"Watchful like a man crossing a winter stream, yielding like ice about to melt, simple like an uncarved block of wood, hollow like a cave. "


Posts tagged with 'autonomy'

Four aspects of helpful inner focus: 2.) nourishing positive states (part A)

29th October 2008

Ten days ago, on this blog, I wrote about "Reducing negative states" as one aspect of a simple model entitled "Four aspects of helpful inner focus" (see below). The model is a method I've evolved to help me organize and think about the many facets of deliberately induced altered states …

Recent research: spiritually modified CBT, happiness & freedom, healthy goal disengagement, and hoarding & OCD

21st August 2008

Hodge, D. R. (2008). "Constructing spiritually modified interventions: Cognitive therapy with diverse populations." International Social Work 51(2): 178-192. [Abstract/Full Text] Although cognitive therapy is widely used, little attention has been given to the value assumptions embedded in the self-statements that are at the heart of the change process. Constructing statements …

Checking in with Larry - next morning

6th July 2008

This is a continuation of yesterday's blog about regular check-ins/life planning with my great friend Larry. And now it's Sunday morning around 7.00am. Yesterday we went out to the 'hut' at Carbeth knowing that there was a good chance that the owner, Gerry, might in fact be using it himself. …

Checking in with Larry - first evening

5th July 2008

On the train to Glasgow. It's a Saturday afternoon in early July and I'm heading over to meet up with my old friend Larry to spend 24 hours or so together looking at how our lives are going. We've been getting together to do this three or four times a …

Is depression a problem of meaning or of medicine?

1st June 2008

I'm impressed by this description of personal experience with depression on Julian Sheather's blog. Julian is deputy head of ethics at the British Medical Association. The blog entry raises thoughtful issues about autonomy, antidepressants and the oversimplified argument whether depression is best seen as a biochemical imbalance in the brain …

Peer groups: Cumbria spring group - first reflection

12th May 2008

Why are these groups often so great, so welcome, so precious? Real life is very rich - theories only capture aspects of this richness. However a theory, that I like a lot, highlights one reason why these peer groups are so important. The theory is Self-Determination Theory (SDT). It has …