• 26th International Congress on PCP Belgrade 2025, ARTICLES, Special Section

“No others, no me: The paradox of the Core Role”. Crusoe’s Mirror: A Creative Approach to Exploring Core Role Constructs

Rakita, T.

DOI:
10.69995/GTCI1162

Keywords:
Personal Construct Psychology, Core Role Constructs, Projective technique, Relational approach, Identity, Constructivist Psychotherapy.

Abstract:
Identifying and articulating clients' core role constructs remains a central yet often challenging task in constructivist psychotherapy, particularly when these constructs are only partially verbalized. Crusoe's Mirror is an original projective technique, developed within the framework of Kelly's relational approach, designed to support therapists in exploring these implicit dimensions of identity. By guiding clients through an imaginative exercise of relational absence, the technique facilitates the emergence of contrast poles and unspoken meanings that shape the client's anticipation of self-in-relation-to-others. This flexible method offers therapists a novel pathway for mapping the client's personal construct system, with particular emphasis on core role constructs. The technique can be integrated into various stages of therapy and is adaptable to different therapeutic formats.