Notes, journal, diary, blog, arguments, beliefs, cogitations, comments, considerations, contemplations, criticisms, daydreams, deliberations, engrossments, musings, opinions, phlogs, poems, points, rantings (occasional), reflections, ruminations, satire, wit, and pensiveness of a thinking man.
Posted in Morality, Psychology, Relationships on Jul 20th, 2012
Spy the Lie: Three Former CIA Officers Reveal Their Secrets to Uncloaking Deception
by Philip Houston, Mike Floyd, Susan Carnicero, Don Tennant, Michael Floyd
It may be nerdy to admit it, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The writer, Don Tennant, manages to take the experience of three authoritative CIA operators and turn it into a very [...]
Posted in Education, Psychology, Therapy on Apr 9th, 2010
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 [...]
Posted in Existential, Humanity, Morality, Psychology, Therapy on Mar 4th, 2010
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 [...]
Posted in Health, Literature, Psychology, Therapy on Feb 26th, 2010
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 [...]
Posted in Business, Human Rights, Psychology, Relationships on Dec 4th, 2009
There are two types of managers that I hate: those that bully, and those that bend. I have worked for both in equal numbers during the course of my career - two bullies, and two bendies (as well as the occasional ‘good guy’), and I have to say, I actually prefer the bullies to the [...]
Posted in Existential, Faith, Humanity, Mortality, Psychology, Religion, Therapy on Jun 15th, 2009
I caught part of BBC’s Songs of Praise last night. Well, it was on the TV, and I have spent enough years in my former life as an active Christian to have a strong cultural resonance with some of the music, and there was nothing else in particular to do, so I watched.
In the [...]
Posted in Existential, Health, Humanity, Humor, Humour, Productivity, Psychology, Therapy on Jun 4th, 2009
There was a pile of dog poo on the pavement.
As they walked to work, four men trod in it and messed up their shoes.
The first man felt very sad. He looked at the mess and smelled the smell and said to himself: “You know, this just about sums me up. This always happens [...]
Posted in Health, Mortality, Psychology, Therapy on May 28th, 2009
Sometimes (perhaps especially when on holiday) we often long for an anxiety-free existence. However, in my book, that would be a bad thing. Human beings have powerful emotional systems and anxiety is a natural feeling that arises in response to stress. It is part of the natural flight-or-fight response that have enabled the human race [...]
Posted in Health, Humanity, Philosophy, Psychology, Relationships, Therapy on May 7th, 2009
Are you a seagull?
Albert Ellis, a cognitive therapist, cited by the American Psychological Association in 2003 as the second most influential psychologist in the twentieth century, used to argue that most people had strong tendencies to be like seagulls. As a psychotherapist he was quite unusual in his methods and often did and said seemingly [...]
Posted in Health, Humanity, Language, Psychology, Relationships, Therapy on Apr 23rd, 2009
Children have just one job in life. Between birth and the age of 21 they have to concentrate mainly on just one thing - stroke collecting.
In this context a stroke is anything that is positive and life-affirming. It could be a smile, the fact that someone remembers their name, a trip to the seaside, a [...]
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