Posts tagged with 'meaning'
Going back for a university reunion: stirring up memories, avoidant attachment, "puffing up" and kindness (1st post)
5th August 2012
"The spirit of a man is constructed out of his choices." Irvin Yalom "I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or …
Purpose in life: clarifying future goals & the challenges we will face in achieving them (for individuals, couples & groups)
18th July 2012
(This post on purpose in life: clarifying future goals & the challenges we will face in achieving them, and yesterday's on purpose in life: reconnecting to meaning & values, have been combined into a handout that is downloadable both as a Word doc and as a PDF file) "Those who …
Purpose in life: reconnecting to meaning & values
17th July 2012
(This post on purpose in life: reconnecting to meaning & values, and tomorrow's on purpose in life: clarifying future goals & the challenges we will face in achieving them, have been combined into a handout that is downloadable both as a Word doc and as a PDF file) I have …
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 …
Purpose in life: reduces dementia risk, increases life expectancy, treats depression and builds wellbeing
23rd May 2012
I was struck by a paper published this month in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry - "Effect of purpose in life on the relation between Alzheimer disease pathologic changes on cognitive function in advanced age". The authors wrote "In recent years, systematic examination has shown that purpose in life …
Particularly if you're socially anxious, try to stay task-focused rather than self-focused
17th December 2011
(This & last week's social anxiety blog posts are available as a PDF file or a Word doc - you may need to 'save' the latter before you can open it) "Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point" C. …
An intriguing and encouraging development in therapeutic writing
14th December 2011
(This blog post is available both as a PDF file and as a Word doc - you may need to 'save' the latter before you can open it) "You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness." Jonathan Safran Foer "No man was ever wise by chance." Lucius …
Fear of blushing is more a problem of hyperawareness than of facial temperature
10th December 2011
(This & next week's social anxiety blog posts are available as a PDF file or a Word doc - you may need to 'save' the latter before you can open it) "At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and …
Orlinsky & Ronnestad's "How psychotherapists develop": what maintains commitment, fascination & care in our work?
9th September 2011
I wrote a few days ago about Orlinsky & Ronnestad's very interesting book "How psychotherapists develop: a study of therapeutic work and professional growth" which reports on their 15 year study of nearly 5,000 psychotherapists in a dozen countries. I said that when describing the main findings from their study …
Recent research: 2 mindfulness studies, 2 on goal setting, 1 on wellbeing & reduction in risk of mental illness, 1 on compassion
23rd December 2010
So here are half a dozen recent research papers in the general fields of positive psychology and mindfulness (abstracts and links are given further down this post). They're mostly by "big hitters" on big topics. So there is the paper by Willem Kuyken & colleagues entitled "How does mindfulness-based cognitive …