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Personal Responsibility, Inc:
How Psychotherapy Turns Society’s Problems into Yours
With Julie Tilsen and Sheila McNamee
August 17, 1-2pm EDT
Personal Responsibility, Inc. offers a one-of-a-kind investigation into psychotherapy’s complicity with the insidious and harmful effects of neoliberalism on individuals, relationships, and society. In it, Julie argues that it’s time for therapists and therapy-users alike to stop blaming non-normative brains, negative thinking, or poor coping skills for the widespread suffering we experience in a world on the brink. Instead, we must name neoliberalism for what it is, reclaim our shared humanity, and begin transforming distress into collective awareness and action.
Participants who register for the live event are invited to engage with Julie and Sheila and will receive a discount code for book purchase through the publisher. More details.
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An Invitation to Relational Research: Constructing New Horizons in Knowledge, Methodology and Beyond
With Celiane Camargo-Borges and Maggie Slaska
September 16, 11am-12pm EDT
An Invitation to Relational Research: Constructing New Horizons in Knowledge, Methodology and Beyond explores what becomes possible when relationships are placed at the center of research. This book shares examples from Brazil, Colombia, India, Italy, Australia, and the US of how researchers can engage inquiry in ways that acknowledge context and the shared relational processes through which knowledge is created. Emerging through international and intercultural collaboration, the book demonstrates how relational research invites dialogue across cultural, disciplinary, and epistemological differences, expanding what counts as knowledge and how it is generated. It brings together contributors from diverse disciplines and traditions—including Indigenous knowledge systems, queer worldmaking, autobiographical inquiry, relational pedagogies, regenerative education, and participatory methodologies. Join Celiane Camargo-Borges and Maggie Slaska for a conversation about the book, the relationships that shaped it, and the possibilities of relational research. More details.
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Contributions of Social Constructionism: Relational-Dialogical Perspectives from Latin America
With Diego Tapia Figueroa and Roberto Ricardi Costard (Editors), joined by several contributing authors
October 14, 1-2:30pm EDT
This work is a polyphonic and interdisciplinary collection that brings together authors from diverse Latin American and Ibero-American contexts to explore contemporary relational, collaborative-dialogical, narrative, and generative practices grounded in social constructionism. The book offers situated reflections on care, dialogue, mental health, education, justice, community work, and social transformation, emphasizing relational ethics, plurality, and the co-construction of meaningful and socially responsive practices. More details.
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In English with simultaneous translation in Spanish and Portuguese | | |
With Shi-Jiuan Wu, Taiwan
September 30, 10-11:30am EDT
Maintaining a resilient home now requires an "entrepreneurial" approach to family maintenance. While we eventually retire from our professional careers, we never "retire" from our families; the family is a lifelong enterprise. Consequently, the cost of failing to invest in this system is far higher than any professional setback. This reality necessitates a specialized methodology for mutual understanding—one that views the family not as a problem to be solved, but as a "family laboratory" requiring conscious, curious investment. The Anthropological Family Interview is a de-pathologizing practice rooted in profound curiosity and respect for the unique Family Wisdom inherent in every household. Join us to discover how an anthropological stance can foster deeper understanding, strengthen family relationships, and inspire new possibilities for living together with greater resilience, curiosity, and care. More details.
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With Ottar Ness and Dina von Heimburg, Norway
October 12, 12-1pm EDT
What if the foundation of thriving communities was ensuring that every child, young person, and citizen experiences that they matter? In this interactive session, we explore how fairness, mattering, and relational wellbeing can become living practices across education, mental health, community development, and public policy. Through stories, dialogue, and practical examples, we will invite participants to consider how we can co-create relationships, communities, and systems where everyone feels valued, has opportunities to contribute, and where future generations are enabled to flourish. More details.
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Self-Paced Course, Start Anytime
Provocative, unsettling, liberating, inspiring…all have been applied to the dialogues on the social construction of knowledge. The ideas have swept across the academic world and into personal and professional life. For many, they contain the ingredients for a promising life together on this planet.
We are pleased to introduce the Taos Institute's first online self-paced course! In six modules, each with 3 short videos and questions for reflection, Ken Gergen introduces basic premises of social constructionist theory and how they apply to professional practices in all domains as well as everyday life. More details here.
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Includes six modules with videos by Taos Institute Co-founder & President Ken Gergen! | | |
Join with over 3200 members from around the world in the Taos Institute Commons online community (free) as we explore social constructionist, relational, and appreciative theory and practices. You will instantly get access to free webinars, free books, event replays, announcements, workshops and courses, special interest and language groups, and meaningful connections with others interested in creating more promising futures, one conversation at a time.
Join in the Taos Institute Commons — it's free, quick and easy, to become a part of our global family!
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A Global Community of Relational Practitioners
For more than thirty years, the Taos Institute’s work has been shaped by a global network of Associates—scholars and practitioners who share a commitment to social constructionist, relational, appreciative, and collaborative practices. Associates bring ideas, practices, and enthusiasms into the Institute’s shared spaces, where we learn from one another, exchange inspirations, and explore possibilities for more promising futures.
There are no dues or fees, and Associates connect with the Institute in many different forms based on their interests and availability. Some share their work through a webinar or course, publish a book through the free WorldShare Books series, or contribute resources, announcements, or reflections to our online community. Others connect with colleagues around the world to explore collaborations, participate in regional or special interest groups, or help spread social constructionist ideas through their networks and social media spaces. We welcome new Associates who wish to participate in ways that feel meaningful and generative to them.
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6-Week Reading & Dialogue Group
Sept 8-Oct 14, 3:30-4:45pm ET
Join Melissa Meyer and Desire Wandan for a dive into Lois Holzman’s The Overweight Brain. Through selected chapters and group dialogue, participants will explore how the belief that knowing is required for growth can limit creativity, risk-taking, and our capacity to create something new. Together, the group will explore “non-knowing growing” and learn about key influences, including developmental psychologist, Lev Vygotsky and philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein. No prior familiarity is needed. More details.
| | The CMM Institute for Personal and Social Evolution, in collaboration with the Birmingham Systemic Training Programme, invites you to join us in person on June 17-18, 2027, at Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham, UK, for our inaugural Collective Learning Conference (CLC), where we will explore diverse applications of the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) related to this year’s theme of Living the Questions: Navigating Complexity and Clarity. More details. | | | One way the Taos Institute carries out its mission to create brighter futures through social construction is by creating and disseminating a wide variety of resources for scholars, practitioners, and students interested in dialogic and relational approaches. These free resources span many disciplines and languages. To suggest a resource, email info@taosinstitute.net. | | |
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This month's feature: The Socio-Relational Imperative with Saliha Bava & Sheila McNamee
Recordings from the Taos Institute & Mercy University Co-Constructing Social Worlds Symposium held this February in New York City are now available! In this first Catalytic Conversation, Saliha Bava and Sheila McNamee, explore The Socio-Relational Imperative. Why do social and relational practices matter for a generative life, especially in the midst of divisiveness and dissonance? What do we even mean by the relational imperative? How does a constructionist locate the social, and how do we engage it to make better worlds? Watch recording.
| | | | The Taos Institute is a non-profit educational organization. We strive to keep our offerings free or at low cost to make social constructionist, relational, and appreciative ideas available to as many people as possible around the globe. Please consider supporting our mission of creating brighter futures through social construction by making a donation. For small, convenient monthly contributions, consider becoming a sustaining donor. | | | | |
