Could increasing our compassion for others be even more "therapeutic" than increasing our self-compassion?
13th February 2013
"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." Ralph Waldo Emerson "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They …
Major new research shows how psychotherapy can help those struggling with antidepressant-resistant depression: more detail
9th February 2013
I wrote an initial post yesterday on the very interesting recent Lancet paper "Cognitive behavioural therapy as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for primary care based patients with treatment resistant depression: Results of the CoBalT randomised controlled trial". In today's post I want to give a little more context to this …
Major new research shows how psychotherapy can help those struggling with antidepressant-resistant depression: overview
8th February 2013
Major new research published in the Lancet last week gives hope to those struggling with antidepressant-resistant depression. Nicola Wiles and 15 co-authors have just reported on this two year study involving 469 patients with treatment-resistant depression seen in 73 UK general practices. The abstract of their paper "Cognitive behavioural therapy …
Recent research: articles from January journals
5th February 2013
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 19,000 abstracts. Every few weeks I scan through all the articles I've found interesting in the previous month (in the general areas …
Recent evidence highlights the value of monitoring practice quality during mindfulness training
13th January 2013
Is it helpful to monitor the quality of one's mindfulness practice ... and, if so, what should one be monitoring? I've raised this question with experienced mindfulness teachers before and been answered with the concern that monitoring practice quality might increase an "achievement orientation" state of mind that could actually …
New research suggests CBT depression treatment is more effective if we focus on strengths rather than weaknesses (3rd post)
11th January 2013
I do enjoy writing these blog posts ... real fun having the opportunity to think around subjects that currently intrigue me. So in the first post in this sequence on the value of a therapeutic focus on strengths rather than weaknesses we looked fairly broadly at this area. In the …
New research suggests CBT depression treatment is more effective if we focus on strengths rather than weaknesses (2nd post)
9th January 2013
I wrote an initial post on "New research suggests ... focus on strengths rather than weaknesses" a couple of days ago. I discussed various reasons for thinking that better matching of patients to more personalized treatments could be helpful (although difficult) and looked as well at several research studies that …
New research suggests CBT depression treatment is more effective if we focus on strengths rather than weaknesses (1st post)
7th January 2013
In 2010 Simon & Perlis highlighted the importance of being better able to match depression sufferers to treatment approaches that were more likely to benefit them. In their paper "Personalized medicine for depression: Can we match patients with treatments?", they wrote: "Response to specific depression treatments varies widely among individuals. …
Reducing risk of suicide: advice & resources for relatives, friends, health professionals & those at risk
5th January 2013
The "Connecting with People" website has the strapline "Promoting emotional resilience & suicide mitigation". On the site's "About us" page, they write "Open Minds Alliance CIC was formally established in 2010. The organisation emerged from a collaboration between Dr Alys Cole-King, liaison psychiatrist and specialist in suicide prevention and Gavin …
Recent research: articles from December journals
3rd January 2013
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 18,900 abstracts. Every few weeks I scan through all the articles I've found interesting in the previous month (in the general areas …