Handouts & questionnaires for life review, traumatic memories & therapeutic writing
29th September 2008
I've been working on the 'Life review, traumatic memories & therapeutic writing' handouts list in the Good Knowledge section of this website. I detail them below: Chart, early years (0 to 13) - this is the first of six charts that I sometimes use to get an outline of the …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 9th post: self help, guided, and complementary therapies
27th September 2008
The fourth and final session of the "Non-pharmacological management of depression" SIGN seminar was entitled "Self help, guided and alternative/complementary therapies". Dr George Deans, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Aberdeen's Royal Cornhill Hospital, gave the first presentation of this session on "Alternative/complementary therapies 2". I've already discussed the lack of good …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 8th post: therapeutic alliance in the treatment of depression
25th September 2008
There was some discussion at the SIGN "Non-pharmacological management of depression" seminar about the possible importance of the therapeutic alliance in depression treatment. Professor Kevin Power said that SIGN had not found any good research that threw light on this issue. This is somewhat surprising because there is a fair …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 7th post: effectiveness of psychological therapies 2
24th September 2008
This is the 7th blog post in a series reviewing the recent Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network's (SIGN) draft guideline for "Non-pharmacological management of depression". I gave more background details in the first post of the series. This post covers the third session of the guideline presentation seminar. The session was …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 6th post: effectiveness of psychological therapies 1b
23rd September 2008
This is the 6th in a series of blog posts about the recent day seminar introducing a Scottish draft guideline for "Non-pharmacological management of depression." In my last post I discussed Gary Morrison's initial presentation of the day's second session on "Effectiveness of Psychological Therapies in Depression 1". Gary talked …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 5th post: effectiveness of psychological therapies 1a
22nd September 2008
This is the 5th in a series of blog posts about the 10th September SIGN draft guideline day on "Non-pharmacological management of depression." On the day, the second session was entitled "Effectiveness of Psychological Therapies in Depression 1". Dr Gary Morrison, Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist from Dumfries, gave the first …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 4th post: light, lifestyle & sleep
16th September 2008
The SIGN draft guideline day on "Non-pharmacological management of mild to moderate depression" last Wednesday continued with two further presentations in this first section on "Lifestyle and Alternative/Complementary Therapies 1". After the "grade A" recommendations on exercise and St John's Wort given during the first two presentations (covered in the …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 3rd post: herbs & supplements
14th September 2008
This is the third in a series of blog posts on last Wednesday's SIGN draft guideline seminar on "Non-pharmacological management of mild to moderate depression." The first session of the day was on "Lifestyle and Alternative/Complementary Therapies 1". Yesterday's blog discussed the first presenter, Ian Ross's talk on the value …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 2nd post: exercise
13th September 2008
In yesterday's blog post, I gave some background to the SIGN guideline on non-pharmacological management of depression as well as details of how to download the draft guideline or see a webcast of the seminar where the draft guideline was presented. On the day of the seminar itself, last Wednesday, …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 1st post: introduction & overview
12th September 2008
The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) was formed in 1993 with the objective " ... to improve the quality of health care for patients in Scotland by reducing variation in practice and outcome, through the development and dissemination of national clinical guidelines containing recommendations for effective practice based on current …