I've been waiting for something like this for ages!
When I practised as a Gastroenterologist - I knew my patients had their symptoms disappear and their ulsers healed sooner then others just becourse I was SO NICE with them. :-)))
(Not going to die of modesty as we say it in Russia)...
Anyway - read this article - you'll enjoy it!
"It feels good when someone pays attention to our concerns and our feelings—and it turns out such empathy is good for our health, too.
Researchers at the University Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health report in Family Medicine that patients of doctors who expressed such concern had a cold for one day fewer than patients whose physicians focused on just the facts. In randomized controlled trials the colds of patients assigned to empathetic doctors lasted an average of seven days; those with low empathy docs endured an extra day of cold misery.
The doctors’ empathy also boosted the patients’ immune systems. There was a direct relation between a physician’s empathy level and his or her patient’s level of IL-8, a chemical that summons immune system cells to fight microbial bad guys."
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nice-doctors-heal-faster
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Monday, 26 October 2009
The inconsiderate use of mobile phones is a form of collective madness?
Will Self writes in New Statesman:
"... I don't think inconsiderate use of mobile phones is simply the rudeness born of a slackening of social bonds: I believe it to be a form of collective madness. When I'm in a public but confined space, such as a train carriage, and some deranged person begins to Samsung-soliloquise, I try to bring them to their senses by reading aloud from Schopenhauer (I carry a copy of The World as Will and Idea with me for just this purpose). Soon enough they stop and, sadly often irately, ask me what I'm doing. Then I explain that while public declamation and conversation is as old as humanity, there is no precedent for a person holding a one-sided private conversation aloud in public...
...
So confused have the boundaries between conversations become that it's by no means uncommon to see people attempting to buy - or sell - something while holding a mobile phone conversation. Thus what were once immediate and personalised bonds are constantly being vitiated by remote and anonymous ones, as the individual rattles around in a shaken snow globe of randomised verbiage. I'm not so out of touch that I don't know what it feels like to conduct a phone call while speaking to someone immediately in front of me: it feels like psychosis - something I've also experienced.
..."
Read the full article: http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2009/10/mobile-phone-public
Tell us what do you think?
"... I don't think inconsiderate use of mobile phones is simply the rudeness born of a slackening of social bonds: I believe it to be a form of collective madness. When I'm in a public but confined space, such as a train carriage, and some deranged person begins to Samsung-soliloquise, I try to bring them to their senses by reading aloud from Schopenhauer (I carry a copy of The World as Will and Idea with me for just this purpose). Soon enough they stop and, sadly often irately, ask me what I'm doing. Then I explain that while public declamation and conversation is as old as humanity, there is no precedent for a person holding a one-sided private conversation aloud in public...
...
So confused have the boundaries between conversations become that it's by no means uncommon to see people attempting to buy - or sell - something while holding a mobile phone conversation. Thus what were once immediate and personalised bonds are constantly being vitiated by remote and anonymous ones, as the individual rattles around in a shaken snow globe of randomised verbiage. I'm not so out of touch that I don't know what it feels like to conduct a phone call while speaking to someone immediately in front of me: it feels like psychosis - something I've also experienced.
..."
Read the full article: http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2009/10/mobile-phone-public
Tell us what do you think?
Friday, 23 October 2009
An argument for warmer rooms?
BPS Research Digest writes:
Last year, the psychologists Lawrence Williams and John Bargh gave participants a cup of coffee to hold and showed that the temperature of the coffee affected the way those participants rated a stranger's character. A hot coffee led them to rate him as more good natured and generous, whilst holding an iced coffee had the opposite effect.
The finding was touted as an example of embodied cognition - the idea that the way we think about the world is grounded in, and affected by, physical metaphors.
Now Hans Ijzerman and Gun Semin have built on this work, showing not only that the ambient temperature of a room affects how socially close people feel to another, but also the type of language they use and the way they see relations between shapes.
Fifty-two participants were shown an animated film featuring chess pieces. Crucially, half the participants were seated in a cool room (15 to 18 degrees Celsius) whereas the others sat in a warm room (22 to 24 degrees Celsius). Afterwards participants in the warm room used more concrete, physical language to describe the film and reported feeling socially closer to the experimenter than did the participants in a cold room.
...
Full article:
http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2009/10/warm-room-makes-people-feel-socially.html
Do you have an opinion about this? Do you feel differently in a warmer room?
What are your personal preferences and experiences?
How would it affect our practice and our workplace?
Please share your thoughts...
Last year, the psychologists Lawrence Williams and John Bargh gave participants a cup of coffee to hold and showed that the temperature of the coffee affected the way those participants rated a stranger's character. A hot coffee led them to rate him as more good natured and generous, whilst holding an iced coffee had the opposite effect.
The finding was touted as an example of embodied cognition - the idea that the way we think about the world is grounded in, and affected by, physical metaphors.
Now Hans Ijzerman and Gun Semin have built on this work, showing not only that the ambient temperature of a room affects how socially close people feel to another, but also the type of language they use and the way they see relations between shapes.
Fifty-two participants were shown an animated film featuring chess pieces. Crucially, half the participants were seated in a cool room (15 to 18 degrees Celsius) whereas the others sat in a warm room (22 to 24 degrees Celsius). Afterwards participants in the warm room used more concrete, physical language to describe the film and reported feeling socially closer to the experimenter than did the participants in a cold room.
...
Full article:
http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2009/10/warm-room-makes-people-feel-socially.html
Do you have an opinion about this? Do you feel differently in a warmer room?
What are your personal preferences and experiences?
How would it affect our practice and our workplace?
Please share your thoughts...
Monday, 19 October 2009
Web Helps to Slow Dementia
Jonathan Leake, Science Editor, Times Online says:
"GOOGLING is good for grandparents. Internet use can boost the brain activity of the elderly, potentially slowing or even reversing the age-related declines that can end in dementia, researchers have found.
Using brain scans, they found the internet stimulated the mind more strongly than reading, and the effects continued long after an internet session had ended.
“We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function,” said Gary Small, professor of neuroscience and human behaviour at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
In the research, Small and his colleagues worked with 24 men and women aged between 55 and 78. Half of them had used the internet a lot; the others had little experience. "
Read More:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6879663.ece#
"GOOGLING is good for grandparents. Internet use can boost the brain activity of the elderly, potentially slowing or even reversing the age-related declines that can end in dementia, researchers have found.
Using brain scans, they found the internet stimulated the mind more strongly than reading, and the effects continued long after an internet session had ended.
“We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function,” said Gary Small, professor of neuroscience and human behaviour at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
In the research, Small and his colleagues worked with 24 men and women aged between 55 and 78. Half of them had used the internet a lot; the others had little experience. "
Read More:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6879663.ece#
- Please tell us what do you think?
- Do you know some one who can confirm the case?
- Do you agree on the basis of other information available in the field?
- Are you sceptical about it?
- Should we all start tweeting tomorrow?
Sunday, 18 October 2009
About this Blog
This is our first attempt to join the exciting world of blogging and bring to you all the fresh and hot news about the world of psychology and, of course, about your favourite training company. This is our new enterprise and we are finding our way in this mysterious world of blogging cautiously (but surely...) :-)
We are hoping to move our popular SDS Delegate Debate into this blogging format in the future and looking forward to lively discussions here with you. We are planning to start with publishing already existing SDS Delegate Debates - with comments received from you. Then we'll move to the current news as well as will run new delegate debates there.Feel free to leave comments to any of the posts - whether they are old debates, the news or new debates.
As you can guess - every blogger loves his readers and LIVES for the comments. :-) We are just the same. You don’t need to register in order to be able to comment. You can leave your feedback as “Anonymous”, however, may we ask you to sign you name (or nick) at the end of your comment (even if you are commenting without logging in) so that we know how to address you.
If you wish to register – nothing can be easier – you just open a Google account – most of you, surely, already use one. You already have Google account if you are using YouTube, Google Calendar, iGoogle, Google Mail or any other tools from Gooogle.
You comments are read by SDS Consultants regularly and – in many cases - replied to.The blog is moderated – mainly to protect you and other readers from spam and irrelevant comments.All posts are tagged - hopefully it'll help you to find your way around there.
Wish us luck and please join the list of our followers.
We are hoping to move our popular SDS Delegate Debate into this blogging format in the future and looking forward to lively discussions here with you. We are planning to start with publishing already existing SDS Delegate Debates - with comments received from you. Then we'll move to the current news as well as will run new delegate debates there.Feel free to leave comments to any of the posts - whether they are old debates, the news or new debates.
As you can guess - every blogger loves his readers and LIVES for the comments. :-) We are just the same. You don’t need to register in order to be able to comment. You can leave your feedback as “Anonymous”, however, may we ask you to sign you name (or nick) at the end of your comment (even if you are commenting without logging in) so that we know how to address you.
If you wish to register – nothing can be easier – you just open a Google account – most of you, surely, already use one. You already have Google account if you are using YouTube, Google Calendar, iGoogle, Google Mail or any other tools from Gooogle.
You comments are read by SDS Consultants regularly and – in many cases - replied to.The blog is moderated – mainly to protect you and other readers from spam and irrelevant comments.All posts are tagged - hopefully it'll help you to find your way around there.
Wish us luck and please join the list of our followers.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Whats going to happen to CBT after IAPT is cut back ?
Well...the writing is on the wall. IAPT looks like its in the frontline for public spending cuts.
The Observer this month says that the The Iapt Expert Reference Group (that oversees the project) has been informed that IAPT is failing to meet its targets in a big way - both in training the number of therapists needed, and in the number of people who have come off of benefits as a result of interventions made. Many staff are being asked to reapply for their jobs and the remaining £100 million allocated will not be ringfenced but will be incorporated into local NHS Trusts' budgets - to be spent as they wish. This will almost inevitably mean that traditional mental health priorities will re-establish themselves and that those perceived as "the worried well" will be left out.
The interesting question is whatb is going to happen to CBT as a result ? There are undoubtedly many who are secretly happy to see what is going to happen. Whenever someone grabs a large share of the pie ( and nearly £200 million is a VERY large share) it creates powerful reactions - jealousies amongst non-CBTers who feel unjustifiably excluded, fear amongst traditional CBTers - of which I must count some in my own profession - who fear poorer qualified (and cheaper) therapists taking their jobs.
However, I have strong suspicions that the CBT project is not dead in the water and will continue and even thrive - except in a slightly different format. Here are my predictions for CBT for the next 10 years.
(1) CBT will continue to thrive because both governments and insurance companies (the main funders and benchmarkers of therapy) want evidence that what they fund works and has a clear time limited structure to it. Whatever some people think about the application of RCTs and experimental paradigms to therapeutic outcomes,they are a continuing and growing part of the Zeitgeist we are a part of, and at present CBT is really the only show in town.
(2) CBT will fit in well to the developing mixed economy in mental health that will grow with increasing speed. There will be more people wanting to see CBT therapists on a private basis and CBT will infiltrate (even further) organisations interested in behaviour change. The Welfare-to-Work and the Criminal Justice sectors being obvious first past the post candidates.
(3) The concept of Accredited CBT Therapist will continue to be an aspirational gold standard for many, but will lose its exclusive cache. Expect to see "Non-Accredited" CBTers fulfilling important roles and a greater variation in the types and length of training on offer.
At SDS, we have long been convinced of the need for shorter intensive CBT course that are recognised (our Introductory 3 day course is Approved by The British Psychological Society) but which do not place the same heavy demands on trainees that BABCP Accreditation requires. If you are interested in such a course, by the way, details can be found at http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=69
Equally expect distance learning methods to gain pace from training DVD packs (www.psychotherapydvds.com) to webcam conferences.
(4) Finally, we will see other forms of psychotherapy coming to the fore again. These will be those that have learnt the importance of published outcome work as a marketing tool and who already have some footholds within the establishment. Brief Solution Focused Therapy, Brief Dynamic Psychotherapy and Interpersonal Psyschotherapy seem obvious candidates. Those that fight a rearguard action against registration and regulation (you know who you are) and who totally dismiss the value of empirical research will disappear even further into the shadows
Whatever happens, its likely that even a partially completed IAPT will leave its mark on the landscape. In my opinion, for the better. Which is reassuring really. I'd hate to think that £75 million was spend and its effects disappear without a trace.
Paul Grantham
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
The Observer this month says that the The Iapt Expert Reference Group (that oversees the project) has been informed that IAPT is failing to meet its targets in a big way - both in training the number of therapists needed, and in the number of people who have come off of benefits as a result of interventions made. Many staff are being asked to reapply for their jobs and the remaining £100 million allocated will not be ringfenced but will be incorporated into local NHS Trusts' budgets - to be spent as they wish. This will almost inevitably mean that traditional mental health priorities will re-establish themselves and that those perceived as "the worried well" will be left out.
The interesting question is whatb is going to happen to CBT as a result ? There are undoubtedly many who are secretly happy to see what is going to happen. Whenever someone grabs a large share of the pie ( and nearly £200 million is a VERY large share) it creates powerful reactions - jealousies amongst non-CBTers who feel unjustifiably excluded, fear amongst traditional CBTers - of which I must count some in my own profession - who fear poorer qualified (and cheaper) therapists taking their jobs.
However, I have strong suspicions that the CBT project is not dead in the water and will continue and even thrive - except in a slightly different format. Here are my predictions for CBT for the next 10 years.
(1) CBT will continue to thrive because both governments and insurance companies (the main funders and benchmarkers of therapy) want evidence that what they fund works and has a clear time limited structure to it. Whatever some people think about the application of RCTs and experimental paradigms to therapeutic outcomes,they are a continuing and growing part of the Zeitgeist we are a part of, and at present CBT is really the only show in town.
(2) CBT will fit in well to the developing mixed economy in mental health that will grow with increasing speed. There will be more people wanting to see CBT therapists on a private basis and CBT will infiltrate (even further) organisations interested in behaviour change. The Welfare-to-Work and the Criminal Justice sectors being obvious first past the post candidates.
(3) The concept of Accredited CBT Therapist will continue to be an aspirational gold standard for many, but will lose its exclusive cache. Expect to see "Non-Accredited" CBTers fulfilling important roles and a greater variation in the types and length of training on offer.
At SDS, we have long been convinced of the need for shorter intensive CBT course that are recognised (our Introductory 3 day course is Approved by The British Psychological Society) but which do not place the same heavy demands on trainees that BABCP Accreditation requires. If you are interested in such a course, by the way, details can be found at http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=69
Equally expect distance learning methods to gain pace from training DVD packs (www.psychotherapydvds.com) to webcam conferences.
(4) Finally, we will see other forms of psychotherapy coming to the fore again. These will be those that have learnt the importance of published outcome work as a marketing tool and who already have some footholds within the establishment. Brief Solution Focused Therapy, Brief Dynamic Psychotherapy and Interpersonal Psyschotherapy seem obvious candidates. Those that fight a rearguard action against registration and regulation (you know who you are) and who totally dismiss the value of empirical research will disappear even further into the shadows
Whatever happens, its likely that even a partially completed IAPT will leave its mark on the landscape. In my opinion, for the better. Which is reassuring really. I'd hate to think that £75 million was spend and its effects disappear without a trace.
Paul Grantham
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
SDS Delegate Debate: A single session cure for panic attacks?
Dear All
Recently I came across an interesting piece of research, whilst preparing reading materials for our forthcoming seminar on Anxiety. (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=68)
As it was a very simple and useful way of helping clients I thought I would share it with you.
We all know that excessive caffeine consumption is probably not the most sensible thing for anxious clients to be doing. However, the question is - what is “excessive” and how un-sensible is it? On one hand, the British Coffee Association states that “scientific evidence consistently shows that drinking up to … four to five cups of coffee a day is perfectly safe … and may confer health benefits.” On the other hand, a paper published last month in Psychiatry Research suggests otherwise and indicates that caffeine consumption alone may be more than sufficient to promote and maintain panic attacks.
In a double blind experiment in Brazil (appropriately enough), of those experiencing panic attacks, nearly two thirds had such an attack after drinking the equivalent of 5 cups of coffee. However in a control group of those who had previously experienced such attacks, not a single panic attack was reported after consuming non-caffeinated drinks. *
As is so often in our field, substance consumption plays an important role. Not just in making problems more complex but also in providing potentially simple solutions.
Next time you work with an anxious client, remember to encourage caffeine elimination before engaging in more complex interventions. It may be sufficient to cure the problem.
We are looking forward to working with you in our future seminars. Remember that our seminar on Anxiety is fully booked on the first day in London, but there are still places left on the second London date and at other venues around the country.
Book online (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=68) and receive automatic £10 discount.
Kind regards
Paul Grantham
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
* References: Panic disorder and social anxiety disorder subtypes in a caffeine challenge test Nardi AE, Lopes FL, Freire RC, Veras AB, Nascimento I, Valença AM, de-Melo-Neto VL, Soares-Filho GL, King AL, Araújo DM, Mezzasalma MA, Rassi A, Zin WA. Psychiatry Res. 2009 Sep 30;169(2):149-53.
Recently I came across an interesting piece of research, whilst preparing reading materials for our forthcoming seminar on Anxiety. (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=68)
As it was a very simple and useful way of helping clients I thought I would share it with you.
We all know that excessive caffeine consumption is probably not the most sensible thing for anxious clients to be doing. However, the question is - what is “excessive” and how un-sensible is it? On one hand, the British Coffee Association states that “scientific evidence consistently shows that drinking up to … four to five cups of coffee a day is perfectly safe … and may confer health benefits.” On the other hand, a paper published last month in Psychiatry Research suggests otherwise and indicates that caffeine consumption alone may be more than sufficient to promote and maintain panic attacks.
In a double blind experiment in Brazil (appropriately enough), of those experiencing panic attacks, nearly two thirds had such an attack after drinking the equivalent of 5 cups of coffee. However in a control group of those who had previously experienced such attacks, not a single panic attack was reported after consuming non-caffeinated drinks. *
As is so often in our field, substance consumption plays an important role. Not just in making problems more complex but also in providing potentially simple solutions.
Next time you work with an anxious client, remember to encourage caffeine elimination before engaging in more complex interventions. It may be sufficient to cure the problem.
We are looking forward to working with you in our future seminars. Remember that our seminar on Anxiety is fully booked on the first day in London, but there are still places left on the second London date and at other venues around the country.
Book online (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=68) and receive automatic £10 discount.
Kind regards
Paul Grantham
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
* References: Panic disorder and social anxiety disorder subtypes in a caffeine challenge test Nardi AE, Lopes FL, Freire RC, Veras AB, Nascimento I, Valença AM, de-Melo-Neto VL, Soares-Filho GL, King AL, Araújo DM, Mezzasalma MA, Rassi A, Zin WA. Psychiatry Res. 2009 Sep 30;169(2):149-53.
Sunday, 11 October 2009
CBT: Introductory Course
We are pleased to inform you that November & December blocks of dates for our new 3 day course:
CBT: INTRODUCTORY COURSE
are now fully booked
Due to the high demand we are running additional courses in Birmingham, Manchester & London:
23-25 February 2010 Birmingham
23-25 March 2010 Manchester
26-28 April 2010 London
This Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy training course, run by accredited CBT therapists, demystifies this therapeutic approach and offers introductory training in this powerful and effective therapy. The course is unique in being developed and reviewed by a multidisciplinary team and is specifically designed for a diverse range of professions.
CBT: INTRODUCTORY COURSE
are now fully booked
Due to the high demand we are running additional courses in Birmingham, Manchester & London:
23-25 February 2010 Birmingham
23-25 March 2010 Manchester
26-28 April 2010 London
This Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy training course, run by accredited CBT therapists, demystifies this therapeutic approach and offers introductory training in this powerful and effective therapy. The course is unique in being developed and reviewed by a multidisciplinary team and is specifically designed for a diverse range of professions.
This course is approved by the British Psychological Society Learning Centre for the purposes of Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Book early to avoid disappointment.
View extracts from extensive video materials used at this training course:
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Quote of the Day
My favourite quote of the day:
I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate.
George Burns (1896 - 1996)
I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate.
George Burns (1896 - 1996)
Friday, 9 October 2009
Psychiatric Diagnosis -The corpse that wouldn't die
The criticisms of taxonomic systems in psychiatry and psychotherapy are not new - indeed Wittgenstein suggested that "The classifications made by philosophers and psychologists are like those that someone would give who tried to classify clouds by their shape" (PR #154).
Professor Ricahrd Bentall (whom I trained with in Liverpool many moons ago) has recently revisited the topic yet again in the Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/31/psychiatry-psychosis-schizophrenia-drug-treatments). He points out that there is minimal genetic evidence supporting psychiatric diagnostic systems (compared with other fields of medicine) and that the advances that have occurred in other medical areas have noticeably failed to be replicated in psychiatry.
The flawed nature of the psychiatric diagnostic system has failed to lead to its disappearance however. Indeed, what strikes me as interesting is that despite the changing tide towards "talking therapies" a pharmaceutical classification system remains arguably more predominant than ever. Twenty years ago, criticisms of the psychiatric diagnostic system were rife as part of the tail end of the anti-psychiatry movement and within my own profession (clinical psychology). Today, such criticisms is notable by their rarity.
Why is it that such a heavily criticised model refuses to lie down and die ? The most common answer given (apart from the `the tradition one that drugs "work" , thus "proving" the validity of the diagnostic system) is that big Pharma and the medical profession are well financed and have a lot invested in maintaining the system. Jobs, careers and profits would be lost, if it wasn't so. This is true.
However, I'm struck by how this argument also applies to other professions as well. To obtain funding for research requires acceptance of the diagnostic system, to have a conversation with colleagues about a client requires acceptance of the diagnostic system, to fail to do so would lead one to be seen as a "poor team player", to obtain promotion may well require an interest in particular diagnostic categories. In other words, there is no real alternative. If this really is the case I'm not sure I expect to see a proper burial of the system any time soon.
Professor Ricahrd Bentall (whom I trained with in Liverpool many moons ago) has recently revisited the topic yet again in the Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/31/psychiatry-psychosis-schizophrenia-drug-treatments). He points out that there is minimal genetic evidence supporting psychiatric diagnostic systems (compared with other fields of medicine) and that the advances that have occurred in other medical areas have noticeably failed to be replicated in psychiatry.
The flawed nature of the psychiatric diagnostic system has failed to lead to its disappearance however. Indeed, what strikes me as interesting is that despite the changing tide towards "talking therapies" a pharmaceutical classification system remains arguably more predominant than ever. Twenty years ago, criticisms of the psychiatric diagnostic system were rife as part of the tail end of the anti-psychiatry movement and within my own profession (clinical psychology). Today, such criticisms is notable by their rarity.
Why is it that such a heavily criticised model refuses to lie down and die ? The most common answer given (apart from the `the tradition one that drugs "work" , thus "proving" the validity of the diagnostic system) is that big Pharma and the medical profession are well financed and have a lot invested in maintaining the system. Jobs, careers and profits would be lost, if it wasn't so. This is true.
However, I'm struck by how this argument also applies to other professions as well. To obtain funding for research requires acceptance of the diagnostic system, to have a conversation with colleagues about a client requires acceptance of the diagnostic system, to fail to do so would lead one to be seen as a "poor team player", to obtain promotion may well require an interest in particular diagnostic categories. In other words, there is no real alternative. If this really is the case I'm not sure I expect to see a proper burial of the system any time soon.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Change your life in 66 days ?
Phillippa Lally and her colleagues at UCL (Lally et al (2009) How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world European Journal of Social Psychology) has been involved in addressing a fascinating question that is pressing for any practitioner who is trying to help their client change - namely how long does it take - not only to make a change but to ensure it is well established...in other words has become a new "habit" in their lives which they do automatically without thinking.
The average time taken was 66 days, although the spread ranged between 18 and 254 days. Not surprisingly, establishing new behavioural health habits (like doing sit ups every morning) took longer.
The good news from this study is that missing a single day's practice isn't of crucial importance. However, the bad news is that if a typical period for establishing a change is over two months (AFTER the change is learnt) brief interventions that are withdrawn as soon as a change is initiated are likely to lead to high relapse levels.
Our services (and ourselves as professionals) are forever overly preoccupied with clients at a Action Stage (in the Cycle of Change) and pay insufficient attention to Maintenance. Interventions for weight loss for example are well evidenced, but the containing failure at the maintenance stage continues to create problems. The issue is even more pronounced within mental health, where the preoccupation with acute problems remain just that - acute. Even when the issue of relapse is examined (as in depression) and its prevention through the use of mindfulness skills, there is little that looks at how long it takes a client to regularly and automatically use such new skills.
Whatever field we work in, if we were to keep the figure of 66 days in mind more frequently, it might substantially increase our long term effectiveness with our client and avoid the "hit and run" mentality that is currently so common.
The average time taken was 66 days, although the spread ranged between 18 and 254 days. Not surprisingly, establishing new behavioural health habits (like doing sit ups every morning) took longer.
The good news from this study is that missing a single day's practice isn't of crucial importance. However, the bad news is that if a typical period for establishing a change is over two months (AFTER the change is learnt) brief interventions that are withdrawn as soon as a change is initiated are likely to lead to high relapse levels.
Our services (and ourselves as professionals) are forever overly preoccupied with clients at a Action Stage (in the Cycle of Change) and pay insufficient attention to Maintenance. Interventions for weight loss for example are well evidenced, but the containing failure at the maintenance stage continues to create problems. The issue is even more pronounced within mental health, where the preoccupation with acute problems remain just that - acute. Even when the issue of relapse is examined (as in depression) and its prevention through the use of mindfulness skills, there is little that looks at how long it takes a client to regularly and automatically use such new skills.
Whatever field we work in, if we were to keep the figure of 66 days in mind more frequently, it might substantially increase our long term effectiveness with our client and avoid the "hit and run" mentality that is currently so common.
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Monday, 5 October 2009
We are now on YouTube
The Skills Development Service Ltd in association with SDS Media now publishes previews of our DVD training materials on YouTube.
You can find their fragments from our currently published DVDs as well as of those that are coming soon.
For the full list of psychotherapy training DVDs visit
www.psychotherapydvds.com
You can find their fragments from our currently published DVDs as well as of those that are coming soon.
For the full list of psychotherapy training DVDs visit
www.psychotherapydvds.com
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