The 9th Australasian 
Personal Construct Psychology Conference
July 3rd to 5th, 2000

 

An album with pictures from the conference is now available at http://www.pcp-net.org/aus/members/pics-2000

WELCOME

to the Web Site of the

9th Australasian Personal Construct Psychology Conference in Bendigo

"Beyond the Y2K - Construing the Future"


ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

Personal Construct Psychology
The Psychology of Personal Constructs (PCP) was introduced in 1955 by the (North) American psychologist George A. Kelly as a new approach to psychology which focusses on the meanings that people attach to persons, situations and events they encounter. These meanings, the "personal constructs" of a person, serve also as guidelines for the actions one takes to cope with the demands and challenges of life. At the same time, Kelly designed an instrument to use for research on and assessment of personal constructs, the Repertory Grid Technique, which now catches the interest even of researchers and practitioners not based in Personal Construct Psychology. The idiographic, or individual centred, nature of the theory invites a qualitative approach, yet the Repertory Grid Technique lends itself also to a quantitative analysis of constructs and construct systems, thus reconciliating these approaches that are often viewed as antagonistic.

The Australasian Personal Construct Group
The Australasian PCP group includes members from Australia and New Zealand; it was established as early as 1983, and the psychologists among them constitute an Interest Group within the Australian Psychological Society, the APS. Since1983, every two years an Australasian PCP Conference has been held. In 2000, the Australasian PCP Conference will be held in Bendigo for the first time.

Aims of the Conference
The mystique of numbers makes "Y2K", the Year-Two-Thousand, a welcome occasion for looking back and looking to the future. Thus, almost 50 years after the publication of Kelly's monumental work, it seems justified to look at the implications Personal Construct Theory has for the understanding of a "postmodern" world when doubt in the existence of "absolute truths" has become almost commonplace. This is especially so because the original focus of Personal Construct Theory on the clinical aspect of psychology has widened to encompass a more general view of humans' "construing" of their world. Therefore papers exploring different kinds of human construing, as in the fields of education, management, and business, are especially welcome, along with papers from the fields of counselling and psychotherapy. "Construing the future" thus can be considered the overarching theme of the conference.

Format of the Conference
There will be a plenary address given by an invited speaker (Professor Robert Neimeyer, Memphis, TN, USA), a "Philo Café" (hosted by Professor Bill Warren, Newcastle, NSW, Australia), presentations of submitted papers, symposia focussing on a variety of applications of Personal Construct Theory, poster presentations, and workshops where in-depth explorations of theoretical and practical aspects are facilitated.


ORGANISATION

Organisation
The conference is organised by the Australasian Personal Construct Group in conjunction with the PCP Interest Group in the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and the School of Health and Human Sciences at La Trobe University, Bendigo, whose support is gratefully acknowledged.

Organising Committee

Dates
The conference will begin in the morning of Monday, July 3rd, 2000, and will end after lunch on Wednesday, July 5th, 2000. There will be a Conference Gala Dinner on Tuesday, 4th.

Conference Venue
The conference will be at the All Seasons International Hotel Conference Centre in Bendigo.

Registration
The deadline for "early bird" registration is March 1st, 2000. See Registration and Bookings.

Accommodation
Accommodation will be available at the Conference Centre itself and at other venues in central Bendigo. See Registration and Bookings.

Travel Information
Bendigo can be accessed by trains or by car. The nearest airport is in Melbourne. See Travel Information.

Bendigo Information
Bendigo is one of Victoria's gold rush towns of the 1850es and there are many traces of this to be found in the city. It is also the centre of the North Central Victorian wine growing region. More details can be found on the Bendigo Information page.


 CALL FOR PAPERS

Invitation to Submit Proposals
Participants are invited to submit proposals for paper presentations, workshops, symposia, posters etc. The following formats are recommended:

Papers and Symposia
The standard time slot available for presentation and discussion of papers will be 45 minutes altogether. However, it is also possible to submit papers requiring 30 minutes (including discussion). Papers will be grouped into symposia as much as possible. Participants may also suggest symposia comprising several papers.

Workshops
Workshops can comprise one or more 45 minute "units". The number of participants may be limited.

Demonstrations
These may present e. g. computer programmes, specific techniques, Internet uses, etc, and often require the use of technical facilities. In this case, it should be mentioned with the submission.

Posters
There is an opportunity to present posters in the usual way.

Submissions
Please use the submission form provided here. Please print out the form and send a paper copy and a data file (on disk or as an email attachment) (please use a state-of-the-art word processor).
 
  Extended to March 31st!!
Abstracts should be submitted before March 1, 2000 to:
Julie Ellis-Scheer, School of Health and Human Sciences, La Trobe University Bendigo, Bendigo 3552.
Fax: 03 5444 7977 / email: J.Ellis@bendigo.latrobe.edu.au

Please include:

  • Information about the author(s) (name, address, affiliation)
  • Title of the presentation
  • Type of presentation
  • A 200 word abstract
  • Required presentation technology
  • Time required

 All inquiries about the conference should be directed to:

Julie Ellis-Scheer
Discipline of Public Health, School of Health and Human Sciences, La Trobe University, Bendigo
P.O. Box 199, Bendigo 3552 Victoria, Australia
Phone: 0354 44 75 43 / Fax: 0354 44 79 77 / email: j.ellis@bendigo.latrobe.edu.au


Page maintained by Julie Ellis-Scheer and Jörn Scheer. 
Created in December 1998. Last update: 13 June, 2000. 
 

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