The therapeutic construction of possible selves: Imagination and its constraints

Abstract

In psychotherapy, clients often are helped to elaborate, and subsequently to appropriate, possible self-theories that are made available in therapeutic conversations and activities. In this study, the ability of 6 clients (all substance abusers) to express, elaborate-explore, and synthesize feelings and experiences during role-plays in which they imagined 2 future scenarios was investigated. Clients directly expressed feelings and experiences in the more familiar, negative possible self role-play to a greater extent than in the less familiar, positive possible self role-play. However, clients' participation in the positive self role-play may have helped them to synthesize newly realized or more fully recognized feelings and experiences. These results are discussed in the light of recent conceptualizations of psychotherapeulic change from both social constructionist and personal constructivist perspectives.