HIT Featured Talks: David Winter

department of Developmental Psychology - Padua

26.05.2015

Repertory grid technique: a versatile, computer-analysed method of assessing the structure and content of a person’s view of the world

Time: May 26th 2015, 14.30
Venue: Dept. of General Psychology, Via Venezia 8, Padova (Aula Musatti)
Speaker: David Winter
Affiliation: Director of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, U.K

Abstract:
Repertory grid technique is the principal assessment method derived from George Kelly’s personal construct theory. It has been used in over 90% of personal construct research investigations, both quantitative and qualitative, as well as in practical applications of the theory in a wide range of settings, including clinical practice, education, and organisational consultancy. This talk will outline the technique and methods of grid analysis, including the demonstration of a software package from which can be derived indices of the structure of the person’s view of the world, others that focus on its content, and measures of psychological conflict. There will be consideration of how the grid can be used not only with individuals but to explore the construct systems of couples and groups; and of how it can be administered by computer, with instant feedback of results and the possibility of a ‘therapeutic’ interaction between the computer and the subject. More recent variations on Kelly’s original procedure will be described, as will other personal construct assessment methods. Examples will be provided of the use of repertory grid technique and related methods in clinical practice and in a variety of research studies, ranging from my work in the English National Health Service and on serial killing to studies conducted with former child soldiers and other survivors of a brutal civil war in Africa. The talk will therefore demonstrate the adaptability of repertory grid technique to work with people across the age spectrum in numerous different contexts.

Bio:
David Winter is Professor of Clinical Psychology and Programme Director of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, U.K., and is currently a Visiting Professor in the Department of General Psychology at the University of Padova. His previous working life was spent practising as a clinical psychologist and personal construct psychotherapist in the English National Health Service. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and former Chair of its Psychotherapy Section and of the Research Committee of the UK Council for Psychotherapy; and is Associate Editor of the Journal of Constructivist Psychology and research Editor of the European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling. He has published extensively in the areas of personal construct psychology and psychotherapy research, and his books include Personal Construct Psychology in Clinical Practice: Theory, research and applications, Personal Construct Psychotherapy: Advances in theory, practice and research (edited with Linda Viney), The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Personal Construct Psychology (forthcoming: edited with Nick Reed), and Trauma, Survival and Resilience in War Zones: The psychological impact of war in Sierra Leone and beyond (forthcoming: with Rachel Brown, Stephanie Goins, and Clare Mason).