Posts tagged with '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 …
Update on website traffic: my own favourite top 15 (11-15) - exercise, lifestyle, writing, goal setting & positive psychology
7th August 2012
Earlier this year I used Google Analytics to identify the most read pages on this website and I wrote the post "Update on website traffic: the ten most popular blog posts". I then wondered - "What are my own personal favourites?" and I quickly realised that the posts that I've …
BABCP spring meeting: Nick Grey on memory-focused approaches in CBT for adults with PTSD - writing suggestions (4th post)
16th April 2012
(A handout of the key points in this blog post is downloadable both as a Word doc and as a PDF file) I have written a series of blog posts on Nick Grey's expert workshop on CBT treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. The day's focus was particularly on treatment approaches …
Emotion-focused therapy workshop series (third post): narrative therapy and trauma processing
14th January 2012
"Those who do not have the power over the story that dominates their lives - the power to retell it, reexperience it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change - truly are powerless because they cannot think new thoughts" Salman Rushdie Yesterday was the third day …
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 …
"Naming emotions" is another useful self-regulation & mindfulness strategy
7th August 2011
(This blog post is downloadable as both a Word doc and as a PDF file). I was intrigued by a recent research paper - "Subjective responses to emotional stimuli during labeling, reappraisal, and distraction" - from the highly productive Professor Matthew Lieberman. His UCLA social cognitive neuroscience lab's website has …
Therapeutic writing & speaking: inspiration from values (specific instructions)
18th December 2010
See the two earlier blog posts - "Therapeutic writing & speaking: inspiration from values (background information)" and "Therapeutic writing & speaking: inspiration from values (how-to-do-it)" for fuller details of these self-affirmation, self-transcendence approaches. This "instructions" post is downloadable as a Word doc. introduction: Affirming key personal values and life areas …
Therapeutic writing & speaking: inspiration from values (how to do it)
12th December 2010
I wrote yesterday about "Therapeutic writing & speaking: inspiration from values (background information)". Today's post looks more at how-to-do-it details. Self-affirmation research describes a number of effective ways to reduce stress, clarify thinking, and boost effectiveness. If the affirmation exercise is being done in response to a particular stress or …
Therapeutic writing & speaking: inspiration from values (background information)
11th December 2010
Writing (or speaking) about our values or areas of our lives that are of particular personal importance can help us feel less threatened by stresses and more able to see situations clearly. There are many research studies demonstrating this. For example writing about personal values has been shown to reduce …
Manchester BABCP conference: disagreeing with Jamie Pennebaker - writing can be used with positive experiences too (ninth post)
24th August 2010
Yesterday I wrote a post "Disagreeing with Jamie Pennebaker - writing can help past, present & future concerns". I ended it with the words "In tomorrow's post I'll argue that therapeutic writing (although not so much expressive writing) is also potentially beneficial when the focus is on positive experiences as …