Introduction
Historically there has been little impetus to utilize the
‘talking therapies’ directly with adults with learning disabilities
(Bender 1993), apparently because of views that
such people are unlikely to be able to benefit from this type
of intervention (Hollon 1984). However, over the last
15 years there have been a number of initiatives to engage
adults with learning disabilities in various forms of one-toone
psychotherapy. As a result there is now a growing
literature on working directly with this client group using a
number of approaches, including psychodynamic psychotherapy
(e.g. Sinason 1992) and the cognitive-behavioural
therapies (e.g. Kroese et al. 1997).
Social constructionist philosophy (see Gergen 1999 for an
outline) can provide a fresh perspective on the way that
people function in society through its explicit recognition of
the role of power in communication and the construction of
meaning. A number of authors have identified that there is
likely to be a particular utility in employing this philosophy
in work with people with learning disabilities (e.g. Clegg
1993; Pote 2000), as this group of people have traditionally
been devalued by society and are often seen as having little
power. Psychotherapeutic approaches based on this philosophy
may be especially helpful, as they offer the opportunity
for people to reconstruct views of themselves and their
problems in more helpful ways.