"Nothing in life is as important as you think it is, while you are thinking about it "


Posts tagged with 'wellbeing'

NICE guidance on promoting mental wellbeing at work

17th December 2009

There are several recent research studies I've come across that highlight the need for better working conditions. Magnusson Hanson & colleagues' research on "Psychosocial working conditions and depressive symptoms among Swedish employees" shows clear links between decision authority, conflict & support and the development of subsequent depressive symptoms, while Nyberg …

Berlin weekend: approaches to happiness

12th December 2009

Berlin, Saturday morning. We flew in from Edinburgh pretty early yesterday. Direct flight. Easy. Guilt over air travel a little allayed by buying carbon offsets through ClimateCare. We're staying in a Miniloft, one of the really nice set of self-catering apartments designed by Matthew Griffin & Brita Jurgens, an architect …

Assessing and encouraging enjoyable activities

25th October 2009

What we've seen in our work is that most people don't give themselves permission to live until they've been given a terminal diagnosis. Stephen Levine I came across an interesting research study recently: Pressman, S. D., K. A. Matthews, et al. (2009). "Association of Enjoyable Leisure Activities With Psychological and …

Recent research: NICE guidance on social and emotional wellbeing in secondary education

1st October 2009

NICE is the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence - "the independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on the promotion of good health and the prevention and treatment of ill health." Although their guidance applies particularly to England and Wales, the opinions they come up with are …

Goal renewal boosts wellbeing: third post

30th August 2009

In a series of linked blog posts over the course of this month, I've discussed writing for health and wellbeing, assessment of one's own level of wellbeing, and using a broadened Best Possible Selves exercise. In today's post I take these ideas a step further by linking them to the …

Goal renewal boosts wellbeing: second post

23rd August 2009

I wrote a week ago about assessing one's wellbeing level. It makes sense to do this before exploring how much the following goal renewal suggestions boost your sense of wellbeing and associated life satisfaction. How might we renew our goals? Obviously there are many options here. One effective one is …

Goal renewal boosts wellbeing: first post

16th August 2009

Here's a method that's exceptionally likely to both boost our overall level of wellbeing and move us towards the goals we feel our most important in our lives. It will take a bit of effort and commitment - so don't fall into the trap highlighted by Thomas Edison's comment: "Opportunity …

Writing - positive pasts & best futures

9th August 2009

If you would like a printable handout of this blog post click here. There is lots of research - approaching two hundred studies - on the physical and mental benefits of writing about emotional upheavals in our lives. Professor Jamie Pennebaker gives further details of this approach on his excellent …

The health professions: selfless vocation or well-paid career?

2nd August 2009

The overlap between money and the health professions seems to involve a complex, multi-faceted set of issues. I was triggered into thinking about this by the coincidence of three events. One was a conversation at the recent annual BABCP psychotherapy conference, a second was reading Lewis Hyde's book "The gift", …

Recent research: six articles on wellbeing – meaning in life, reappraisal, positive emotions, and neighbourliness

23rd July 2009

Here are six research articles (see below for abstracts and links) loosely falling into the overall area of wellbeing. Boyle, Barnes et al report on the association between purpose in life and mortality in older people. They found that greater purpose in life was associated with considerably reduced mortality even …