Antony Jay’s and Jonathan Lynn’s stage adaptation of the TV sitcom, Yes, Prime Minister, at the Gielgud Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, London, is well worth a visit. Having enjoyed the TV series I went with high expectations, and the production didn’t disappoint.
The classic combination of a controlling Sir Humphrey (Henry Goodman) with beautifully crafted lengthy speeches of confabulation, and the hapless, and increasingly desperate Jim Hacker (David Haig) produced some merciless satire on political life. Continue Reading »
Tags: Antony Jay, Chequers, confabulation, David Haig, Emily Joyce, Gielgud Theatre, Henry Goodman, hooker, Jim Hacker, Jonathan Lynn, phlog, phlogging, sexual favours, Sir Humphrey, Yes Prime Minister
Posted in Art, Creativity, Government, Humor, Humour, Literature, Politics, Television | 3 Comments »
Geoffrey Roberston’s book is both compelling and shocking. I finished reading it about a fortnight ago, but because the content was so disturbing and complex, it has taken me some time to let the material settle and for me to be able to begin to write about it.
Terry Eagleton’s review in The Guardian best summed it up for me: “Devastating … a book that combines moral passion with steely forensic precision, enlivened with the odd flash of dry wit. With admirable judiciousness, it even finds it in its heart to praise the charitable work of the Catholic church, as well as reminding us that paedophiles (whom Robertson has defended in court) can be kindly men. It is one of the most formidable demolition jobs one could imagine on a man who has done more to discredit the cause of religion than Rasputin and Pat Robertson put together.” Continue Reading »
Tags: Cardinal Ratzinger, Child Sex Abuse, church, Geoffrey Robertson, ipadio, paedophile, phlog, Pope, Pope Benedict, priests, Roman Catholic
Posted in Human Rights, Humanity, Law, Religion, Society | 5 Comments »
How to Think and Intervene Like an REBT Therapist
Windy Dryden
Routledge 2009
ISBN 978-0-415-48795-5 (pbk) £18.99
I liked this book a lot, partly because it is straightforward and ‘does what is says on the tin’. As you would expect from arguably the UK’s most authoritative REBT practitioner and teacher, the book, like an ideal REBT session, is structured, rational, and tries to engage the reader in a persuasive way.
Although the author is Professor of Psychotherapeutic Studies at Goldsmiths College in London, the book was conceived in the Albert Ellis Institute in New York where Dryden was supervising trainee REBT practitioners. As part of the discussions, students were encouraged to think and intervene like REBT therapists (as opposed to thinking like other general therapists, or even other cognitive therapists), and the question inevitably arose: What does it mean to think and intervene like an REBT therapist? This book provides a full and authoritative answer to that question.
Continue Reading »
Tags: Albert Ellis, cognitive therapy, counseling, counselling, counsellor, counselor, Goldsmiths, ipadio, phlog, psychotherapist, psychotherapy, REBT, therapist, Therapy, Windy Dryden
Posted in Education, Psychology, Therapy | No Comments »
I’ve been a fan of Gmail for some time. I love its powerful spam filter which seems so much more effective than anything else I have come across, and the seemingly endless capacity to store my mail and make it available for search is really useful for me when running a small business and needing to keep in contact with a large customer base. Despite my contentment, two recent developments have enhanced my Gmail experience. Continue Reading »
Tags: AT&T, Better Gmail, Chrome, contact management, Etacts, Facebook, Gmail, googlemail, ipadio, LinkedIn, Mashable, MySpace, phlog
Posted in Business, Internet, Productivity, Technology | 3 Comments »
There is a lot of loss around. And I’m not just referring to people mourning the loss of a loved person. When someone is bereaved you would expect the mourning. It is natural and understandable. But apart from the loss of human beings, there are many other kinds of losses, and many people in mourning - though few of them would understand their feelings and turmoil as ‘grief’. We somehow want to preserve that label for ‘the big one’. (And some people, of course, would include the death of a pet in that category).
The unacknowledged feelings of grief that people experience surround the many losses that often do not involve the literal death of a body. There is sometimes shock, and anger, and depression surrounding the loss of a job, the ending of a significant relationship, or the onset of a debilitating illness. These are all accompanied by the ending of a particular status and a whole host of expectations and dreams about the future - about what might have been. I sometimes work with people who arrive at my office in a state of shock having recently learned that their partner of 20 or 30 years is leaving. They are almost literally sick with grief - what they thought was the goodness of the past feels destroyed at the time, the present is unbearable, and the future has just evaporated before their eyes.
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Tags: death, grief, grieving, ipadio, loss, mourning, phlog
Posted in Existential, Humanity, Morality, Psychology, Therapy | 6 Comments »
Beck’s Cognitive Therapy: Distinctive Features
Frank Wills
Routledge 2009
ISBN 978-0415439527 £9.99
This book sets out to provide a concise account of Beck’s work against a background of his personal and professional history. It is divided into two parts. There are 15 short chapters which examine Beck’s contribution to explaining psychopathology, and then 15 more looking at Beck’s suggestions for the best methods of treatment. Within each chapter the author also attempts to view each topic in the light of current research and of other relevant theoretical or pragmatic positions. He attempts a lot in a mere 166 pages.
I enjoyed this book. The author communicates well, and the combination of the lightness of his style, and the corset imposed by the series editor, mean that the chapters deliver substance without crushing with impenetrable weight. I found the first half of the book to be the most rewarding. Wills gives a clear account of Beck’s contribution to the evolution of CBT theory. Throughout this section there is a definite sense of an empirical pragmatist at work, slowly moving away from psychoanalysis, using patient statements to build hypotheses, then testing these hypotheses and refining theory, starting with depression and then moving into other areas of psychopathology. Amongst other things Wills explains the use of imagery, the development of the different levels and types of cognition, the role played by emotion (the ‘Royal Road to cognition’) and the interaction with behaviour.
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Tags: Aaron Beck, BACP, book review Albert Ellis, CBT, cognitive therapy, Diana Sanders, Frank Wills, ipadio, phlog, psychoanalysis, psychopathology
Posted in Health, Literature, Psychology, Therapy | 1 Comment »
Despite some £4m a year being spent on homeopathy, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee said today that using public money on the highly diluted remedies could not be justified. The cross-party group said there was no evidence beyond a placebo effect, when a patient gets better because of their belief that the treatment works.
It seems reasonable that people should have the freedom to buy these remedies and pay for these alleged treatments if they wish to. However, it also seems right that any government should examine the science behind any medical claims, direct limited funding towards remedies that have credible theory and demonstrated effectiveness, and that they should remove any government-backed badge of respectability from those that don’t.
On the World at One on Radio 4 today, Phil Willis MP (Chairman of the Commons Science and Technology Committee) and Dr Michael Dixon (a homeopathic practitioner) were debating the Committee’s findings, which can best be summed up in the words of Phil Willis:
“This was a challenging inquiry which provoked strong reactions. We were seeking to determine whether the Government’s policies on homeopathy are evidence based on current evidence. They are not.
“It sets an unfortunate precedent for the Department of Health to consider that the existence of a community which believes that homeopathy works is ‘evidence’ enough to continue spending public money on it. This also sends out a confused message, and has potentially harmful consequences. We await the Government’s response to our report with interest.”
I was interested in the two points that Dr Dixon made in response to the above devastating conclusions.
Continue Reading »
Tags: homeopathy, ipadio, Michael Dixon, Phil Willis, phlog, placebo, Science and Technology Committee
Posted in Government, Health, Science | 5 Comments »
Some time ago I wrote about a couple of applications that were 
Well … Vlingo!
