Posts tagged with 'depression'
Handouts & questionnaires for problem solving & behavioural activation
24th November 2008
Here are a series of forms, questionnaires and handouts that I use regularly in my work. The problem solving diagram is a recurring theme - both at the start of therapy and as a sheet to return to when reviewing and considering additional therapeutic options. Other sheets are classic variants …
Recent research: half a dozen studies on cognitive therapy
20th November 2008
Here are half a dozen recent studies involving cognitive therapy (CBT). The first by Craigie et al explores the use of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Although, as one would expect, MBCT helped GAD sufferers, it was noteworthy that results "fall well short of outcomes …
Recent research: egosystem & ecosystem
13th November 2008
In the end the love you take is equal to the love you make. Beatles This is essentially the Beatles closing statement. It is the last lyric on the last album they recorded. (Let It Be was the last album they released, but it was recorded earlier). Every now and …
Recent research: fish and n-3 fatty acids
6th November 2008
Fish, fish oils, and n-3 fatty acids are often in the health news. Here are seven recent papers illustrating the breadth of fish oil relevance. The papers look at treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, the potential of flax as a dietary source of n-3 fatty acids, effects on indicators of cardiovascular …
Recent research: mothers, children & depression
30th October 2008
Here are five recent papers on mothers, families, children and depression. The first is a freely viewable editorial by Markowitz which begins with a quote from the Aeneid "I cannot bear a mother's tears". Markowitz looks at evidence demonstrating the importance of both nature (genetic risk) and nurture (effects of …
Handouts & questionnaires for “outcomes toolkit” (IAPT)
27th October 2008
The "Improving Access to Psychological Therapies" (IAPT) initiative is very ambitious and exciting. It states its principal aim is to support English Primary Care Trusts in implementing "National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence" (NICE) guidelines for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders. IAPT go on to say that …
Recent research: half a dozen depression & anxiety papers on CBT, telephones, exercise, relaxation, prevention and more
2nd October 2008
Here are half a dozen recent papers on aspects of depression and anxiety. They include an interesting overview on brain-psychology connections by Aaron Beck, one of the originators of CBT; a meta-analysis of studies on psychotherapy delivered by phone, internet & videoconferencing; details of a free database of studies on …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 9th post: self help, guided, and complementary therapies
27th September 2008
The fourth and final session of the "Non-pharmacological management of depression" SIGN seminar was entitled "Self help, guided and alternative/complementary therapies". Dr George Deans, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Aberdeen's Royal Cornhill Hospital, gave the first presentation of this session on "Alternative/complementary therapies 2". I've already discussed the lack of good …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 8th post: therapeutic alliance in the treatment of depression
25th September 2008
There was some discussion at the SIGN "Non-pharmacological management of depression" seminar about the possible importance of the therapeutic alliance in depression treatment. Professor Kevin Power said that SIGN had not found any good research that threw light on this issue. This is somewhat surprising because there is a fair …
Draft SIGN non-pharmacological depression treatments guideline, 7th post: effectiveness of psychological therapies 2
24th September 2008
This is the 7th blog post in a series reviewing the recent Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network's (SIGN) draft guideline for "Non-pharmacological management of depression". I gave more background details in the first post of the series. This post covers the third session of the guideline presentation seminar. The session was …