Recent research: articles from February journals
25th February 2010
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 14,000 abstracts. Every few weeks I scan through all the articles I've found interesting in the previous month (in the general areas …
Interpersonal group work 2
22nd February 2010
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 …
Developing a training course: life skills for stress, health & wellbeing
19th February 2010
Last Spring, I went walking and camping in Glen Affric. Amongst other things, being away on my own in the hills gave me a chance to think creatively. Once I was back I wrote a blog post about developing a next generation stress management course. I said "I've known for …
Recent research: six studies on management, health messages, behavioural activation, ACT, expressive writing, and wellbeing
18th February 2010
Here are mixed bag of psychotherapy-relevant studies. Foy & colleagues' meta-analysis highlights the value to patients/clients of having good communication between their primary care physician and their mental health professional. The second paper I mention - free full text - by Mollen et al is a bit of a wake-up …
Interpersonal group work 1
15th February 2010
Here are a set of handouts and questionnaires that I often use when I'm running interpersonal process groups. As the "Group therapy background information" leaflet (see below) comments: "Group therapy simply means that therapeutic work is done in groups rather than one-to-one. Many different types of therapy have been tried …
Our life stories: needs, beliefs & behaviours
14th February 2010
This post describes the "Needs, beliefs & behaviours" diagrams, best viewable on screen in PDF format (slides 1 & 2 and slides 3 & 4), but also downloadable in Powerpoint format (slides 1 & 2 and slides 3 & 4). The post below is downloadable as a Word format handout. …
Vitamin D deficiency - again!
11th February 2010
This blog post is also downloadable as a Word format handout. The cover picture on January 16th's British Medical Journal is of a blazing sun with the words "Vitamin D deficiency" underneath it. Inside there is a major review by Pearce and Cheetham entitled "Diagnosis and management of vitamin D …
Exercise 6: where can I do what?
8th February 2010
Last month I blogged about exercise safety in "Exercise 1: checking it's safe to start", about the helpful GPPAQ - General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire - described in "Exercise 2: UK Department of Health, resources for assessment & advice", about the excellent advice on how to exercise in "Exercise 3: …
Recent research: articles from January journals
4th February 2010
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 nearly 14,000 abstracts. Every few weeks I scan through all the articles I've found interesting in the previous month (in the general areas …
Exercise 5: the recommendation to do strengthening exercises
1st February 2010
This post is also downloadable as a Word format handout. I blogged a couple of weeks ago on "Exercise 3: US Department of Health & Human Services, resources for assessment & advice" and quoted the fine 2008 "Physical activity guidelines for Americans" with its recommendation that - besides regular aerobic …