Posts tagged with 'assessment'
The "Balanced Measure of Psychological Needs" scale: a helpful contribution to self-determination and wellbeing assessment
16th February 2013
I'm a big fan of Self-Determination Theory (S-DT). For me it's one of the best ways into understanding flourishing and wellbeing. I use the ideas all the time in my work and in my life. The fine S-DT website at Rochester University in the States gives vast amounts more information. …
Recent evidence highlights the value of monitoring practice quality during mindfulness training
13th January 2013
Is it helpful to monitor the quality of one's mindfulness practice ... and, if so, what should one be monitoring? I've raised this question with experienced mindfulness teachers before and been answered with the concern that monitoring practice quality might increase an "achievement orientation" state of mind that could actually …
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 …
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 …
Five recent research studies on the worrying variability both in psychotherapist effectiveness and also in willingness to change
15th October 2012
I have written a good deal in the past about variability in the effectiveness of psychotherapists - see, for example, "What shall we do about the fact that there are supershrinks and pseudoshrinks?", "Psychotherapists & counsellors who don't monitor their outcomes are at risk of being both incompetent & potentially …
Purpose in life: how do you score on the questionnaire & why does it matter?
16th July 2012
"When I get to heaven, God will not ask ‘Why were you not Moses?'. He will ask ‘Why were you not Susya? Why did you not become what only you could become?'" Susya, a Hasidic rabbi (This post on purpose in life questionnaires and the previous one on the importance …
Acceptance & commitment therapy (ACT): recent research & a better assessment measure, the AAQ-II
19th March 2012
I've been interested in the development of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) for a number of years. There does seem a good deal to be said for it as an approach, with the underpinning evidence base growing steadily. I have occasionally been a little put off by my sense that …
Update on website traffic: nearly a quarter of a million page views last year
6th March 2012
This blog went live on 8th October 2008. In the nearly three & a half years from then up until today, the blog & website (particularly the Good Knowledge section) have had 155,178 hits and 579,356 page views from 171 countries. The average visitor views about 4 pages on the …