PC
T&P
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PERSONAL
CONSTRUCT
THEORY & PRACTICE
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Vol.7 2010 |
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| Reference |
| Journal Main |
| Contents Vol 7 |
| Impressum |
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| OBITUARY | ||
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In Remembrance of Peter Prisgrove |
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In January this year the PCP Group in
Western Australia was saddened to hear of the passing of its Chairperson and
friend, Peter Prisgrove. This came as a shock for the small knit group as we
had not long been together for our Christmas “knees-up” as Peter was fond of
calling it. We had shared a lovely evening – fine food and wine and a chat
about plans for the Christmas/New Year period and for 2010. Peter was delighted
to be spending time with his wife, Davina, their children and their partners,
and their grandchildren, of whom Peter was so proud.
Members who attended the PCP International Conference in Brisbane in 2007 may recall Peter co-hosting the musical entertainment with Jörn Scheer. Answering a request from Robert Neimeyer, Peter and Davina led us through all the verses of “Waltzing Matilda”, in fine voice. We knew that Peter loved music and was a member of a choir but had not realised how many bands and choirs he had been involved with over the years. Always looking for interesting ways to explore personal constructs, the PCP group in Perth recalled one presentation by Peter where he elicited our constructs about various names of choirs in order to gauge the potential popularity and drawing power of a choir’s name.  Peter’s enthusiasm and energy was
contagious. He motivated us to present several seminars over the past few years
designed to promote PCP and give practitioners “tools for their toolbox”. One
of our largest turnouts saw about 45 psychologists attend a seminar on
“laddering”. A highlight of the seminar was Peter role playing a “hardened
criminal” exploring his constructs with his psychologist. Peter had a wonderful
gift of making everybody feel that their contribution was valued and their
ideas worthy of inclusion and exploration. We valued Peter’s professionalism,
his analytical skills, innovations in clinical practice using PCP philosophy
and techniques and his ready smile and witty comments.
Peter achieved many things professionally in Perth and was greatly respected among his fellow practitioners as a clinical and forensic psychologist. He was very modest about his achievements which included working in extremely difficult and sensitive areas. Peter worked with juvenile and adult offenders during his career in the Public Service. He was instrumental in the development of programmes and standards for psychologists working in the areas of violence and sexual offending. Peter was often called on to provide training and consultation to colleagues. He had a thorough knowledge of the research and trends in these areas. Peter also taught at Edith Cowan University at one stage and provided supervision and mentoring for many psychologists in the justice sector. Peter’s enthusiasm for PCP saw him develop a model of practice for psychologist utilising a PCP approach. Some of you may have attended his very practical and “hands on” workshop at the 2007 Congress. Peter had so many ideas and avenues he was exploring using PCP. Over the last few years Peter had to reduce his professional commitments while undertaking various treatment regimens. However he always had time for the PCP group and never backed away from his position as the WA Chairperson and co-editor of the PCP Newsletter. The PCP Group in the West is small but we continue to meet bi-monthly. We have lost a few dear friends over the years but this seems to have spurned us on to continue meeting and to keep their spirits alive in our absorbing discussions. We hope to continue, inspired by Peter’s enthusiasm, to promote PCP in Western Australia. | ||
| EDITORS' NOTE This obituary first appeared in the Australasian Personal Construct Newsletter No 99, September, 2010. | ||
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| REFERENCE Fraser, A. (2010). In Remembrance of Peter Prisgrove (27 February, 1945 - 17 January, 2010). Personal Construct Theory & Practice, 7, 74-75. (Retrieved from http://www.pcp-net.org/journal/pctp10/fraser-prisgrove10.html) Contact: anne.neilf@bigpond.com |
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| Received: 8 September 2010 – Accepted: 8 September 2010 |
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ISSN 1613-5091
| Last update 11 September 2010 |