The author advances the claim that complementing this social constructionist approach with a more personal form of constructivism helps address certain deficiencies in either orientation taken alone, and provides a more comprehensive and useful frame for counselling and psychotherapy.

Social constructionism regards individuals as integral with cultural, political and historical evolution, in specific times and places, and so resituates psychological processes cross-culturally, in social and temporal contexts.

Social constructionism is set forth as an epistemological framework from which to establish an ethical base for the field of counseling. The development of the social constructionist movement in counseling is described.

This article describes the basic tenets of social constructionism and examines the implications of social constructionist principles on counseling and social work practice.