Peer groups: Cumbria autumn group – arriving
20th November 2009
It's a little after 6.00am and I've been up and about for a while. It's the first morning of one of the four day residential peer groups that I've been coming too since 1991. This is the autumn Men's Group. In the Spring several of us also meet here in …
Recent research: two studies on panic, two on attention training for anxiety disorders, and three on the effects of child abuse
19th November 2009
Here are seven recent papers on panic, attention training, and the effects of childhood sexual abuse (all details & abstracts to these studies are listed further down this blog post). Pfaltz & colleagues report on a novel ambulatory respiratory monitoring system that seems to demonstrate that panic sufferers are not …
Behavioural systems: attachment (care seeking), care giving, exploration, sex, & power
15th November 2009
This post is also available as a Word format download. I have written several blog posts about attachment in the last couple of months - "Attachment, compassion & relationships", "A couple of fine, recent books on attachment", "Some great attachment websites", and "Assessing attachment in adults". In my post on …
Recent research: articles from October journals
12th November 2009
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 13,500 abstracts. Every few weeks I scan through all the articles I've found interesting in the previous month (in the general areas …
Handouts & questionnaires for general relationships (second post)
9th November 2009
A few days ago, I posted on "Handouts & questionnaires for general relationships (first post)" where I particularly discussed ways of assessing personal social networks. Here are further information sheets on other aspects of relationships - for example, I also regularly assess interpersonal style. Usually I'll use one of the …
Two good psychology websites: BPS & handouts galore!
8th November 2009
Here are a couple of good psychology websites that I've come across recently. One is the British Psychological Society's Research Digest Blog with its tag line "Bringing you reports on the latest psychology research." The site provides an almost daily, brief description of a particularly interesting recent psychology research paper. …
Updated NICE guidelines on treating depression
5th November 2009
NICE - the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence - recently published guidance on "Depression in adults (update)" and on "Depression with a chronic physical health problem". The "Depression in adults (update)" replaces guidance originally published in 2004 and amended in 2007. The 28 page Quick reference guide …
Handouts & questionnaires for general relationships (first post)
2nd November 2009
Relationships are right at the heart of human health and wellbeing. The first three sets of handouts listed below highlight the increased death rates, poorer psychological health and lowered wellbeing in those with worse relationships. There is a rather confusing plethora of different questionnaires for assessing relationship networks. I like …
Training in group facilitation
1st November 2009
I'm facilitating a group today on "Relationships & emotional intelligence". When explaining why someone might want to come to the group, the initial publicity leaflet reads "It's worth taking the time to look at our relationships because they are such a huge part of our lives. Past relationships deeply affect …
Recent research: six studies on depression – pregnancy, young children, antidepressant side effects, SAD & CBT, and suicide risk
29th October 2009
Here are half a dozen recent research papers on depression (all details & abstracts to these studies are given further down this blog posting). Yonkers et al's publication is a very welcome one - "The management of depression during pregnancy: a report from the American Psychiatric Association and the American …