Arntz & Jacob's new book "Schema therapy in practice": links with attachment theory and with therapies for self-compassion
16th November 2012
Yesterday I wrote a post "Arntz & Jacob's new book 'Schema therapy in practice: some introductory comments" about the recently published and potentially broadly applicable extension of this Dutch team's previously successful treatment approach for borderline personality disorder. So the authors comment "While schema therapy was originally developed for clients …
Arntz & Jacob's new book "Schema therapy in practice": some introductory comments
15th November 2012
Arnoud Arntz & Gitta Jacob's new book "Schema therapy in practice: an introductory guide to the schema mode approach" was published last month. The book's back cover states "Schema Therapy in Practice presents a comprehensive introduction to schema therapy for nonspecialist practitioners wishing to incorporate it into their practice. The …
Rumination: brooding, pondering, mindfulness, hypersensitivity, concreteness, writing - raising as many questions as answers
13th November 2012
Probably most cogntive-behavioural therapists subscribe to the general comment that rumination is a bad for depression. And it is, but as Oscar Wilde said "The truth is rarely pure and never simple". Smith & Alloy, in their 2009 paper "A roadmap to rumination: a review of the definition, assessment, and …
How can we best assess the healthiness of our diet?
12th November 2012
I have recently written a couple of blog posts about diet and mental health - "Emerging research on diet suggests it's startlingly important in the prevention of anxiety & depression" and "So what dietary advice should we be following - for psychological as well as physical health?" An obvious related …
Recent research: articles from October journals
8th November 2012
I read a lot of research. When I find an article of particular interest I download it to my bibliographic database - EndNote - which currently contains over 18,600 abstracts. Every few weeks I scan through all the articles I've found interesting in the previous month (in the general areas …
Written exposure therapy: how do you do it?
27th October 2012
(This post on "Written exposure therapy" is downloadable both as a PDF file and as a Word doc) Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. James Hollingworth In yesterday's post - "One of the most exciting therapeutic writing …
One of the most exciting therapeutic writing studies for years
25th October 2012
Denise Sloan, associate director at the US National Center for PTSD, has produced many fine publications on therapeutic writing. However I think she has surpassed herself with her most recent: Sloan, D. M., B. P. Marx, et al. (2012). "Written exposure as an intervention for PTSD: A randomized clinical trial …
Some suggestions for giving and receiving helpful feedback
21st October 2012
(this blog post is freely downloadable as a Word doc and as a PDF file) "Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor." Dr. Alexis Carrel "It is a puzzling thing. The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm …
Lessons from a personal multi-source feedback project
19th October 2012
"A friend is someone who sees the potential in you and helps you to live it." W. B. Yeats (adapted) "Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance or a stranger." Franklin Jones A few months ago now, I initiated a personal feedback project. …
Compulsory multi-source feedback is coming or has already come to the health professions & to many other jobs as well
17th October 2012
"O wad some Power the giftie gie us to see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae mony a blunder free us, an' foolish notion." Rabbie Burns "He who knows others is learned; he who knows himself is wise." Lao-tzu Compulsory revalidation begins for British medical doctors on the …