Posts tagged with 'friendship'
The 5 minute 'Health' read - Relationships: recent research (December)
20th December 2023
I read a fair amount of research and thought some people might be interested in recent studies that I've found helpful. I plan to write an approximately 1,200 word (5 minutes to read) blog post pretty much every week, highlighting helpful material that has emerged in the previous couple of …
An online interpersonal support group stirs up a mix of feelings
14th April 2020
"Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel." "This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." Both quotations by Polonius in Shakespeare's …
Psychotherapy with couples & other close relationships
28th January 2019
Over the next two days I'm due to run a two day training workshop in Glasgow on "Psychotherapy with couples & other close relationships". Here are the downloadable slides for the first day on "Working with couples" (sadly with the cartoons removed for copyright reasons) and here the slides for …
How to live well: 8th meeting: nourishing relationships, conflict & wisdom, and attachment
24th October 2018
"The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart." Dhammapada We introduced the first of three sessions on relationships in last week's meeting - "How to live well: 7th meeting - relationships, roles, Dunbar, needs & dyads". We looked particularly at Funeral speeches/current progress, Dunbar's 5-15-50-150 …
How to live well: 7th meeting - relationships, roles, Dunbar, needs & dyads
17th October 2018
"Of all the means which wisdom acquires to ensure happiness throughout the whole of life, by far the most important is friendship." Epicurus "Friendship is the single most important factor influencing our health, well-being, and happiness." Robin Dunbar, Oxford emeritus professor of evolutionary psychology Last week we talked about "How …
Compassion, wisdom & wellbeing training: 7th session home practice
16th March 2018
These home practice suggestions link with the seventh session of the Compassion, wisdom & wellbeing training. There are seven home practice requests for the fortnight until our 8th & last evening together. 1.) Please would you glance back at the handouts from the seventh session of the course & jot …
Paired meditation deepens interpersonal connection: how to go about it
6th May 2017
Yesterday I wrote the blog post "Paired meditation deepens interpersonal connection: Tania Singer's wonderful ReSource project" which introduced & overviewed the recent, very impressive ReSource Project. I also discussed the associated JAMA Psychiatry research paper "Effects of contemplative dyads on engagement and perceived social connectedness over nine months of mental …
Paired meditation deepens interpersonal connection: Tania Singer's wonderful ReSource project
5th May 2017
Yesterday I was skimming through the JAMA Psychiatry journal and I got hijacked by Kok & Singer's recent article "Effects of contemplative dyads on engagement and perceived social connectedness over nine months of mental training: a randomized controlled trial". The abstract reads - "Importance Loneliness is a risk factor for …
Personal social networks (5th post): the frequency of conflict
11th March 2017
Personal social networks are hugely important for our health & wellbeing, as I've underlined in the first of this six post sequence - "Personal social networks (1st post): Dunbar's 5-15-50-150 model". However our personal networks are also regularly affected by conflicts, especially with those we're close to. It's not a …
Personal social networks (4th post): birds of a feather flock together
10th March 2017
I've recently written three blog posts about relationships - "Personal social networks (1st post): Dunbar's 5-15-50-150 model", "Personal social networks (2nd post): the sympathy group & the full active network" and "Personal social networks (3rd post): assessing how we're doing". Towards the end of the second of these posts I …