In response to David Winter's article "Personal Construct Psychology-Still Going Strong at 70?", this commentary reflects on the enduring vitality of George Kelly's framework seven decades after its inception. Rather than viewing PCP as a static monument to the past, I argue that its relevance lies in its inherent "unfinished" nature-its capacity to evolve in dialogue with a fragmented contemporary world. By revisiting the model's epistemological roots, this paper explores how PCP's principles of constructive alternativism can be extended to address modern challenges, including the need for psychotherapy integration, political emancipation, and systemic complexity. I suggest that the future of PCP depends not merely on preservation, but on a courageous expansion toward narrative, relational, and collective dimensions of meaning-making, ensuring it remains a living, breathing project of human understanding.

In psychotherapy, case formulation can organize clinically relevant information into a coherent account of how psychological difficulties emerge, persist, and may change. The Personal Meaning System Fuzzy Cognitive Map (PMS-FCM) represents the client’s bipolar construct system as a weighted directed graph, whereas the FCM-FRHP (Fuzzy Cognitive Map of Human Problem Formation and Resolution) provides a professional functional reference model for problem formation and resolution. This paper proposes a semantically constrained method for identifying systemic archetype-inspired configurations in PMS-FCM representations enriched with FCM-FRHP semantics. Rather than importing classical systemic archetypes directly, the method reformulates them as configurable graph templates adapted to intrapersonal bipolar construct systems. Detection combines FCM-FRHP functional roles, predefined semantic-affinity rules and PB-based structural criteria, edge-weight thresholds, and ranking criteria. The goal is to support the traceable identification of static structures that may inform the examination of clinically relevant systemic hypotheses, without treating them as diagnoses or evidence of observed temporal dynamics. The pipeline combines property-graph querying, RDF/SHACL conformance checking, ranked materialization, and rule-based trace generation. A local language model is used only after detection and conformance checking, as a constrained graph-to-text layer grounded in graph evidence and FCM-FRHP semantics. The approach offers a formally specified and reproducible method for conducting explicit, auditable pattern-level analysis of psychological case formulations.

This paper introduces a similarity index aimed at modeling psychological well-being through a set-theoretic formalization of self–ideal alignment. Inspired by Tversky’s feature-based model of similarity, the proposed index quantifies the degree of overlap and divergence between the current self-perception and the ideal self, each represented as a vector of signed attributes. The formulation extends traditional approaches in Personal Construct Psychology by incorporating directional and magnitude-based comparisons across constructs, and its mathematical properties can be expressed within a fuzzy similarity space that ensures boundedness and internal coherence. Unlike standard correlational methods commonly used in psychological assessment, this model provides an alternative framework that allows for asymmetric weighting of discrepancies and non-linear representations of similarity. Developed within the WimpGrid formalism—a graph-theoretical extension of constructivist assessment—the index offers potential applications in clinical modeling, idiographic measurement, and the mathematical analysis of dynamic self-concept systems. We discuss its relevance as a generalizable tool for quantitative psychology, and its potential for integration into computational models of personality and self-organization.

Introduction:Anticipation and meaning-making are foundational processes in Personal Construct Psychology. Over the years, methodologies such as the Repertory Grid and Implication Grid have provided valuable tools for examining the anticipatory structure of personal meaning systems. Building on this tradition, the Weighted Implication Grid (WimpGrid) introduces a graph-theoretic and algebraic formalization of personal construct systems, aiming to enhance the modeling of psychological change as a dynamic and networked process. Method:The WimpGrid is based on a semi-structured interview in which participants evaluate hypothetical transformations in their self-perception across a set of personal constructs. These anticipatory judgments are recorded in a numerical matrix and formalized as a weighted directed graph, where nodes represent constructs and edges quantify the perceived influence between them. From this structure, graph-theoretical indices are derived to examine properties such as construct centrality, system dynamics, and resistance to change. Applications:WimpGrid enables idiographic assessment in clinical settings, supporting case formulation, therapeutic planning, and longitudinal monitoring of psychological transformation. Additionally, it provides a formalized methodological platform for research into subjective change processes and personal meaning structures. Discussion:By combining constructivist interviewing techniques with graph-theoretical modeling, WimpGrid offers a structured and flexible framework for investigating psychological change. It complements existing constructivist methodologies by providing tools for the quantitative analysis of complex meaning systems, and opens new avenues for theoretical refinement and empirical application.

Understanding psychological change requires a quantitative framework capable of capturing the complex and dynamic relationships among personal constructs. Personal Construct Psychology emphasizes the hierarchical reorganization of bipolar constructs, yet existing qualitative methods inadequately model the reciprocal and graded influences involved in such change. This paper introduces the Presence–Balance (PB) space, a centrality measure for constructs represented within Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs). FCMs model cognitive systems as directed, weighted graphs, allowing for nuanced analysis of construct interactions. The PB space operationalizes two orthogonal dimensions: Presence, representing the overall connectivity and activation of a construct, and Implication Balance, quantifying the directional asymmetry between influences exerted and received. By formalizing Hinkle’s hierarchical theory within a rigorous mathematical framework, the PB space enables precise identification of constructs that drive or resist transformation. This dual-dimensional model provides a structured method for analyzing personal construct systems, supporting both theoretical exploration and clinically relevant interpretations in the study of psychological change.

A procedure is presented for case conceptualization and psychotherapeutic process planning using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) of the clients' systems of personal meanings. This tool, integrated with Personal Construct Psychology and Systems Thinking principles, allows modeling the client's dynamic system, identifying its components, analyzing patterns and interactions, and relating it to known systemic archetypes. This enables a deep and idiographic understanding of the situation, glimpsing the underlying structures and mental models that generate dysfunctional dynamics. Its application is demonstrated through a clinical case. The procedure lays the groundwork for designing personalized interventions that promote transformative changes at multiple levels, addressing the complexity of human systems with equally complex and dynamic methods and models.

El presente artículo se enfoca en la utilidad de los Mapas Cognitivos Borrosos como herramienta para la supervisión clínica en el ámbito de la psicoterapia. Estos mapas representan una herramienta versátil que facilita la conceptualización de casos clínicos desde dos perspectivas complementarias: la nomotética y la idiográfica. Desde la perspectiva nomotética, se utilizan los Mapas Cognitivos Borrosos para ordenar y organizar la experiencia que el cliente elabora en el diálogo terapéutico. Esto se logra mediante la creación de un mapa de sistema complejo que incorpora términos técnicos y conceptos clínicos de los campos de la psicopatología, la evaluación y el tratamiento. Esta representación en tercera persona permite una comprensión teórica, más profunda y estructurada de la situación clínica, fomentando la colaboración entre el supervisor y el supervisando. Desde la perspectiva idiográfica, se emplea una aproximación en primera persona que recoge el Sistema de Significados Personales del paciente, así como sus dinámicas de interacción. Lo que ayuda tanto al terapeuta, como al supervisor, a entender la construcción del problema desde la visión del cliente utilizando sus propios términos. Al combinarse con el mapa en tercera persona, se enriquece y complementa el panorama general, permitiendo una visión más completa de la dinámica clínica. El proceso de utilización de los Mapas Cognitivos Borrosos en la supervisión clínica está altamente protocolizado, lo que facilita la comunicación efectiva entre el supervisor y el supervisando.

EDITORIAL article Front. Psychol., 13 February 2023Sec. Cognitive Science Volume 14 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1146775

The present article focuses on the usefulness of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps as a tool for clinical supervision in the field of psychotherapy. These maps represent a versatile tool that facilitates the conceptualization of clinical cases from two complementary perspectives: nomothetic and idiographic. From the nomothetic perspective, Fuzzy Cognitive Maps are used to order and organize the experience that the client elaborates in the therapeutic dialogue. This is accomplished by creating a complex system map that incorporates technical terms and clinical concepts from the fields of psychopathology, assessment, and treatment. This third-person representation allows for a theoretical, deeper, and more structured understanding of the clinical situation, fostering collaboration between supervisor and supervisee. From the idiographic perspective, a first-person approach is employed that captures the patient's Personal Meaning System as well as their inte-raction dynamics. This helps both the therapist and the supervisor to understand the construction of the problem from the client's point of view using the client's own terms.When combined with the third person map, it enriches and complements the overall picture, allowing a more complete view of the clinical dynamics. The process of using the Fuzzy Cognitive Maps in clinical supervision is highly pro-tocolized, which facilitates effective communication between the supervisor and the supervisee. In addition, it promotes collaboration in the generation of explanatory hypotheses for both moments of change and stagnation in the therapeutic process. This methodology also enables constant monitoring of the case, which provides a better understanding of the dynamics that influence the therapeutic evolution.In short, we present a supervision proposal from a constructivist, collaborative, client-centered, integrative and transdiagnostic perspective, characterized by high theoretical coherence, technical eclecticism, methodological sophistication and technological support.

INTRODUCTION:Most psychological treatments are administered in a one-to-one therapy format, which has proven effective but has limitations in complex clinical situations. Teamwork can help address these limitations by going beyond the one-to-one therapy approach and involving the client's professional and relational network in therapy interventions to promote and secure change. In this issue of Journal of Clinical Psychology: In Session five effective teamwork practices are presented illustrating how clinicians integrate teamwork into treatment delivery to improve outcomes in an array of cases presenting high complexity.PURPOSE:In this commentary section, we describe the role and essence of these teamwork practices from a systems thinking approach as a theoretical umbrella to understand the diversity of processes hindering and facilitating effective teamwork CONCLUSSION: From this approach we discuss the core skills that psychotherapists should train to master team working and interprofessional collaboration. The basic professional competence consists in the ability to foster and coordinate shared frames of understanding in case formulation. An advanced systemic skill is based on the ability to formulate and change relational patterns, given that interpersonal processes are the main key factor to understand barriers and facilitators of effective teamwork to overcome stalemated complex clinical situations.

El desarrollo de la psicología en Guatemala durante las últimas décadas se ha visto fortalecido por varios hitos en su historia como han sido los congresos, encuentros académicos y profesionales, colaboraciones internacionales y conferencias para nombrar algunos. Este número especial de nuestra revista da testimonio de uno de ellos. Gracias a la confianza, apoyo y mentoría de los grandes exponentes de las psicoterapias integrativas de América Latina y de la valiosa y comprometida colaboración de un comité organizador, pudo realizarse en Guatemala, de manera virtual con sólido apoyo tecnológico, el VIII Encuentro Latinoamericano de Psicoterapias Integrativas (ELAPSI). Si bien, el producto final fue de una excelente calidad académica, científica, profesional y sociocultural, también fue de inmenso valor el llegar a concretarlo. Desde el momento en que nos fue confiada la realización del mismo en el marco del VII Encuentro Latinoamericano que se llevó a cabo en Uruguay en 2018, sabíamos que estábamos abriendo brecha. Por primera vez, un ELAPSI sería realizado fuera de América del Sur, en donde históricamente se había congregado la comunidad académica y profesional de las psicoterapias integrativas. Por lo tanto, iniciar el proceso de organización implicaba no solo colocar a Guatemala en el mapa latinoamericano de la integración psicoterapéutica sino también consolidar un equipo organizador que representara las voces integrativas de las Américas particularmente de aquellos países donde hasta el momento estaban casi silenciadas. Los valores de solidaridad, apoyo, entusiasmo y compromiso se hicieron presentes para emprender una tarea que, aunque ambiciosa desde sus albores, fue apasionante.

En el actual ecosistema digital, los contenidos y prácticas que generan redes sociales como YouTube o Instagram han facilitado la emergencia de un tipo de influencer o (micro)celebridad que, además de generar negocio (Vizcaíno-Verdú, De-Casas-Moreno & Ignacio Aguaded, 2019), ofrece unos modelos de autenticidad y estilos de vida, unas narrativas y unas influencias entre las generaciones Millennials y Centennials que requieren ser analizadas desde la percepción de los propios jóvenes usuarios. Para ello presentamos parte de los resultados de una investigación inédita de metodología mixta realizada en España que ha recogido las opiniones de adolescentes y jóvenes (12-18 años) de las Comunidades Autónomas de Catalunya, Baleares y Euskadi a partir de una muestra de 2.749 cuestionarios y nueve focus group durante el 2021, incluyendo el período afectado por la Covid19. Los resultados permiten observar qué plataformas prefieren, los motivos de preferencia, su aceptación o rechazo de determinados elementos comunicativos, sean tecnológicos, conectivos o discursivos, así como las características que parecen crear tendencia y favorecen su engagement hacia los influencers que prefieren.

El presente estudio muestra la utilización de Mapas Cognitivos Borrosos para la formulación de caso y como herramienta facilitadora del proceso de cambio en psicoterapia. Desde la línea constructivista se aborda el caso de un hombre de 55 años (Henry) que muestra dificultades en las relaciones socio-afectivas, evita todo tipo de conflicto y su rigidez en la convivencia familiar le provoca estallidos de ira. Se utilizó un diseño de caso único siguiendo el formato de conceptualización de caso según el Mapa Cognitivo Borroso de Formación y Resolución de Problemas Humanos. En la base metodológica se utiliza la Técnica de Rejilla, la Rejilla de Implicaciones y el software GridFCM como procedimiento de obtención del Mapa Cognitivo Borroso. Los resultados muestran que incluir Mapas Cognitivos Borrosos en la formulación de casos facilita al paciente tener un rol más activo hacia el proceso de cambio, crear escenarios de simulación ofreciendo una imagen dinámica y causal de su Sistema de Significados Personales, aporta una retroalimentación del patrón del cambio tanto sincrónica como diacrónica y facilita la monitorización de las dinámicas de cambio.

Implementing healthy lifestyle habits can take a great effort and sticking to such prescriptions is complicated. Failure rates amongst people seeking to adopt a healthier diet are estimated to be around 80%. Exploring the network of meanings that an individual associates with adopting habits such as healthy eating, maintaining the correct weight, and practising physical exercise can reveal the inconsistencies, obstacles, or psychological conflicts that hinder change and target-achievement. Fuzzy cognitive maps (FCM) can be of great utility in this task as they allow us to explore the structure of the personal meaning system of an individual as well as determine any obstacles and simulate hypothetical scenarios that project its future evolution. This can help to identify the foci of cognitive conflicts that hinder the adoption of healthy habits and establish more effective personalised intervention programmes that make it easier to maintain these habits.

This study shows the use of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps for case formulation and as a tool to facilitate the process of change in psychotherapy. The case of a 55-year-old man (Henry) who shows difficulties in socio-affective relationships, avoids all kinds of conflict and whose rigidity in family life causes outbursts of anger is presented from a constructivist standpoint. A single case design was used following the case conceptualization format according to the Fuzzy Cognitive Map of Human Problems Formation and Resolution. In the methodological basis, the Grid Technique, the Implications Grid and the GridFCM software are used as a procedure for obtaining the Fuzzy Cognitive Map. The results show that including Fuzzy Cognitive Maps in the case formulation facilitates that the patient has a more active role in the process of change, create simulation scenarios offering a dynamic and causal image of their System of Personal Meanings, provides feedback on the pattern of both synchronous and diachronic change and facilitates the monitoring of the dynamics of change.

Following the global outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, individuals report psychological distress associated with the “new normal”—social distancing, financial hardships, and increased responsibilities while working from home. Given the interpersonal nature of stress and coping responses between romantic partners, based on the systemic transactional model this study posits that perceived partner dyadic coping may be an important moderator between experiences of COVID-19 psychological distress and relationship quality. To examine these associations, self-report data from 14,020 people across 27 countries were collected during the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic (March–July, 2020). It was hypothesized that higher symptoms of psychological distress would be reported post-COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19 restrictions (Hypothesis 1), reports of post-COVID-19 psychological distress would be negatively associated with relationship quality (Hypothesis 2), and perceived partner DC would moderate these associations (Hypothesis 3). While hypotheses were generally supported, results also showed interesting between-country variability. Limitations and future directions are presented.

In the current digital ecosystem, the content and practices generated by networks such as YouTube or Instagram have facilitated the emergence of a type of influencer or (micro) celebrity that, in addition to generating business (Vizcaino-Verdu et al., 2019), offers models of authenticity and styles of life, narratives and influences between the Millennial and Centennial generations that need to be analyzed from the perspective of the young users themselves. To this end, we present the results of an unpublished mixed methodology research carried out in Spain that has collected the opinions of adolescents and young people (12-18 years old)from the autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Basque Country from a sample of 2,749 questionnaires (and nine focus groups) during 2021, including the period affected by Covid19. The quantitative results allow us to observe which platforms they prefer, the reasons for their preference, their acceptance or rejection of certain communicative elements, as well as the characteristics that seem to create a trend and favor their engagement towards the influencers they prefer.

This paper presents an innovative procedure for deriving both Fuzzy Cognitive Maps and Behavior Over Time Graphsfrom Personal Construct Psychology’s Repertory Grids, via the intermediate step of eliciting an adaptation of Bipolar Implications Grids. This makes it possible to have a functional as well as structural model of the Personal Construct System and to test and simulate its anticipated dynamics in hypothetical scenarios, as well as to understand more fully its systemic properties. The paper focuses on the procedure itself, and it is illustrated by means of a case study so as to highlight its significant implications for psychotherapy research and practice.

ResumenEste trabajo aborda posibles respuestas a algunas de las preguntas que desconciertan en referencia al estatus de la investigación en psicoterapia, particularmente desde una llamada a revisar la inadecuación de una metáfora raíz con fuertes vínculos con el modelo médico. Concretamente se centra en los debates sobre (a) la proliferación de prácticas psicoterapéuticas, (b) la ausencia de eficacia diferencial significativa y (c) los criterios de demarcación entre terapias y pseudoterapias.AbstractThis paper addresses possible answers to some of the puzzling questions regarding the status of psychotherapy research, particularly from a call to question the inadequacy of a root metaphor with strong links to the medical model. Specifically, it focuses on the debates on (a) the proliferation of psychotherapeutic practices, (b) the absence of significant differential efficacy and (c) the demarcation criteria between therapies and pseudotherapies