Posts tagged with 'relationships'
Recent research: two studies on relationships, two on body to mind effects, and two on mindfulness
17th February 2011
Here are details of half a dozen recent research papers - two on relationships, two on body to mind effects, and two on mindfulness. Fuller details, links and abstracts of all the studies mentioned are given further down this post. First a couple of relationship studies. Gibb & colleagues reported …
Valentine's day: "language style matching predicts relationship initiation and stability"
14th February 2011
Valentine's Day! Well here's a topical research study. Professor Jamie Pennebaker is probably best known for his research on expressive writing - see, for example, the series of four blog posts I wrote about his lecture at last year's British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies' conference. However, as he …
Recent research: relationships & fairness – 3 papers on large social groups, 2 on bullying, and 2 on generosity
27th January 2011
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." Dalai Lama I really value how quotes about caring, like this favourite of mine from the Dalai Lama, are increasingly backed up by emerging research. Here are seven further papers in the general …
Setting up a therapists' support group 2
25th January 2011
I wrote yesterday about the email that was sent out last autumn asking several fellow psychotherapists up here in Edinburgh whether they would be interested in forming a Therapists' Support Group. What was some of the thinking behind this initiative? Back in 2008 I lectured at the British Association for …
Setting up a therapists' support group 1
24th January 2011
Seven of us got together yesterday afternoon to talk about possibly setting up some kind of therapists' support group. We're all therapists ourselves, and some of us are close to or on the mature side of 60. All male therapists, so we're kind of "the Grizzlies". Why do it? It's …
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 …
Recent research: 4 studies on prayer and their implications for compassion, loving-kindness & goodwill meditation practices
24th November 2010
"If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion" Dalai Lama I was struck by three recent research papers on intercessory prayer, and one somewhat less recent meta-analysis. What I found most interesting about these studies is their potential relevance for meditation/prayer …
The 'bus driver' is warm-blooded: integrating mindfulness & emotion 2
21st November 2010
I wrote yesterday about a couple of 'notes of caution' when using mindfulness approaches and the "The bus driver metaphor". I pointed out that many primary emotions & constructive thoughts help energise and direct us towards healthy goals. I also mentioned the importance of integrating head & heart in mindfulness …