Recent research: articles from April journals
Originally added on Thu, 13/05/2010 - 04:37Last updated on Wed, 19/05/2010 - 04:50
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 14,300 abstracts.
... the current system for bringing promising biomedical research to the bedside is operating at an obsolete level of efficiency, causing great delay, and consequently resulting in the loss of many lives.- Roger Rosenberg (JAMA 2003;289:1305-6)
Interpersonal group work 2
Originally added on Mon, 22/02/2010 - 06:56Last updated on Wed, 24/03/2010 - 10:29
See the earlier blog post "Interpersonal group work 1" for comments and handouts particularly orientated to pre-group assessment. It's usually time very well spent, orientating would-be participants to what interpersonal process groups are likely to involve. This both speeds up the time it takes new group members to start engaging helpfully in group interactions, and reduces drop-out rates. Participants who know roughly what the group is going to be like, why the experience is relevant to what they want to change in their lives, and how they can best engage with the group to gain most benefit, are likely to be participants who get most from the group experience. Below I've listed various handouts that can be relevant in this orientation process.
Interpersonal group work 1
Originally added on Mon, 15/02/2010 - 06:34Last updated on Sun, 21/03/2010 - 07:06
Training in group facilitation
Originally added on Sun, 01/11/2009 - 05:55Last updated on Mon, 02/11/2009 - 08:53
I'm facilitating a group today on "Relationships & emotional intelligence". When explaining why someone might want to come to the group, the initial publicity leaflet reads "It's worth taking the time to look at our relationships because they are such a huge part of our lives. Past relationships deeply affect how we feel about ourselves and how we interact with others. Current relationships can be a great source of joy, warmth and support, or of loneliness, frustration and unhappiness. Human beings are social animals. In many ways we are the sum of our relationships. As adults, we don't have to just accept how we learned to relate when we were younger. We can look at our interpersonal style and how we connect with our emotions. We can get feedback from others. We can decide what patterns we are happy with
Recent research: six studies on emotional & relationship ‘intelligence’ – placebo, warmth, mindfulness, & emotions
Originally added on Thu, 22/10/2009 - 06:15Last updated on Thu, 29/10/2009 - 05:48
Here are half a dozen research papers that have recently interested me in the broad areas of emotional and relationship "intelligence" (all details & abstracts to these studies are given further down this blog posting). Kelley et al report on "Patient and practitioner influences on the placebo effect" which in this study was " ... twice as large as the effect attributable to treatment group assignment." Practitioners assigned to give warm, empathic consultations achieved considerably better outcomes than those assigned to neutral consultations, although the " ...
Recent research: NICE guidance on social and emotional wellbeing in secondary education
Originally added on Thu, 01/10/2009 - 04:19Last updated on Mon, 19/10/2009 - 06:03
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 very carefully weighed and can be of use to health (and education) professionals wherever they work.
Oregon University research on emotional regulation, interpersonal perception & personality
Originally added on Sun, 17/05/2009 - 17:08Last updated on Sat, 24/10/2009 - 05:14
I love it when I follow up ideas from a new research paper and then break through into a whole area of helpful knowledge that I haven't come across before. This happened recently with the paper by Srivastava and colleagues (Srivastava, Tamir et al. 2009 - see below) on the social costs of emotional suppression. This then linked me through to James Gross's work at Stanford, but more on that in next week's post.
Recent research: five papers on feeling good & improved functioning, on meaning & wellbeing, and on happy memories,
Originally added on Thu, 12/02/2009 - 07:20Last updated on Tue, 03/03/2009 - 04:56
I seem to be making a habit this month of focusing on a specific journal when posting the weekly report on interesting recent research. Last week it was the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology . This week it's the Journal of Positive Psychology . To quote the Journal's website: "Positive psychology is about scientifically informed perspectives on what makes life worth living. It focuses on aspects of the human condition that lead to happiness, fulfillment, and flourishing." First published in 2006, the journal initially came out quarterly. Now, in 2009, it's increasing its publication frequency to six issues a year - a pleasing sign of the increasing interest in this field.
Time to change: let’s challenge mental health discrimination
Originally added on Sat, 07/02/2009 - 09:47Last updated on Mon, 16/02/2009 - 09:52
On 26th January the BMJ reported on the new £18 million Time to Change campaign " ... to tackle the discrimination and stigma that surrounds mental health ... The Time to Change initiative is funded by Comic Relief and the National Lottery. Its aim is to tell the public that it is no longer acceptable to discriminate against people with a mental illness ... The campaign's website gives details of what can be done to help people with a mental illness and how to run a local campaign to support national initiatives ... The campaign says that mental illness is one of the last taboos and that shame and stigma can stop people seeking help. It highlights the fact that mental illness is far more common than people realise with one in four people experiencing a mental health problem at some time in their life. And it promotes the message that it is possible to help people with a mental heath problem by being there for them and not cutting them out of your life ... The campaign is based on similar national initiatives in New Zealand and Scotland.
