"When I get to heaven, they will not ask me 'Why were you not Moses?'  Instead they will ask 'Why were you not Susya?  Why did you not become what only you could become?'"  Susya, a Hasidic rabbi.

In her wonderful poem "The summer day", Mary Oliver wrote:

Yesterday we had the final morning of the 'long weekend' three day Scottish Mixed Group.  I have already written posts about arriving, and the first and the second full days.  This was the fourth year that we had met for these annual get-togethers that run from Friday evening to Monday lunchtime; and several of us from the group have also met for an occasional full day workshop during the year between residentials.

I wrote yesterday about the first full day of this Scottish Peer Mixed Group, singing a celebration of what felt like one of the really special days of my life.  And then yesterday the river of the group slipped into more shadow for me, the emotional/interpersonal weather changing.  Squalls, rain, cross currents & turbulence.  One of the more difficult group days.  So fascinating this.  Metaphors can be very helpful when navigating challenges.  Important to be cautious & thoughtful with them though, because metaphors/models/charts aren't the reality itself.  What's actually going on is so complex & multi-layered in a group of eighteen people that it highlights the, at times, over-simplicity of operating charts ...

After a rather inauspicious start on Friday (see yesterday's post), the next day - Saturday, the first full day of the group - was, for me, deeply wonderful.  One of the really special days of my life.  An ocean of a day, so much happened. A bit like a lifetime in itself.

I have been involved with interpersonal group work since being blown away by my first experience at a weekend workshop way back in 1972.  Although I was pretty much a paid-up hippie at the time (and a medical student as well), I had little experience of people deeply & honestly stating how they were genuinely feeling.  70's encounter groups sometimes seemed to err on letting it all hang out a bit too much for participants' own good; they were certainly however a gale of fresh air blowing through my buttoned-up upbringing.  By the end of that first weekend, I knew this was something I very much wanted to explore a lot further.

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 21,200 abstracts.  I also regularly tweet about emerging research, so following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ (click on the relevant icon at the top of this web page) will keep you up to speed with what I'm finding interesting.  Additionally you can view this highlighted research by visiting Scoop.it (click on the "it!" icon at the top of this page).  At Scoop.it, I stream publications into five overlapping topic areas: Cognitive & General Psychotherapy, Depression, Compassion & Mindfulness, Positive Psychology and Healthy Living.

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 21,000 abstracts.

I recently wrote a post on using video in the most effective treatment we have for social anxiety ... "Treating social anxiety disorder: video (and still) feedback (6th post)".  Typically with social anxiety there are several "layers" to a sufferer's fears about potential negative judgements from others. For example they might be anxious that 1.)  They will blush.  2.)  Other people will notice that they are blushing.  3.)  They will then be judged negatively for blushing.  CBT treatment aims to reduce this anxiety by showing sufferers that their fears are exaggerated and that the methods they have developed for managing their difficulties are mostly making the problem worse.

Back last autumn I wrote five detailed blog posts about CBT treatment of social anxiety disorder and also a further post giving access to a series of assessment & monitoring questionnaires - "Self-practice, Self-reflection (SP/SR) & David Clark's treatment for social anxiety: introduction (1st post)", "David Clark's treatment for social anxiety: assessment (2nd post)", "Treatment for social anxiety: personal aims (3rd post)"