration and change in the
unconscious.
Becoming more aware of their processing and the structure of their external
and internal representations allows the client to raise their awareness of
how they are perceiving the world, how they are making meaning and how they
are habitually responding.
NLPt uses desired outcome orientation, cognitive linguistics, systemic
perspectives and modelling methodologies to support the client to become
more aware of what they want to have happen in their lives and to build
strategies and resources towards achieving their desired outcomes.
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The Psychology of Personal Constructs (PCP) focusses on the meanings that people attach to persons, situations and events they encounter. While it focusses on the meaning of individual construing, it acknowledges that these meanings are partly generated and certainly mediated through social conditions and forces. These meanings, the "personal constructs" of a person, serve as guidelines for the actions one takes to cope with the demands and challenges of life. PCP is about all of us, all of the time - a 'psychology for living' - helping us understand our ways of making sense of the world. PCP is a "language" to describe what people are already doing.
The emphasis on understanding individuals in their social and cultural contexts makes PCP a particularly relevant and robust theory for application to mental health, organisational, educational and business settings.
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Tara Rokpa Psychotherapy draws on Western and Eastern modes of inquiry. Constructivist, Social Constructionist, Systemic and Buddhist understandings of the mind inform our approach.
Tara Rokpa Psychotherapy is interested in the way in which these approaches inform our understanding of how we bring forth our world.
Within the Buddhist frame, there has been a long tradition of personal inquiry and personal and intellectual experimentation Meditation is one such mode of inquiry.
If we are to understand what Buddhist meditation can teach us about the mind then we need to meditate just as the budding scientist within Western perspectives must engage with research protocols and learn to hold to them.
Tara Rokpa Therapy Psychotherapy is interested in how understandings from our own personal research may inspire creative, useful and ethical domains of enquiry with others.
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