"The brains of human beings seem built to process stories better than other forms of input ...   "


36 Depression-relevant abstracts: July '17 newsletter

25th July 2017

Here is a downloadable PDF of these research studies. Andreas, S., H. Schulz, et al. (2017). "Prevalence of mental disorders in elderly people: The european mentdis_icf65+ study." The British Journal of Psychiatry 210(2): 125-131 http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/210/2/125 Background Except for dementia and depression, little is known about common mental disorders in elderly …

36 CBT & psychotherapy relevant abstracts: July '17 newsletter

25th July 2017

This blog post is downloadable as a Word doc. Ali, S., L. Rhodes, et al. (2017). "How durable is the effect of low intensity CBT for depression and anxiety? Remission and relapse in a longitudinal cohort study." Behaviour Research and Therapy 94: 1-8. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796717300840 AbstractBackground Depression and anxiety disorders are …

Recent research: articles from spring/summer journals

23rd July 2017

I read a lot of research. When I find an article of particular interest I download it to my bibliographic database - Endnote - which currently contains over 25,000 abstracts. I also regularly tweet about emerging research, so following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ (click on the relevant icon …

Compassion lecture: what? why? how? so ... ?

1st June 2017

I'm due to give a short lecture tomorrow on "Compassion". Here is a downloadable copy of the slides ... sadly with most of the images removed for copyright reasons. The event is a "Collider session". It's a kind of upmarket brainstorming exercise with an invited group of participants to look …

Balanced meditation practice: an overview

22nd May 2017

Taking our attention inwards can be done helpfully in so many ways. We can relax; we can be mindfully aware; we can use visualisations; we can deeply savour present time experience; we can process difficulties from our pasts or prepare ourselves for challenges in the future. There are so many …

Self-compassion: soothing touch helps us settle and relax

20th May 2017

Touch can be profoundly soothing and settling. In an intriguing study - "Nonverbal channel use in communication of emotion: how may depend on why" - researchers found that when participants generated displays of eleven different emotions, touch was the most preferred nonverbal way of showing love and sympathy. Welcomed touch …

Mindful self-compassion: affectionate breathing meditation

18th May 2017

I'm just back from a five day Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) retreat in Iceland with Chris Germer & Christine Brahler. MSC teaches a whole host of meditation practices, with three underlined as core meditations. These three are Affectionate Breathing, Loving-Kindness for Ourselves, and Giving & Receiving Compassion. In this post I …

Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (3rd post): embodied values

16th May 2017

I have already written a couple of blog posts "Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (1st post): mindfulness & naming" and "Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (2nd post): touch & affectionate releasing" where we have taken our attention inwards, noting & naming our internal state/our …

Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (2nd post): touch & affectionate releasing

15th May 2017

I recently wrote a blog post "Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (1st post): mindfulness & naming" where I commented that if the thousands of recent research papers on mindfulness, emotion regulation & related subjects couldn't help us improve on the helpfulness of brief meditation practices, then science …

Upgrading the 'breathing space' meditation, some research-based suggestions (1st post): mindfulness & naming

15th May 2017

Many forms of stress management & meditation teach brief "breathing space" exercises that can be used to bring oneself into the present in a variety of helpful ways. These seem to have been particularly popularised by the 3 minute breathing space exercise (3MBS) taught in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Zindel …