Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA): a well-tolerated dietary supplement with helpful anti-inflammatory & anti-depressive properties
16th June 2018
I was intrigued to see the recent paper by Ghazizadeh-Hashemi et al - "Palmitoylethanolamide as adjunctive therapy in major depressive disorder: A double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial" - with its abstract reading: "Experimental studies provide evidence for antidepressant effects of Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) in animal models of depression. We aimed to …
Further background for the colouring in exercise: gratitude, expressive writing, emotion processing & taking it forward
14th June 2018
This "Further background ... " post adds to the "Initial background for the colouring in exercise: assessment, maps, emotional intelligence & emotion discrimination" in supporting the "The 'emotion colouring in exercise': how to do it". gratitude writing: The second 3-minute section of ... expressive writing: Returning to the ... emotion …
Initial background for the colouring in exercise: assessment, maps, emotional intelligence & emotion differentiation
12th June 2018
This "Initial background" post provides important information to support use of the brief 6-minute "Emotion colouring In exercise". There is additional useful information in the companion post "Further background for the colouring in exercise: gratitude, expressive writing, emotion processing & taking it forward". Emotional intelligence: Emotion differentiation: More to follow …
The "emotion colouring in exercise": how to do it
11th June 2018
The "Emotion colouring In exercise" is a deceptively simple 6-minute writing exercise where we practise identifying and describing our feelings. For important additional information about this process, see the "Initial background for the colouring in exercise: assessment, maps, emotional intelligence & emotion differentiation" and the "Further background for the colouring …
Achieving clinical excellence: 1st conference day - Birgit Valla's talk
3rd May 2018
I've already written a couple of posts about this trip to Sweden - "Achieving clinical excellence (ACE): the 'Becoming a more effective practitioner' conference in Sweden" and yesterday's Achieving clinical excellence: pre-conference workshop 'What is FIT? The research behind it and how to do it'". Today is the first full …
Achieving clinical excellence: pre-conference workshop "What is FIT? The research behind it and how to do it"
3rd May 2018
I wrote yesterday about arriving in Sweden. Howevery I'm primarily here for the ACE Conference, so how was yesterday's pre-conference workshop with Scott Miller & Bruce Wampold - "What is FIT, the research behind it and how to do it"? Well, my initial response was one of some disappointment. It …
Recent research: articles from spring journals
1st May 2018
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 well over 26,000 abstracts. I also regularly tweet about emerging research, so following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ (click on the relevant …
Achieving clinical excellence: the ACE 'Becoming a more effective practitioner' conference in Sweden
24th April 2018
I'm off to Sweden this weekend, seizing the chance for some 'touristing' in Stockholm before taking a train north to the 'Achieving clinical excellence (ACE)' conference in Ostersund. If becoming a more effective practitioner interests you and you can't get to Sweden this May, then there is plenty of opportunity …
The surprising power of weak 'social ties'
31st March 2018
I’ve just been to the Farmer’s Market here in Edinburgh and I set myself the challenge of being more chatty than usual to the stallholders I was buying food from. I ‘pushed’ myself to be friendly & talk more than I’ve ever done before (and I’ve been going to the …
Compassion, wisdom & wellbeing training: 8th session, taking the learning on into our lives
29th March 2018
At our eighth & last session of the Compassion, wisdom & wellbeing training, we reviewed the journey we've been on together over the last couple of months. We looked at what each of us personally had found most interesting & valuable. The weekly reflection sheets that we'd filled in could …