Peer groups, Cumbria spring group: last morning and reflection overall
21st May 2012
And now it's several days after the four days sixteen of us spent together at the old converted watermill in Cumbria that we've been visiting for over twenty years. I've already written about the final full day and the last evening singing together under the stars. I think these groups …
Peer groups, Cumbria spring group: third full day - boundary issues, friendships and singing round a bonfire under the stars
13th May 2012
And it's the final early morning of this four day residential group. I wrote yesterday about sunshine along the wall outside - and it's here again today, bright & fresh. Sunday morning. I can be a very organized person - lovely though to let my hair down at times here …
Peer groups, Cumbria spring group: second full day - couple's work, interpersonal challenge, fathers and banquets
12th May 2012
The start of the third full day here. In yesterday's post I wrote about the first full day and today I'll write about our second full day together. We've had so much rain over the last couple of days, it's a blessing to see the bright early sunlight splashed along …
Peer groups, Cumbria spring group: first full day - feeling our way in, revisiting the Skye experience and dancing
11th May 2012
Still before breakfast - at the start of the second full day now. Yesterday I wrote about "arriving". The noise of the mill stream just outside provides a constant back drop while we're here. When we arrived on Wednesday evening it was flowing so quietly, the water level almost as …
Peer groups, Cumbria spring group: first morning - "arriving"
10th May 2012
First morning of the "Mixed Group". We have been meeting like this - in an old converted watermill in Cumbria - nearly every year since the start of the 90's. This year's residential is a bit different. For many it's a 20 year reunion (or thereabouts). Sixteen old friends! Sounds …
BABCP spring meeting: Nick Grey on memory-focused approaches in CBT for adults with PTSD - other applications (5th post)
8th May 2012
Last month I wrote a series of four blog posts about a CBT workshop on memory-focused for adults with PTSD (and a couple of posts about a personal experience of trauma). The third of these posts discussed how this kind of memory-focused approach could also be helpful for other types …
Recent research: articles from April journals
7th May 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 17,700 abstracts. Every few weeks I scan through all the articles I've found interesting in the previous month (in the general areas …
Walking in Skye & Kintail: lessons, self-compassion & posttraumatic growth
29th April 2012
Still less than three days since the most intense, prolonged, potentially catastrophic experience of my life. What have I learned ... both personally and as a therapist? Gratitude ... of course. Gratitude to the mountain rescue service, gratitude to my wife & family & friends, gratitude for my health, for …
Walking in Skye & Kintail: mountain rescue, helicopter winches, and avoiding death & PTSD
27th April 2012
It's really early, and paradoxically I should be sleeping beautifully because I'm in a comfortable room at the Sligachan Hotel on the Isle of Skye. However I'm not too fussed - acute sleep deprivation may well affect memory consolidation and reduce the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following trauma. …
The jazz trio metaphor: reworking the core conditions, relational depth, compassion, & two kinds of empathy (2nd post)
20th April 2012
In yesterday's post, I introduced the jazz trio metaphor ... head (observation/knowledge), heart (warmth/compassion) and gut (emotion/authenticity) ... and discussed both heart and, to some extent, head. Continuing this exploration of head "observation & knowledge". It's clear that cognitive empathy & perspective taking can be very helpful, but we need …