"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that things are difficult. "


Posts tagged with 'cbt'

Recent research: five papers on depression, stigma, biology, & extending the reach of psychotherapy

2nd April 2009

This set of five papers documents, in part, our mixed viewpoints on depression. Worryingly, Mehta & colleagues show deteriorating public attitudes towards mental illness in England (and to a lesser extent Scotland) between 1994 and 2003. Meanwhile Blumner et al demonstrate a shift towards a more biological view on causes …

Implementation intentions & reaching our goals more successfully (second post)

15th March 2009

I wrote a post yesterday introducing some of the ideas and research on implementation intentions. Today I extend this in more practical how-to-do-it directions: when to use implementation intentions? Implementation intentions help us reach our goals more successfully. The companion handout "Implementation intentions background ... " gives introductory information about …

Implementation intentions & reaching our goals more successfully (first post)

14th March 2009

what are implementation intentions? "Goal intentions" involve aiming for some desired future outcome. They are of the form "I intend to attain goal X". Unfortunately we know only too well that making such intentions does not necessarily mean that we will reach our goals. As the old saying goes "There's …

Recent research: five papers on adolescent psychological difficulties

5th March 2009

Here are five papers on difficulties experienced by adolescents. A couple of the papers are follow-up studies. Colman et al looked at the multiple negative personal & relationship outcomes in a UK national cohort of adolescents with conduct problems followed over 40 years. Wentz et al studied the somewhat more …

Handouts & questionnaires for depression information

2nd March 2009

Here are a few handouts that I've put together over the years to provide background information about depression. The development & maintenance diagram is probably the handout here that I use most - both to explain issues about depression and also for many other psychological disorders as well. Development & …

Recent research: a mixed bag of six papers on anxiety

19th February 2009

Here are half a dozen papers with anxiety relevance. The first couple are about the interaction between genetic vulnerability (or resilience) and childhood experience. The Stevens et al paper is an update on the large body of research looking at psychological genetic vulnerability/resilience in macaque monkeys and how this interacts …

NICE guidelines: borderline personality disorder

31st January 2009

A couple of days ago I blogged on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE's) January guidance on a diverse range of fifteen clinical, technology, interventional and public health subjects including Antisocial Personality Disorder. In today's post, I discuss NICE's hot-off-the-press guidance on Borderline Personality Disorder. This addresses …

NICE guidelines: January guidance including antisocial personality disorder

29th January 2009

Yesterday NICE - the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in England & Wales - published guidance on a diverse range of fifteen clinical, technology, interventional and public health subjects. Their clinical guidance on Medicines Adherence interested me, as too did their public health guidance on Promoting Physical Activity …

Ways of coping: theory & personal experience

25th January 2009

In blog postings earlier this month, I've talked about supporting my Mum after her recent couple of strokes. She's been shipped through three different hospitals and now is more peaceful in a nursing home. It's sad - very sad at times - and it's great that she seems more comfortable, …

Recent research: half a dozen papers relevant to psychotherapy

22nd January 2009

Here are half a dozen papers relevant to psychotherapy. The first two throw some light on the question of whether it matters which form of established psychotherapy one uses to treat a particular depression sufferer - bearing in mind Cuijpers et al's recent meta-analysis suggesting that " ... there are …