Sleep apnea - what is it, how common is it and how does it affect mortality & physical health?
12th April 2016
Sleep apnea is a common, but frequently unrecognised, contributor to psychological difficulties and to health problems more generally. I would like to look at a series of questions about this disorder - what is it, how common is it, why is it important, how do you recognise it, and what …
Non-drug treatments for bipolar disorder (2nd post) - sleep, light & exercise
8th April 2016
I have just given a talk on "Recent research on non-drug treatments for bipolar disorder" to the Lothian branch of "Bipolar Scotland". There is a description of the first part of the talk at "Non-drug treatments for bipolar disorder (1st post) - the value of psychotherapy" and you can download …
Non-drug treatments for bipolar disorder (1st post) - the value of psychotherapy
5th April 2016
I am due to give a talk for the Lothian branch of "Bipolar Scotland" on "Recent research on non-drug treatments for bipolar disorder". Here is the downloadable Powerpoint presentation (with pictures removed to reduce the size of the file) and here is a slide illustrating the main points that I …
Truly excellent therapists have "grace under interpersonal pressure" - How can we assess ourselves?
19th March 2016
I wrote a post recently called "Truly excellent therapists have 'grace under interpersonal pressure - Fascinating new research". I mentioned the classic 2009 Timothy Anderson paper "Therapist effects: facilitative interpersonal skills as a predictor of therapist success". I then went on to describe three great new additions to this literature …
Truly excellent therapists have "grace under interpersonal pressure" - Fascinating new research
15th March 2016
Hemingway wrote "Courage is grace under pressure". New research underlines that "grace under interpersonal pressure" is a key ability of truly excellent therapists. Study after study has shown that psychotherapists vary considerably in how helpful they are for their clients. The slide below shows a typical set of findings: (downloadable …
Personal ‘retreat’: eighth reflection – making life intentions & the last day here
28th February 2016
I wrote yesterday of my three wishes for this ten day “retreat” in Hampshire … a “being/doing” shift, an exploration of awareness (& it seems also our sense of self), and a chance to get perspective on my life. For the first week I focused especially on the first two …
Personal ‘retreat’: seventh reflection – life tide returning
27th February 2016
I didn’t write a reflection in the blog yesterday (although I did the day before). I said when I came down here for this ten day retreat at the Krishnamurti Study Centre, that I was aware of three intentions … three hopes. One was to “move the slider across” from …
Personal ‘retreat’: sixth reflection – let's lose our heads & come to our senses
25th February 2016
I have already written a series of posts about this stay down at the Krishnamurti Study Centre in Hampshire - see for example the first one "Setting the scene" or the most recent (before this one) "Being, flow & 'pure driving'". Yesterday I took an ‘idle & blessed’ day. This …
Personal ‘retreat’: fifth reflection – being, flow & ‘pure driving’
24th February 2016
Yesterday I wrote a post on "Our sense of self". Today the theme is more “Being & doing”. My life at home is very busy. I welcome this … and have made it happen … with work I love … living richly … but full of “doing”. On this fourth …
Personal ‘retreat’: fourth reflection – our sense of self
23rd February 2016
I wrote a post yesterday on "Quietening down ... and do we need time to change". Now it's the fourth morning … I have some sense of my inner world rearranging itself, like shifting icebergs. That description overplays what feels to be going on … but changes there certainly are, …