I had an interesting mix of experiences yesterday.  It's left me wondering - about the balance between passion and peacefulness, about whether vitality and craziness fit into a meditative life, about courage and risk and exploration.

What are some implications for using forms of mind training for ourselves and for teaching others?  Reading this research study leads me to think about optimum amount of time spent practising these methods, the importance of encouraging application during daily life.  I discuss these issues in this blog posting.  It would also be fascinating and helpful to look at the challenge of maintaining the practices over time, and to consider how different forms of mind training can be directed at different targets - for example, easing symptoms, encouraging particular positive emotions (e.g. compassion, gratitude & contentment), targeting specific key wellbeing needs (e.g. self-determination theory's autonomy, competence & relatedness), and helping people live their personal values.

The "Improving Access to Psychological Therapies" (IAPT) initiative is very ambitious and exciting.  It states its principal aim is to support English Primary Care Trusts in implementing "National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence" (NICE) guidelines for people suffering from depression and anxiety disorders.  IAPT go on to say that "At present, only a quarter of the 6 million people in the UK with these conditions are in treatment, with debilitating effects on society."

One aspect of this carefully planned initiative is strong encouragement to assess and monitor the progress of those who are getting help.  Visiting the IAPT "Outcomes Toolkit and FAQ" web page provides access to several freely downloadable documents.  The emphasis is on good assessment measures that are free to use.  See below:

IAPT Outcomes Toolkit 2008/9 PDF - this 81 page 1.1Mb Adobe PDF is the September 08 version with amended IAPT Paper Based Data Set Questionnaires.