SDS Psychology and Psychotherapy Blog

Q&A Session on CBT Training on Facebook

2011-12-01T11:55:00.001Z

The session has just closed.
You can read the transcript below.
Also - feel free to add your comments there - we will be answering your questions daily.

Transcript:

Paul Crawte So, how much does it cost and how long does it take?
Paul Crawte Also... how is the course delivered ? Attendance somewhere? Mail outs....

Skills Development Service Ltd Hi Paul. The modules cost between £20 and £160 each (depending on which are taught and which are self directed.) The overall cost if purchased in advance is £5195+ VAT. You will not find a cheaper open access route to covering training for Accrediation. The period over which it is completed is up to the delegate because it is modular. However, the shortest period for completion would be 12-18 mths.

Skills Development Service Ltd To Paul Crawte: Hi again Paul. The course is a combination. The dierect skills taught modules (200+ hours) are delievered in Central London at the British Psychological Society. The self directed case formulation modules are emailed, completed by yourself and sent back to tutors for assessment and feedback. The self directed raeding modules are sent by email and there are online quizzes which are used to evidence knowledge obtained. Hopefully this clarifies.

Alex Grant I like the look of your courses, but not sure I am able to commit to the full Diploma. Can I just go to the individual courses from time to time for CPD and see where it takes me after a while?

Skills Development Service Ltd To Alex Grant: You can just attend the modules for CPD purposes without any commitment. We know that some delegates have already expressed interest in them in their own right irrespective of wishing apply for Accreditation. In other words there is no commitment

Skills Development Service Ltd ANONYMOUS QUESTIONER “I am shortly about to retire from teaching and youth development work at the age of 61. I want to retrain as a BACBT accredited therapist. Using your route how quickly can this be achieved, and how many hours of supervision (at your charge of £45 per hour) need to be completed? Thank you”
ANSWER “Hi. How quickly Accreditation can be achieved varies according to previous experience / qualifications and is difficult to be explicit about. However...there are certain teaching qualifications and social work qualifications that are considered core professions OR you can go via the KSA route which would be based on your CPD throughout your career. Assuming this was covered,you could cover the taught parts of the course within 12-18mths. Additionally you would need to be able to demonstrate a minimum of 200 hours of CBT practice that had received 40 hours of supervision. Hopefully this clarifies things”
Alexis Khlay I'm not sure if I'm eligible for BABCP accreditation. Can I still attend the courses and can anybody help me to check my eligibility? Thanks, Alexis Khlay

Skills Development Service Ltd For Alexis. Hi Alexis. There are 3 elements to Accreditation. 1. Core Profession/ KSA 2. Training 3. Supervised practice. We can provide an opinion and advice on all three both in advance as well as "hand hold" you at the time of application for eligibility through our Accreditation Support Programme. Because this can sometimes be a complex issue we have to charge for this unfortunately. HOWEVER, should you decide not to proceed with training after our intial feedback we refund the fee for the Accreditation Support Package (minus a cancellation fee)

Gemma Phillips-Pike Hi - just wondering how the practice of CBT works on this course - i.e. is it assumed you are in private practice with a supervisor as I guess you will need to have the opportunities to practice the skills? Also, if this is the case, how many client hours are required to obtain the Diploma? Thank you.
Gemma Phillips-Pike Sorry, just seen your response above which answers my question - 200 hours with 40 hours supervision. Can the supervision be with any accredited supervisor or with SDS?

Skills Development Service Ltd It can be with any CBT Accredited Therapist not simply SDS'. However, it can not simply be with any Accredited Supervisor eg. BACP Accredited (rather than BABCP). The BABCP lists such Accredited CBT Therapists on their website www.babcp.com and you are free to approach them. Expect a cost of £80-£120 / hr. SDS is offering group supervision which fulfills Accrediation requirements for £45 / hour. Hope this helps.

BABCP Home Page

www.babcp.com

Skills Development Service Ltd A question by EMAIL: My question is I have almost completed the PG cert with Anglia Ruskin Univ in Cambridge and would be looking to do the second year for the PG Dip.

Q. Is the PG Cert transferable to your course?

What days would the course be offered?
Where would the course be held?
What are the costs entailed and what support systems are in place if needed?
Would there be support on offer to students who need to take KSA route in getting their accreditation with the BABCP.

Skills Development Service Ltd IN REPLY TO THE EMAIL QUESTION : There is no requirement to start again with our Diploma should you wish to transfer from your existing University course. If you purchase our Accreditation Support Package we will provide you with an assessed opinion of what additional moodules you need to complete in order for you to apply for Accreditation. The cost of this is £195+VAT (or included for free if you sign up for the whole Diploma).This covers any advice regarding KSA. Wherever possible, SDS will attempt to help you meet any outstanding KSA requirements but can not guarentee this as it obviously depends on circumstance. If we can not we will sign post. Please note that the Accreditation Support Package also covers ongoing email and telephone support through the process of Accreditation application. Courses are run in Central London, typically at The British Psychological society (close to Moorgate Tube). Hope this helps

Skills Development Service Ltd The LIVE Q&A session is now FINISHED.
You can still add your questions to this post and we will be answering them every day.

NEW: Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy from SDS

2011-11-28T20:58:00.002Z

We are holding a LIVE Facebook Question and Answer session on the CBT Diploma at 10.00 am on Thursday 1 December.
To access this simply start asking your questions as comments at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Skills-Development-Service-Ltd/148084035204831 and the SDS team will happily answer them.
If you cannot make that time – please feel free to leave your questions there now.

Read about SDS Diploma in CBT course here: http://skillsdevelopment.co.uk/CBT

James Hillman Tribute

2011-10-30T20:19:00.001Z

***

James Hillman, a charismatic therapist and best-selling author whose theories about the psyche helped revive interest in the ideas of Carl Jung, animating the so-called men’s movement in the 1990s and stirring the pop-cultural air, died on Thursday 27 October 2011, at his home in Thompson, Conn. He was 85.

James Hillman was one of the most inspirational contemporary thinkers in psychotherapy field. His thought-provoking and soulful ideas will be greatly missed.

Read New York Times tribute: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/health/james-hillman-therapist-in-mens-movement-dies-at-85.html

Watch DVD trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFng0WCJ8X8&feature=related

Buy James Hillman's DVDs: http://www.psychotherapydvds.com/James-Hillman-Set

Our video tribute to this extraordinary man:

Where goes Motivational Interviewing After 'Payment By Results"?

2011-10-14T13:15:00.001+01:00

I've had a fascinating three days working with some of the pilot Drug & Alcohol Services for Payment By Results (PbR). This is the government initiative designed to shift UK drugs services towards tying funding to an abstinence/recovery model accompanied by evidencing documentation - or in the words of the organisational mantra I came across "No TOPs, no clients, no job!". TOPs (Treatment Outcome Profiles) is the evidencing paperwork. Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of this policy switch within the drugs field, I'm particularly interested in it's implications for Motivational Interviewing training (www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=5 )

Most managers I talked to were worried that Motivational Interviewing (MI) would be swept aside by the new recovery model. It would be seen as irrelevant in the face of increased compulsion to abstain. I disagreed. PbR is interested in abstinence outcomes and on this basis MI is one of the few games in town.Few other approaches match it's researched outcomes. Plus in the current financial climate it's important to recognise that "a sprinkling" of MI is often sufficient to effect significant changes in outcome with moderate effect sizes. The issue becomes instead whether there is a sufficient MI lobby in the UK to argue it's undoubted virtues and it's invaluable contribution to outcome or whether MI is seen as an expensive extra ignored in a race to the bottom in terms of costs.

Foetal (Fetal) Alcohol Syndrome Interview

2011-10-13T12:11:00.002+01:00

Why Client Choice Determines Psychotherapy Outcomes

2011-10-04T11:21:00.001+01:00

Placebos have long been seen as an irritating confounding factor in medical research that needs to be controlled. It's therapeutic sister "Non-specific effects" in the psychotherapy field has also been relegated to a factor to be controlled in recent years. And yet, there is considerable research highlighting the substantial role such factors play over and above specific therapeutic effects. Recent research by Professor Michael Hyland at Plymouth University suggests a mechanism behind non-specific effects which has big practical implications for therapists. Put briefly he has discovered that one of the key mechanisms within placebo is the degree to which the proposed "therapy" is explained or perceived in ways which are consistent with client values and goals. This is independent of whether the client actually believes the "therapy" will work. This has big implications. Firstly it explains the discrepancy that often occurs between RCT therapy results and "on-the-ground" therapeutic effectiveness. Secondly, it suggests that client choice of the therapy they use will have a big impact on outcome. I am much more likely to choose a therapy (as a client) that is presented or perceived as being more consistent with my values. It equally suggests that therapists' statements such as " the client isn't very psychologically minded" or " Mandated clients don't change" or "Clients need to be socialised into the therapeutic model" MAY in fact have a more than a grain of truth in them, even if the phrasing isn't quite right!

Thought For The Weekend on Motivational Interviewing

2011-09-30T15:23:00.001+01:00

In a country where resources, both personal and public are likely to be shrinking for the immediate future, do skills like Motivational Interviewing become MORE relevant (because of their impact on health behaviours) or LESS relevant (because we will only end up working with clients who are already at an Action stage) ?www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk

The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves make all the difference

2011-09-29T14:50:00.001+01:00

In the middle of Tim Wilson's Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change. Wilson's thesis is one familiar both to CBT practitioners as well as Narrative Therapy & Solution Focused folk, namely the way we integrate ourselves into the narrative of our existing circumstances has a mega-impact on our emotions and behaviours. What's unusual about Wilson's book is that he makes it sound soooooooo easy to develop techniques and interventions to facilitate this. Which in honesty it is.....as long as we escape the prison of thinking everything we do should be so complicated. Will certainly recommend this on both our Solution Focused and CBT training courses www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk

NEW Glasgow CBT certificate course

2011-09-28T13:17:00.001+01:00

After being away from Glasgow for a while, we're returning with our BPS Approved Introductory Certificate in CBT.Please pass details on www. Skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?coursed=69. Thanks Paul

Book writing

2011-09-28T13:06:00.001+01:00

Just finished my chapter on Milton Friedman. It's interesting how there's so little research looking at the complimentary processes of conscious and unconscious problem solving

Delegate Debate: Which of your clients can spot positive change the easiest?

2011-09-21T10:16:00.000+01:00

Have you ever wondered why some of your clients find it more difficult to spot improvement than others? They seem tied into a pathological model of themselves that fails to recognise their own resources, successes or potentials.

I had two new clients in July who illustrated this well. One, whom we’ll call Joe, had multiple problems ranging from obesity and emphysema through to OCD. He had been seen by a range of other professionals already. He also had a diagnosis of ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). His referral letter was perfunctory and I got the feeling that he’d been “sent” to get him off someone else’s back.

The other client was one whom we’ll call Carl. Carl is a lawyer. He’s bright, is able to grasp psychological principles easily and has problems relating to work stress triggered by his wife’s illness.

I’ve seen both of them three times now. Who do you think is turning out to be the easier to work with?

You probably think this is a trick question and so have said Joe. And you’d be right. When I asked Carl for examples of where he hadn’t failed in his life, he said there was no point because these were “miniscule”. Joe finds it easier to spot success than Carl does.

I mention this because our Brief Solution Focused Therapy (BSFT) training specialises in enhancing clients’ capacity to detect positive change in themselves and others. It does this in a variety of ways by using the client’s selective attention. By selectively attending to positive change clients begin to orientate towards it and automatically produce more of it. Get more details by clicking here: http://skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=43

Brief Solution is sometimes accused, however, of being overly optimistic or only useable with “easy clients”. This doesn’t fit with the evidence base, but you know how myths develop… Further more this belief doesn’t this fit the situation with Joe and Carl – it happens to be the exact opposite!

Recent research from the University of Edinburgh suggests a reason for it which also turns our client assumptions on their head.

Dr Sue Fletcher-Watson and her colleagues in Edinburgh* have a special interest in “change detection” and ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder). The capacity (or otherwise) for “change detection” is, of course, a well-established psychological process – as is its converse “inattentional blindness” – the repeated failure to see self-evident things happening because we are not expecting them or attending to them. Dr Fletcher-Watson discovered that ASD children aged 11-16 are substantially more able to detect changes in visual scenes than both “normal” children AND adults.

This fits with many Brief Solutions Therapists empirical experience that ASD can be viewed as an ASSET in therapy rather than a deficit. Paradoxical as it sounds – this is one of the strength of BSFT amongst many others. Get more solution focused tools for your therapeutic toolkit with difficult and complex clients by signing up here: http://skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=70

It will be interesting to see how Joe and Carl work out. I’ll keep you updated. However, I’m sure this situation isn’t unique and I’m interested in YOUR thoughts on it.

What clients have YOU worked with where you’ve found that their therapeutic response challenged assumptions about their ability to change? WHY do you think this was?

Write to me and let me know. I’m genuinely interested…. as I’m sure others would be too. Your responses will be published anonymously in our blog: http://sdsmedia.blogspot.com/

Best Wishes and looking forward to seeing you soon on one of our training courses.

Paul

• *Fletcher-Watson, S., Leekam, S., Connolly, B., Collis, J., Findlay, J., McConachie, H., and Rodgers, J. (2011). Attenuation of change blindness in children with autism spectrum disorders. British Journal of Developmental Psychology

24 Hour Deals

2011-09-06T12:11:00.000+01:00

We are extremely excited to bring to you today an amazing 50% discount on one of our most popular and demanded courses:

THE ESSENTIAL TOOLKIT FOR RUNNING GROUPS http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=67

Please explore the website for detailed description of the course and download PDF leaflet for further particulars.

This special deal is available for 24 hours only. Until midday tomorrow (7 September 2011) you can book this course online with 50% discount, paying only £70 + vat for it. Same discount applies to telephone bookings made within this period (call: 0870 241 7294 with your credit card details).

If you are not paying for yourself and need your organisation to be invoiced – please make sure that the letter of authorisation from your manager with the invoice address reaches us by the midday tomorrow by fax (fax 0870 199 1838) or e-mail (info@skillsdevelopment.co.uk) and you will still be able to enjoy the same 50% discount.

We hope you will find this course topical for your work and take advantage of this short-term offer.

More 24 hours deals are coming to you shortly – keep an eye on our e-mails or our Facebook page (search “Skills Development Service Ltd”).

5 Myths about CBT

2011-09-01T11:47:00.002+01:00

Dear reader!

I don’t know what you think about CBT, but I bet you’ve got SOME opinion about it. It’s hard not to these days.

• Maybe you think it’s the only true scientific psychotherapy?
• Maybe you see it as a superficial approach that’s got too big for its boots?
• Or maybe you just see it as a set of additional tools to add to your therapeutic repertoire?

Whatever the case, CBT has attracted a mythology which at best, consists of partial truths and at worst downright lies

I wonder if you can guess what they are and whether they’re true.

If you’re interested, have a look at the brief video I’ve made which explores this. It’s FREE. Just turn up your speakers and click on the link below:

http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=69

As always, feel free to get back to me with your comments and I look forward to see you at our courses this year.

Take care

SDS Team

Debate on Motivational Tools - Feedback

2011-07-21T16:03:00.001+01:00

What do you usually do with your unmotivated clients? Discharge them? View them as resistant and work with them accordingly? Hope your supervisor got some ideas?
What do you do if you’re a supervisor and are at a loss?

The fact of the matter is that we could always do with some new ideas and tips on how to approach our most difficult clients.

Our recent delegate debate on motivational techniques produced some fascinating discussions about the topic and I would like to share them with you. Please read the comments to this post and feel free to contribute to this discussion by commenting yourself.

The issue of motivation is extremely interesting and multi-dimensional - that is why our training courses on Motivational Interviewing are always very engaging and lively. They are currently run in Manchester and London and until tomorrow you can book them with 30% discount. If you would like to learn more about this training follow the link:
http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=5

I hope you will find this post an interesting read and look forward to continuing this discussion with you at one of our training courses.

Take care
Paul

Manchester Deal! Another 24 Hours!

2011-07-19T12:13:00.002+01:00

Yesterday's promotion created a number of questions from our delegates regarding some particular details of it.

This blog is to answer your questions and clarify the details.

1. 50% discount is valid both for block bookings of all 4 courses and for bookings of the individual modules of the Certificate in Resource Based Therapies course.

For block bookings of all 4 courses go to Resource Based Therapy follow the "Click here to book online" link on the right and choose your Manchester dates.
For bookings of the individual modules (for those who have completed some of the modules with us already) follow the individual links below:

• POSITIVE THERAPY (CRBT - MODULE 1)
• MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING & BEYOND (CRBT - MODULE 2)
• BRIEF SOLUTION FOCUSED THERAPY (CRBT - MODULE 3)
• BSFT WITH DIFFICULT & COMPLEX CLIENTS (CRBT - MODULE 4)

Choose Manchester on the right hand side of the page and make your online booking.

2. Although this offer is for online bookings only - we are prepared to extend it to those who wish us to invoice their organisations. In order for you to take advantage of this offer PLEASE make sure that we receive some form of authorisation from your organisation within 24 hours (before midday of 20 July 2011).

We accept as the form of authorization the following:
• Purchase order (please fax it within 24 hours)
• Letter of authorisation from your manager with full invoice address (please fax it within 24 hours)
• E-mail of authorisatoin from your manager (please make sure that this e-mail comes from your manager's e-mail address, contains full invoice address and reaches within 24 hours)

As this offer created some questions that needed further clarification WE EXTEND THIS OFFER FOR FURTHER 24 HOURS - EXPIRING AT MIDDAY 20 JULY 2011.

We hope this e-mail answers all of your questions and look forward to welcoming you at our courses. Please feel free to share this information with your friends and colleagues.

Kind regards

The Skills Development Service Team

Resource Based Therapy in Manchester

2011-07-18T16:33:00.003+01:00

We had a number of enquiries from our delegates regarding running our BPS Learning Centre approved course on Resource Based Therapies in Manchester. We are pleased to let you know that all four modules of this course are coming to Manchester in January – February 2012.

This course consisting of 4 modules brings together three separate psychotherapeutic modalities that all share an underlying assumption regarding the client’s intrinsic pre-existing resources and psychological strengths.

These include Brief Solution Focused Therapy, Positive Psychology and Motivational Interviewing.

Delegates who attend all four courses receive A Certificate in Resource Based Therapies with BPS Learning Centre approval logo on it and 25 hours CPD. These 4 training modules can be booked together or separately; the order, in which delegates attend the courses, is flexible. If you have done with us training on any of the above topics before – you have already partially completed the full course and now need to attend only the remaining modules to receive your Certificate.

As you are our continuous supporter we here at SDS decided to offer you a special deal to make training more accessible in these difficult and financially uncertain times: FOR 24 HOURS ONLY YOU CAN BOOK THESE MANCHESTER COURSES ONLINE WITH 50% DISCOUNT, PAYING THE INCREDIBLE £62.50 + VAT FOR EACH.

Please explore the website for detailed description of the courses and book online today:

• POSITIVE THERAPY (CRBT - MODULE 1)
• MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING & BEYOND (CRBT - MODULE 2)
• BRIEF SOLUTION FOCUSED THERAPY (CRBT - MODULE 3)
• BSFT WITH DIFFICULT & COMPLEX CLIENTS (CRBT - MODULE 4)

We hope you will find these courses essential for your work and take advantage of this short-term offer.

Kind regards

The Skills Development Service Team

How group work can help

2011-07-04T17:29:00.002+01:00

A recent study, funded by the MS Society, found that many people with MS have problems with depression and anxiety. Previous studies have suggested that depression in MS can lead to patients failing to take their medication and a reduced quality of life.

But there is hope as researchers found that MS sufferers who attended group sessions had fewer problems with anxiety and depression and the impact of the disease on their daily lives was reduced.

The researchers also found that costs were reduced by £470 per patient for those who attended the therapy sessions compared with usual care. It was shown to almost halve the cost of visits to the GP, falling from £11,340 at the start of the study to just £5,832 at the eight month follow up. The costs of outpatient hospital visits were also slashed from £32,592 at the beginning of the study to £21,534 at the eight-month follow-up.

If you're interested in increasing your staff's ability to run groups then attend (or commission in-house) our essential toolkit for running groups' course

Please welcome our new SDS Tutor!

2011-06-30T18:17:00.004+01:00

I am very pleased to introduce to you today a new SDS tutor, my good friend and colleague Dr Fiona Kennedy: SDS Trainers

Fiona has a vast clinical experience in mental health (from anxiety through eating disorders and PTSD to psychosis and personality disorders) and learning disability fields. Fiona’s main orientation for many years has been Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and she is an established and well respected figure in the field.
Dr Kennedy will be delivering two very practical and highly demanded courses for us:

• Working with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and
• Teaching Clients to Use Mindfulness Skills

Please explore the website for detailed description of the courses and download PDF leaflets for further particulars.

As you are our continuous supporter we here at SDS decided to offer you a special deal to make training more accessible at this difficult and financially uncertain time: for 24 hours only you can book these courses online with 50% discount, paying only £70 + vat for each.

I hope you will find these courses useful for your work and take advantage of this short-term offer.

I will be in touch shortly with some feedback on our recent debates.

Best wishes
Paul Grantham

Motivation for Addiction

2011-06-30T16:37:00.004+01:00

Smoking is far more than just a physical dependancy. For those looking to quit it is just as much psychological!

Motivation is a key factor in quitting. No motivation, no reason to quit, the less likely a person is to quit!

A new motivational approach by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine was published recently and involved using Text messaging to mobile phones to provide the extra motivation. The study examined the long-term effects of specially-designed motivational text messages.

The motivated group received five text messages a day for the first five weeks and then three per week for the next 26 weeks with a personalised system which also allowed people to receive instant messages at times of need by texting the word 'crave' or 'Lapse'.

Examples of the messages include:
•"This is it! -- QUIT DAY, throw away all your fags. TODAY is the start of being QUIT forever, you can do it!"
•"Cravings last less than 5 minutes on average. To help distract yourself, try sipping a drink slowly until the craving is over."

The results showed that continuous abstinence at six months was significantly increased in the motivated group with a 10.7% success rate compared to 4.9% success rate in the control group.

Not only are motivational Text messages a convenient way for smokers to receive support to quit, the extra motivation they received clearly made the difference between deciding to quit or not. The psychological side of the addiction is clearly strong and the ability to motivate the participants in the study helped them fight their cravings.

Motivational techniques have been found to work with a number of different addictions, or other psychological illnesses. They are many times when they only thing holding a client back is their own lack of motivation. If you feel your clients need to be better motivated then look into SDS's 'Motivational Interviewing' course and start motivating your clients today!

Motivational Interviewing and Beyond"

Major Depression and Negative Mindset

2011-06-09T17:15:00.003+01:00

A recent study has found further evidence that people suffering with Major Depression are stuck in a negative mindset, and re-live their negative experiences again and again in their mind.

In the study 26 people with depression and 27 people who had never had depression were sat in front of a computer and shown three words, one at a time. They were told to remember the words either in the order they were presented or in reverse order. The computer then presented one of the three words and they were supposed to respond as quickly as they could whether that word was first, second, or third in the list.

People with depression had trouble re-ordering the words in their head; if they were asked to remember the words in reverse order, they took longer to give the correct answer. They had a particularly hard time if the three words had negative meanings, like "death" or "sadness."

But therapy techniques such as motivational interviewing, brief solution focused therapy or positive therapy could prove to be very useful at helping clients change their mindset and thinking and allow them to move on with their lives, which they may not be able to do without guidance.

All of these psychological skills are available from the Skills Development Service:
Motivational Interviewing
Brief Solution Focused Therapy
Positive Therapy

Interested in all these courses? Then why not go for our certificate in Resource Based Therapy course.
Certificate in Resource Based Therapy

Psychotherapy DVDs are also offering an 8 Disk CBT Training Package, offering 14 CPD hours: Essential CBT Skills Series - 8 DVDs Set - 14 CPD Hours

Why is prescribing still rising?

2011-06-07T12:22:00.001+01:00

Now here’s an interesting question (or two) for you:
Do you believe that offering more “talking therapy” on the NHS should increase or decrease the amount of psychotropic drugs prescribed in the UK?
Do you think that an increase of 3600 therapists would produce greater or lesser use of Prozac in the UK?

Before you wonder if this is a trick question, it isn’t designed to be. It has been a long standing assumption that the reason most long term prescribing occurs is because of the absence of alternatives. Before any of you object and say that the use of both is current “good practice”, Id point out that one of the key arguments for introducing IAPT (Increasing Access To Psychological Therapies) was that depression could be treated for around £800 per person through therapy, rather than the more costly use of anti-depressants.

Why am I raising this? Simply because data that has just been released that demonstrates that there has been a rise of 46% in the number of antidepressants that have been prescribed between 2006 and 2010. Please note the size of the increase – 46%! In other words we are not just talking an increase here, but an increase of a half over just four years – a period that maps exactly onto the training and introduction of 3600 new therapists.

SDS is currently running its BPS Approved Certificate in Resource Based Therapies in London, Leeds and Birmingham
http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/rbt.html

It would appear that such an introduction hasn’t even TOUCHED such prescribing. In fact a cynic might even wonder if the two might be linked in some way. The Guardian states that the increase is due to the recession. However, even a cursory glance at the data indicates that the overall trend both predates the recession by 2 years and that the overall trend has not been effected by the onset of the recession, possibly because unemployment level increases have been (relatively) low (so far) in comparison with earlier recessions in the 1990s and 1980s.

Maybe this is the reason why the pharmaceutical industry never complained about the introduction of IAPT, with a total investment of towards £700 million - the biggest financial investment in the training of professionals in behaviour and emotion change skills, in history. Maybe they knew something all along that we didn’t! In fact, although I was as excited as anyone with the introduction of IAPT, I always had doubts as to whether it would achieve what it claimed to. Leaving aside questions of whether you can translate costings from treatment in a research setting to the costs in the general community, it always struck me that bigger issues were stacked up against it.

SDS is currently running its BPS Approved Certificate in Resource Based Therapies in London, Leeds and Birmingham
http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/rbt.html

There is a bigger problem that we face in attempting to help people who are distressed or need to change their behaviour. This problem is the “pathologisation” of behaviour and normal emotional states in our society. The biggest, but not the only, cause of this is the increasing classification and extension of medical diagnosis to a growing range of normal experiences. Shyness becomes “Social Anxiety”, worrying becomes “Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)” and unhappiness becomes “Depression”. This means that increasingly large sections of the population are seen as “suffering” from a “condition” or mental “health” problem, which we know requires “treatment” in a “medical “ (or quasi-medical) setting. Equally, it is worth pointing out that there has never been a single diagnosis in history that has not had a pharmaceutical answer identified for it. The increase in diagnostic categories has also been accompanied by the increasing widening of their use – whether we are talking about the term “depression” or “PTSD”. Physical diagnoses have largely not been extended but their associated social categorisation has been. Hence the term “disability” is used to cover a considerably wider range of behaviours and conditions today that was the case 20 years ago for instance.

I don’t want to suggest there have been no benefits whatsoever from this change. However, the price we pay psychologically, socially and financially is an increasing tendency for us to view ourselves as “pathological” in some medical or quasi medical way. With this in mind, a "medicine" seems like a very logical next step … or at the very least a useful adjunct to other forms of help.

This issue of “pathologisation” crops up continually here at The Skills Development Service.

My colleagues and I attempt to address it with our clients and through our training on an almost continuous basis. Indeed, I genuinely think that the time is ripe for promoting an alternative way of conceptualising our work with our clients. A new way of helping us and a new way to conceptualise what we are trying to do. Our focus on “Resource Based Therapies” is designed to revolutionise the way we think and work with clients, to focus on their strengths, what causes them to thrive and what they would like to be doing as an alternative to having their current problem.

SDS is currently running its BPS Approved Certificate in Resource Based Therapies in London, Leeds and Birmingham
http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/rbt.html

Come and join us and have your thinking challenged about the way you are working at present. Most importantly, have your passion for your work reinvigorated. Over the coming weeks I will be highlighting a number of key elements of what an alternative looks like and how it can revolutionise your work with clients. Speak with you again soon.

Take care
Paul Grantham
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
The Skills Development Service Ltd

Motivation for weight loss

2011-06-06T17:13:00.003+01:00

Indiana University researchers report that the confidence and motivation built in a virtual gym can continue on into normal, 'real' life.

This statement comes after participants in a 12-week weight loss programme - one real, and one online - lost similar amounts of weight. Both groups lost 10 pounds on average but when the groups were surveyed on whether their overall behaviour had changed, those using the virtual gym appeared to have made more changes towards healthy eating and physical activity, suggesting that they might fare better in the future, compared to the 'real' group.

Dr Johnson (one of the study researchers) said that "[the virtual gym] has the potential to reach people who normally wouldn't go to a gym or join a programme because of limitations, such as time or discomfort with a fitness centre environment"

This study is particularly interesting as it seems that the motivation and encouragment people received from the virtual group was as effective, if not more effictive, than those attending the real-life groups. The main point to draw from this study could be that there is strong evidence for a role in virtual support for weight loss that can be further researched and encouraged. Motivation, whether online or real life, seems to be successful at encouraging weight loss.

For information on SDS courses such as 'Motivational Interviewing' and 'Solution Focused Therapy' please visit our website: www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk

More Essential CBT Skills!

2011-05-18T16:59:00.002+01:00

Head on over to http://www.psychotherapydvds.com for more information on this brilliant 8 disk set!

Essential CBT Skills

2011-05-17T17:05:00.002+01:00

Our 8 DVD Set on Essential CBT Skills launched today at PsychotherapyDVDs.com: 8 DVD set "Essential CBT Skills"

Watch the trailer:
Essential CBT Skills Trailer

and browse all 8 titles of this comprehensive collection of essential CBT techniques:
All 8 CBT Titles

This unique training set produced in the UK by Accredited CBT Therapists with vast clinical experience is available exclusively at www.psychotherapydvds.com

We hope to see you on our website soon!

CBT and Bipolar mood swings

2011-05-11T17:05:00.003+01:00

Previously Bi-polar disorder (or 'Manic depression') was thought to be largely biologically or genetically based, meaning there was little that patients could do about their mood swings other than medication.

However researchers at Manchester and Lancaster Universities have found that mood swings can be predicted by patient's thoughts and behaviour. This finding is significant as it opens the door for therapy techniques such as CBT to be used effectively.

"Individuals who believed extreme things about their moods, for example that their moods were completely out of their own control or that they had to keep active all the time to prevent becoming a failure, developed more mood problems in a month's time. In contrast, people with bipolar disorder who could let their moods pass as a normal reaction to stress or knew they could manage their mood, faired well a month later." said study lead Dr Warren Mansell.

This is obviously encouraging for CBT as it aims to help patients talk about their moods and change their thinking about them. A new CBT method known as TEAMS (Think Effectively About Mood Swings) is currently under development at the University of Manchester.

Anybody interested in the SDS CBT course can find it here:
SDS 3-Day CBT

Our June course is already fully booked so make sure you book September now to avoid disappointment!

Also to be released soon is our new range of CBT Training Series! So please keep an eye out of upcoming information!

Psychotherapy with Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Clients

2011-04-28T17:37:00.002+01:00

Have a look at this video clip with Dr Christine Padesky doing CBT with a client:

PsychotherapyDvds.com

This is a preview from a new DVD training pack available at Psychotherapydvds.com – part 2 of the series “Psychotherapy with Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Clients”:

Psychotherapy with Gay Lesbian and Bisexual Clients vol 2

This training pack “Individual Assessment and Psychotherapy” explores with you the effectiveness of cognitive therapy with this population, implications of internalized homophobia and the importance of hypothesis testing in therapy, assessment of presenting problems and stages of identity development for GLB clients and much more.

The training therapy sessions by Dr Padesky within this DVD are award winning as an outstanding training demonstration for both students and experienced psychotherapists.

This DVD is a part of a 7 DVD Training Set: Psychotherapy with Gay Lesbian and Bisexual Clients set , which is currently offered to you at a promotional price, with £40 off.

If you prefer to buy individual DVDs in the series – they are on offer in our VIP zone: Special Prices for Registered Customers

Just log in and save on individual titles.

Wishing you a lovely Bank Holiday weekend!

CBT and Brain waves

2011-04-15T17:20:00.004+01:00

A recent study into the effects of psychotherapy on Social Anxiety Disorder found some very interesting results!

A group of adults with Social Anxiety Disorder attended 12 weekly sessions of CBT together. Before, half-way through and after the 12 sessions the participant's were given an EEG brainscan.

What was discovered was highly encouraging.

Before therapy, the group's tests were similar to those of the high-anxiety control but by the end of the 12 sessions, the group's tests resembled those of the low-anxiety control group. Showing a dramatic change in brain function over the 12 weeks. Although it can't be concluded that the CBT is changing the brain function directly, as some of the patients were taking medication the author acknowledged that it was an important step towards understanding the biology of anxiety and developing better treatments.

If you're interested in improving your own CBT skills or CBT within your organisation, have a look at our website: SDS CBT Course - and sign up today!

V. Miskovic, D. A. Moscovitch, D. L. Santesso, R. E. McCabe, M. M. Antony, L. A. Schmidt. Changes in EEG Cross-Frequency Coupling During Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder. Psychological Science, 2011; DOI: 10.1177/0956797611400914

Cognitive-Bias Modification

2011-04-13T17:00:00.010+01:00

Cognitive-Bias Modification has been in the news recently - but what is it?

CBM is a relatively new style of psychological treatment that works by the client simply sitting in front of their PC. CBM is a form of therapy that works on Attentional Biases. If you take as an example, people suffering anxiety disorder: they may have an attentional bias towards threat. This means they are drawn towards stimuli that they perceive to be dangerous. This attentional bias then affects memory and the recall of an event. As the anxiety sufferer has a bias towards 'threat' stimuli, these are the elements that are remembered when trying to recall a memory. Likewise, drug users have demonstrated an attentional bias towards drug related cues.

The aim of CBM is to change these biases.

The most common method used to re-train attention is the 'dot-probe task.' Two stimuli are briefly presented on a screen: One is emotionally relevant (i.e. designed to draw the attention due to the attentional bias) and the other is neutral. The stimuli is displayed for half a second then one is replaced by a task that the client must respond to. The attentional bias is indicated by the difference in reaction time to the task after it replaces an emotionally relevant stimuli compared to neutral stimuli.

Gradually the task replaces the neutral stimuli increasingly until it replaces the neutral stimuli 100% of the time. The client learns an implicit 'if-then' rule, namely: If both stimuli are present, then attend to the neutral stimuli. Often, repeating the procedure a number of times over an extended time period will change the client's tendency to focus on the emotionally relevant stimuli. That change is then carried over into the world.

The effectiveness for this method is still to be decided, with conflicting evidence at the moment, although it still tends towards being effective.

One of the major advantages of this style of therapy style, assuming it works, is that the client need only sit in front of their pc and run the program. They will no longer need to attend therapy sessions anymore. But only if CBM really is the panacea it hopes to be.

Post Stroke: Functional Capabilities and Depression

2011-04-05T17:03:00.003+01:00

After a stroke a third of people become clinical depressed but testing and treating of depression post-strok can help improve functioning.

Research has found that individuals who remain depressed three months after a stroke are more likely to have decreased functional capabilities (e.g. dressing self and eating) than those whose depression was successfully treated!

According to a study by Arlene A. Schmid, “The relationship between post-stroke depression and recovery of function after a stroke has not been well understood. Previous researchers have looked at both depression and function after stroke but they did not investigate whether identifying and managing depression improved ability to accomplish tasks of daily living and other function related issues.”

This new research reports that successful depression management led to better functionality that might enable the individual to return to work or more thoroughly enjoy leisure functions while decreasing the caregiver burden.

In addition to improving the well being of Stroke patients, management of depression would lower health care costs associated with functional impairment and other post-stroke treatment issues.

"This study is one of the first to show not just the link between depression and worse function post-stroke, but that successfully treating depression symptoms actually improves post-stroke outcomes,” noted the researchers.

Luckily the Skills Development Service has already been delivering a course on Psychological Coping Strategies Post Stroke for some time, and has provided training to a number of Cardiac and Stroke Networks around the country! The course is available to be delivered in-house but seminars are also being run around the country throughout 2011 and BPS Learning Centre approved.

More information can be found on our website: Psychological Coping Strategies Post Stroke

(The study mentioned above is published in the March 15, 2011 issue of the journal Neurology.)

CBT: Introductory Course

2011-03-23T12:07:00.002Z

Our most popular CBT Introductory Course was run by Paul Grantham last week for the first time.

Delegate`s feedback was extremely positive and we want to share with you some of the comments - please see the comments to this post.

Please note that this course is run in very small groups (no more than 18 delegates) - therefore the places are strictly limited. We only have ONE place still available for the June course in London.

In the Autumn CBT Introductory Course will take place in Manchester, Birmingham & London (facilitated by Paul Grantham) - please secure your place early to avoid disappontment.

Diabetes and Psychology

2011-03-18T17:37:00.003Z

Diabetes and psychology are not often thought of as being complimentary but with the use of psychology the life of a diabetic can be drastically improved. To understand the role that psychology has to play it is first important to understand exactly what diabetes is and how it can affect the life of a diabetic.

85% of diabetics have type 2 diabetes which is the body's resistance to insulin. Insulin is naturally produced in the body and helps to breakdown the glucose in the blood. The causes of type 2 diabetes are linked to obesity, inactivity and an unhealthy diet. In order to cope with diabetes the diabetic needs to avoid long periods of high blood glucose levels called hyperglycemia and also periods of hypoglycemia which is low blood glucose levels. To balance these 2 extremes a diabetic needs to monitor and regulate their blood sugar levels on a regular basis. If the diabetic doesn't keep their glucose levels under controls they may encounter a whole host of unpleasant diseases and side effects.

The use of psychology comes in when it is necessary for a diabetic to make rapid and extreme changes to their lifestyle. Once diagnosed a diabetic must make these changes almost overnight so someone may go from a sedentary lifestyle of eating junk food and watching TV to having to eat regular healthy food and take regular exercise and well as monitor their blood sugar level. This rapid change can cause lots of problems for newly diagnosed diabetics.

The routines needed to monitor blood sugar levels and control the diabetes can be very complicated. As the majority of diabetes treatment is self care there can be serious problems if the person lacks motivation. Their condition can deteriorate and result in amputation of limbs or blindness. It is therefore imperative that the doctors use psychology to make the patient understand the importance of the illness.

Tests conducted in Canada and Germany into diabetes and psychology in recent years using fully qualified psychologists have resulted in increased levels of successful diabetes control. Whilst still relatively new the use of psychology has undoubted positive effects. With the current level of 125 million diabetes sufferers estimate to double to 300 million in the next 20 years it is important that doctors start to realise the obvious befits of psychology and incorporate psychology as part of the treatment plan for any diabetic.

An very interesting article. Psychology and a number of physical illnesses are becoming more and more interlinked, with illnesses such as Cancer and Stroke also warranting more and more psychological intervention throughout the illness and after.

The Skills Development Service are currently rolling out a number of training days for those working with Stroke Patients and Psycho-oncology, we are soon hoping to have a training course ready for Diabetes also.

If you have any interest in any of these courses please feel free to contact SDS on 01183 360169.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Max_Peykar

On Altruism, Motor Control and Positive Psychology

2011-03-11T17:11:00.000Z

A polite act shows respect.

But a new study of a common etiquette-holding a door for someone-suggests that courtesy may have a more practical, though unconscious, shared motivation: to reduce the work for those involved. The research, by Joseph P. Santamaria and David A. Rosenbaum of Pennsylvania State University, is the first to combine two fields of study ordinarily considered unrelated: altruism and motor control. It is to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

"The way etiquette has been viewed by Emily Post-that you're being proper by following social codes-is undoubtedly part of it," said psychology professor Rosenbaum. "Our insight is there is another contributor: the mental representation of other people's physical effort. Substantial research in the field of motor control shows that people are good at estimating how much effort they and others expend," Rosenbaum continued. "We realized that this concept could be extended to a shared-effort model of politeness."

The researchers videotaped people approaching and passing through the door of a university building. The tapes were analyzed for the relationships among several behaviors: Did the first person hold the door for a follower or followers and for how long? How did the likelihood of holding the door depend on the distance between the first person at the door and whomever followed?

"The most important result," Rosenbaum said, "was that when someone reached the door and two people followed, the first person at the door held the door longer than if only one person followed. The internal calculation on the part of the first arriver was, 'My altruism will benefit more people, so I'll hold the door longer.'"

Another finding: the followers who noticed the door-holder hastened their steps, helping to "fulfill the implicit pact" between themselves and the opener "to keep their joint effort below the sum of their individual door-opening efforts," the authors write.

A more common explanation of why we extend a physical gesture of courtesy is what the researchers term the "critical distance" model: we do something for someone if she is simply near enough. But the researchers found that model insufficient. "We need a way of describing why there is a change of probability" both of doing the task and of expending more time at it, said Rosenbaum. Is the critical distance 10 feet? Why not 50 feet? What is "near enough?" And why wait longer if more people are following? "You still come back to the question of what the individuals are trying to achieve."

Rosenbaum sees the shared-effort model as enhancing, not detracting from, our appreciation of good manners: "Here are people who will probably never see each other again," he says, "but in this fleeting interaction, they reduce each others' effort. This small gesture is uplifting for society."

Source:
Association for Psychological Science

How to be more Effective

2011-03-07T17:35:00.001Z

This is just a blog to share with you delegates’ feedback on our new course HOW TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE: THERAPY APPLICATIONS OF TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH (CETS - MODULE 2) that run for the first day in London last week: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=67

The feedback is extremely positive with 90% of delegates assessing all elements of the course as “Very Good”, indeed some of them marked it even as “Very Good +++”.

Paul Grantham, who facilitated the course, was extremely pleased with the delegates’ participation and their involvement during the course.

I just want to quote one response that summarised the overall opinion of the delegates:

• “Today has taken me out of my comfort zone, but in a good way. I would never have thought of using this kind of research to help my clients but there is so much to choose from!”

Remember, if you are booking online you can still take advantage of Early Bird Booking Discount and save over £25 of the regular price: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=67

This course is a module of the Certificate in Essential Therapy Skills, approved by the BPS Learning Centre for the purposes of CPD: http://skillsdevelopment.co.uk/ets.html

Looking forward to meeting at our courses soon.

A message from Paul Grantham

2011-03-04T10:24:00.002Z

Hello all!

Just wanted to share with you a few things that had been on my mind over the last couple of weeks:

- I was applying some finishing touches to the presentation for my new course “HOW TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE: THERAPY APPLICATIONS OF TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH (CETS - MODULE 2)” that goes ahead this week in London (Wednesday) and then rolls around the country during March. Again and again, while working on this topic, I felt astonished by the vast number of extremely useful research studies in the fields of social psychology, anthropology, management & development, that can be directly applied to therapeutic settings, to everyday work that all of us involved in, but that in the overwhelming majority of cases remain totally unknown and unused by our profession. The interventions and changes that can produce remarkable results and change clients’ response to therapy are incredibly simple and sometimes seem surprisingly obvious, (after you read about them that is), and they often left me wondering – why – WHY? – I haven’t thought of this before and why these approaches are not used every day in everyone’s practice?

I am pleased with the way the course is now shaping up and look forward to working on it with you – it promises to be stimulating and exciting, hopefully for you as well as myself.

You still can book with the online discount here

I am very grateful for all the replies we’ve received from our delegates to our latest delegate debate. I was particularly interested in comments made by L.A. on the situation regarding psychological support for stroke patients. She writes: “…the recent CQC review highlights that only about 40% of stroke survivors receive any psychological support at all and what that consists of is anyone’s guess due to the shortage of Clinical Psychology positions within the NHS.” I cannot agree more – as you know SDS runs a unique training course for a wide range of health professionals working with stroke patients “PSYCHOLOGICAL COPING STRATEGIES POST STROKE (CERTIFICATE COURSE)” (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=75 ) designed specifically to address this issue. We’ve run this course as in-house training around the UK as well as the open course (completed recently) and the response to this training has been extremely positive. If you want to know more about various options of this training – check out the website of get in touch with our training co-ordinator Peter Musham (petermusham@skillsdevelopment.co.uk ).

In her comment C.C. makes very valid point about similarities between this situation with Mental Health and current policies in Education. P.H. takes the argument further presenting us all with extremely difficult questions about choice and priorities that the NHS will inevitably have to face in the not too distant future.

Thank you!

I am personally particularly grateful for the comment by L.V. who, apart from adding interesting points to our discussion, shared with me her first experiences of using the Miracle Question with her clients, following her participation in our Brief Solution Focused Therapy workshop. She says about her clients that after the use of the Miracle Question “…their attitude, animation and level of involvement in the session changed dramatically”. These sort of comments are so rewarding for me and all of us here at SDS – we feel that our work makes real difference to delegates’ practice and it is what we are here for! Please keep sharing with us your triumphs and achievements no matter how great or small.

You can read all the comments on this topic at: "No Health Without Mental Health"

And finally – we’ve completed a new training DVD in series “Training with Experts Series” – “New Approaches to Grief & Loss Work (with me!) - 3 DVD Set”

You can find it here.

My colleagues at Psychotherapydvds.com tell me that currently it is on special offer. You can save £10 off the set and receive CPD certificate for 3 hours. Have a look.

Looking forward to seeing you at our training events again soon!

No Health Without Mental Health

2011-02-07T11:31:00.002Z

Greetings all!

The Coalition Government has just published its initial plans on mental health - "No Health Without Mental Health": "No Health Without Mental Health"

I don't want to go into the content of the document at present or even raise the question of how mental health can be improved within a context of service cuts.

Instead, I want to draw your attention to and seek your thoughts on a key expressed assumption within the document highlighted by NHS Networks, namely that " THE GOVERNMENT [HAS THE] AIM OF ACHIEVING PARITY OF ESTEEM BETWEEN PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH". I’ve never come across such a strongly expressed statement of parity between physical and mental health in ANY government policy document before.

Now, of course, this may all be talk and that the reality may be quite different. However, my cynicism isn't quite so marked - not because of my belief in the intrinsic altruism of governments - but rather because of the financial issues currently being grappled with.

Firstly, there is the issue of the welfare budget. Forgive me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs here but for those unaware of the history of incapacity benefits let me give some brief background. Twenty years ago, Invalidity and Sickness Benefit (as it was then called) along with associated housing benefit was significantly short term in nature (six months or less) and primarily claimed by those with industrial injuries and pain problems. By 2010 this situation had radically changed whereby an increasing number of claimants were claiming for more than six months and over 50% of these were claiming for mental health problems. At estimated costs of £16 billion a year all political parties began to look seriously at the question of addressing this cost. IAPT (Increasing Access To Psychological Therapies), introduced by the last government and extended by this government by hundreds of millions of pounds, is the most visible example of how seriously central government now takes mental health. (CBT Training); (Managing Depression)

Secondly, the parity between mental health and physical health has also become apparent as a result of their interconnectedness - again from the perspective of the costs, this time associated with health costs associated with "long term conditions". The latter includes such illnesses as diabetes, cardiovascular problems, respiratory diseases and stroke. They are conditions that are often associated with repeated hospital admissions (which are costly) usually prompted by failure to maintain changes in health behaviour or because of the de-motivating effects of mental health problems such as depression. The thinking is that IF services can address depression or poor motivation in such groups, hospital re-admission rates will fall and costs reduced. (Motivational Interviewing Training); (Psychological Coping Post-Stroke)

Now this is all very understandable and laudable stuff - all industrialised countries at present are trying to contain healthcare costs, but a recognition that mental and physical health are intrinsically interconnected strikes me as a radical new framework in which to start debating this. However, it also raises difficult questions about the priorities that we we establish within this however.

• With limited money, do you agree that Depression and Degenerative Arthritis are of "parity of esteem".
• What about Panic Attacks and Palliative Care or Gall Bladder problems and Generalised Anxiety Disorder? Or do you think that we should recognise that such "parity of esteem" varies according to the type of problem.
• Should Botox continue to be funded on the NHS in certain circumstances when those with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder still have problems finding ANY service wanting to work with them?
• Should Pancreatitis be seen as having a "parity of esteem" with PTSD or should the latter be seen as a more pressing issue.

These are difficult questions with no easy answers. However the government's express acceptance of "parity of esteem" between physical and mental health opens up this debate.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? ALL VIEWS AND IDEAS ARE GREATLY WELCOMED.

Early Bird Reminder!

2011-02-03T17:10:00.001Z

This is just a quick reminder that the Early Bird Discount (EBD) of £26 for the “How to Be More Effective: Therapy Applications of Translational Research” course will be expiring during February. (With EBD you pay £99.00 (£118.80 inc VAT) instead of the regular price of £125.00 (£150.00 inc VAT))

The Early Bird Discount is only applicable to the places booked a month or more prior to the chosen date of course.

Please check the dates and venues and book quickly to make sure that you take an advantage of this discounted rate: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=78

Read more about the course: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/files/Eff_Therapy_Interview_Nov2010.pdf

DVD Offer

2011-02-03T17:06:00.001Z

We are excited to let you know about a very special double DVD training pack in our online store:

Resolving Trauma in Psychotherapy: A Somatic Approach with Dr Peter Levine http://www.psychotherapydvds.com/epages/colt5155.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/colt5155/Products/2124/SubProducts/2124-0001

Watch a true master, Dr. Peter A. Levine, demonstrate a course of body-oriented trauma therapy in this extremely compelling and in-depth video with an Iraq Veteran diagnosed with severe PTSD.
You can watch a short video extract from the set right here on our front page: http://www.psychotherapydvds.com

Peter A. Levine, PhD, is the developer of Somatic Experiencing® and founder of the Foundation for Human Enrichment. He teaches in this work throughout the world and in various indigenous cultures. Levine is the author of the best-selling book, 'Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma: The Innate Capacity to Transform Overwhelming Experiences' and he has recently co-published a comprehensive book on childhood trauma, 'Trauma Through a Child's Eyes: Awakening the Ordinary Miracle of Healing,' as well as a guide for parents, 'Trauma-Proofing Your Kids: A Parents' Guide for Instilling Confidence, Joy and Resilience.'

By watching this DVD training set, you will:
• Learn the nine building blocks of the Somatic Experiencing® approach
• Understand the physiological orientation that underpins this method of trauma resolution
• Have the tools to integrate basic somatic methods into your clinical work with trauma clients
YOU CAN CURRENTLY SAVE £10 ON THIS NEW RELEASE. THIS OFFER IS VALID ONLY FOR THE NEXT 10 DAYS.

On Happiness

2011-01-27T11:19:00.002Z

BBC is promoting "Happiness" very heavily in their breakfast show this week: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12263893

Lots of techniques from Positive Psychology field…

Have you ever tried any of them yourself? Please share your experience with us if you feel like it…

Fascinating question:
Can it work for your clients?

We believe so and can prove that it can!

Come to our Positive Therapy courses to find out how: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=52

See what Paul Grantham thinks about it:

Psychotherapy DVD Training Zone and Offers!

2011-01-25T17:05:00.000Z

Hello all!

We are excited to introduce to you our new:

ONLINE VIDEO TRAINING ZONE: http://www.psychotherapydvds.com/epages/colt5155.sf/secsiIQ7zi_BI6/?ObjectPath=/Shops/colt5155/Categories/For_our_customers (sign in required).

In this area we will regularly post online video training materials. This training is absolutely free for registered customers.

You can watch these videos of live case consultations and work with suggested reading materials at your own leisure. Once you’ve completed each training module you will be entitled to receive a CPD certificate for 2 hours absolutely free (postage payable).

First module available for you now is a case consultation conducted by Dr Robin Hart, MSc MA DPsych, BABCP (Accred), with a client experiencing anxiety problems and fears about not being a good mother.

We hope you’ll find this new development valuable for your training needs.
__________________________________________________________

DO YOU WANT TO SAVE UP TO 50% ON THESE AND MANY OTHER TITLES?

The Abused Woman: A Survivor Therapy Approach £17.47 plus delivery (Regular price - £34.95)
- Dr. Lenore Walker has worked with physically, psychologically, and sexually abused women for more than 30 years and has developed an approach to their treatment called Survivor Therapy.

Tools and Techniques for Family Therapy £12.47 plus delivery (Regular price - £24.95)
- John Edwards has spent the last twenty years distilling the intricacies of family systems theory into a user-friendly approach that has enhanced the work of thousands of clinicians and trainers around the world.

Visit our January Bargains Store and select your training packs: https://estore.eclipse.net.uk/epages/colt5155.sf/secpeeV3wjf_qU/?ObjectID=2374030&ViewAction=View&PageSize=20

Hope to see you in our training zone really soon!

Certificate in Essential Therapy Skills and More!

2011-01-25T16:56:00.003Z

We have received a lot of questions about our new course “CERTIFICATE IN ESSENTIAL THERAPY SKILLS” http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=79 (Approved by The British Psychological Society Learning Centre for CPD).

This Certificate Course consists of 4 modules two of which are currently running and two others will be offered later this year:

• HOW TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE: THERAPY APPLICATIONS OF TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH ( dates & venues: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=78 )
• THE ESSENTIAL TOOLKIT FOR RUNNING GROUPS (dates & venues: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=67 )
• THE ESSENTIAL TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS FOR THERAPISTS (will run in June 2011)
• EFFECTIVE THERAPEUTIC PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES FOR CLIENTS (will run in June 2011)

Paul Grantham has kindly answered some questions about the course. You can find his interview in Therapy Today or on our website: http://skillsdevelopment.co.uk/files/COUN_Feb_2011.pdf

Many of you have already attended our seminars on effective group work – it means that you’ve completed 25% towards the new Certificate. Book now on “How to Be More Effective” ( http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=78 ) course – early bird discount is currently available – you can save over £25 if you act swiftly.

To read more about this new certificate go to: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/files/Eff_Therapy_Interview_Nov2010.pdf

_______________________________________________________

Our courses on Certificate in Resource Based Therapies (RBT) are booking fast.

BSFT course in February is fully booked, but due to a cancellation we have ONE place left on Motivational Interviewing (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=5) and BSFT with Complex Cases (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=70) in February. Jump in if you were waiting for these places.

RBT courses are running in Birmingham and Leeds in May – many of you were asking us whether we will bring this training to other parts of the country – here is your opportunity to book them outside London and save on travelling costs.

We are looking forward to seeing you on our courses soon!

Motivation and Good Health

2011-01-18T17:07:00.008Z

Another big NHS story to hit the news recently is the idea of the NHS providing incentives to motivate patients to become healthy.

An interesting idea in theory, as there is evidence that incentives do encourage people to continue behaviours - so if your goal is to quit smoking the the NHS rewards you, by whatever means, you are more likely to stick at it. In this example, the short term rewards for quitting is just as great (if not better than!) the long term reward (good health.)

But this idea hasn't come without controversy.

The first barrier is whether incentives are actually effective - or would the NHS just be throwing money away? So far, the results seem mixed - some hits and some misses. Unfortunately there is very little evidence at this point in time to suggest that even the positive evidence will last long term, especially after incentives are removed.

Unsurprisingly, in my mind at least anyway, a large percentage of the public is actually against NHS incentives, which struck me as rather amusing as the percentage of overweight and obese people in the UK is over 50% (or so my quick google for statistics told me.) Read into that what you will - there's no direct link between the two points, I honestly just found that interesting.

.. But people just don't feel incentives are fair.

And perhaps this is what it comes down to - fairness. It's not fair that people ruin their own health then are paid by the taxpayer to improve their health. The public seems to have no problem with surgery, e.g. for heart or lung problems, after the event - we don't seem to want people dead! - but it's not viewed as fair to help people before the absolutely need it.

I don't know which way to think - it's just an interesting point of note.

The thinkers at the NHS may have been along the right lines - motivation, it can be argued, is the number one reason people change their behaviour. I mean, why would you change your behaviour if you weren't motivated to do so - right? So their heart was in the right place.

But perhaps their are other motivations that can be used in the stead of taxpayers money? Smokers, for example, save a huge amount of money by simply not buying cigarettes! If smoker 'Frank' enjoys playing sports, what's going to motivate him more than being able to breath properly when he's running around the pitch?!

Motivation may be the key to helping people improve their on health - but maybe financial incentives are not the way to about it?

Looking to help motivate people yourself? - For more information on Motivation, have a look on our website www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk and check out our course "Motivational Interviewing and Beyond."

Post Stroke Support

2011-01-13T17:01:00.002Z

Post-Stroke care has been in the news this week, with a number of people complaining about the lackof after-care provided by the NHS. Now, although these complaints were aimed mainly towards the physical side of after-care (statistics say that 50,000 people a year are left with disabilities following a stroke) it doesn't take much of a stretch to see that the psychological aftercare maybe in question also!

And then we have to think of the 50,000 people a year left with disabilities after stroke and their psychological well-being.

And the psychological wellbeing of those around them!

Testimonials such as this:
"My wife and I didn't get offered counselling for three years and that's something that needs to be considered more - it's a lot of stress for carers as well as those who have had the stroke."

Show just how the psychological aftercare for stroke victims is far behind what it should be!

The difference in aftercare between Cancer survivors and Stroke Survivors is vastly different:
"After my cancer, the hospitals wrote to me but with my stroke there was nothing."

Perhaps it's just there arn't enough people equipped with the psychological know-how to help stroke survivors? If the Stroke networks find they cannot meet targets for psychological support post-stroke then perhaps they need more people trained in areas that will directly benefit those post-stroke.

Courses such as this from SDS: Psychological Coping Strategies Post Stroke (Certificate Course) provides training for stroke-network staff that can directly benefit stroke survivors.

If you would like to know more contact us through our website: www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk - available as an open course or in-house.

Criteria for PTSD..

2010-12-22T17:29:00.003Z

"The relevancy of an individual's subjective experience in determining what constitutes a traumatic event has been a source of debate among PTSD specialists for years. The study concludes that both objective and subjective factors are relevant and that current PTSD criteria are missing several reactions that many trauma survivors experience."

"A person's response is multifaceted and may include appraisals and other thoughts, a variety of felt emotions and behaviors. It's not enough to rely on the objective qualities of an experience to determine whether it should be considered traumatic or not," said co-author Brian P. Marx, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and psychologist at the VA National Center for PTSD.

"Trauma should be defined as the interaction between the individual and his or her environment and all parts of an individual's response should be considered."

PTSD is believed to be the result of exposure to trauma, so understanding what defines a traumatic experience is critical. The authors suggest that researchers investigate and add more appropriate examples to these criteria in order to more accurately categorize traumatic events.

"Knowing exactly what trauma is can help us to better know who is a trauma survivor and who is not," said Marx. "It is critical that we know this for the purposes of understanding the disorder as well as being better able to help those who are survivors of trauma."

It seems to me that the main problem with PTSD, as stated above, is that there is no concrete way of defining an event or experience as 'traumatic.' Indeed, although there may be events that we generally consider 'traumatic,' for example a bad car accident, it doesn't mean that any one individual suffering an event will become traumatised, or indeed, suffer from PTSD.

So if it's not an objective event that generates the trauma, then it is the perception or the thought process within a person that makes the event traumatic. So, logically, if this though process is generated through any event, even one that isn't considered traumatic - for example, realising you hadn't turned the plug on, symptoms and problems assocaited with PTSD could still manifest, and would it really be fair to claim that this individual wasn't suffering with PTSD just because we don't consider the event 'traumatic?'

Okay, maybe that example was a little far-fetched, but it makes you think, who am I to judge whether an event should or should not make you feel traumatised?

Original Article

New Breathing Treatment Program Effective Against Hyperventilation

2010-12-21T17:19:00.005Z

"A new treatment program teaches people who suffer from panic disorder how to reduce the terrorizing symptoms by normalizing their breathing."

According to a recent study by panic disorder expert Alicia E. Meuret, this method - called Capnometry-Assisted Respiratory Training, or CART - has proved better than traditional cognitive therapy at reducing both symptoms of panic and hyperventilation.

"CART helps patients learn to breathe in such a way as to reverse hyperventilation, a highly uncomfortable state where the blood stream operates with abnormally low levels of carbon dioxide.

CART: Breathing exercises twice a day:

The goal of these exercises is to reduce chronic and acute hyperventilation and associated physical symptoms. This is achieved by breathing slower but most importantly more shallowly. Contrary to popular belief, taking deep breaths actually worsens hyperventilation and symptoms.

"Most panic-disorder patients report they are terrified of physical symptoms such as shortness of breath or dizziness," Meuret said. "In our study, cognitive therapy didn't change respiratory physiology, but CART did effectively reduce hyperventilation. CART was proved an effective and powerful treatment that reduces the panic by means of normalizing respiratory physiology."

CART breathing a proven biological therapy:

The study pitted CART against a conventional cognitive therapy treatment, or CT.

Both treatment programs were equally effective in reducing symptoms. But CART was the only treatment to physiologically alter panic symptoms by actively reversing hyperventilation in the patients."

Link to Full Article

Conduct Problems in Pre-teens Leads to Greater Problems in Teenagers

2010-12-20T17:44:00.004Z

It's probably not a surprise that preteen with Conduct Problems evenutally leads to serious violence in the teenage years.

Well that's what a study by the Université de Montréal found recently.

They found that preteens who steal, destroy property, fight and bully are:

Six times as likely to sell drugs
Nine times as likely to join a gang
Eleven times as likely to carry a weapon
Eight times as likely to be arrested as a teenager

The study examined three groups of 12 and 13-year-old Canadian kids over a span of two years. The group consisted of 4,125 test-subjects who were classified according to precise symptoms of conduct disorders.

"Children with conduct disorders who are not violent are also more likely to adopt serious delinquent behaviors as teenagers," said the researchers.

Researchers for this study believe that the definition of conduct disorders in the DSM should be reviewed as it currently defines the disorder as a combination of any three symptoms on a list of 15, but it doesn't apply to all cases and allows for a possible 30,000 possible combinations.

Like I said, it's not a surprise, but maybe it is time to steop in early and stop the evolution of conduct problems to more serious crimes later in life.

Link to Paper

With A Little Help From Your Friends

2010-12-17T17:16:00.002Z

"The long-term effects of being a withdrawn child are enduringly negative," says lead author William M. Bukowski, "Over time, we found that withdrawn kids showed increasing levels of sadness and higher levels of depressive feelings."

In this recent study, 130 girls and 101 boys took part in the three-year study, where they were asked to rate whether they felt shy or whether they preferred being on their own.

Compared with friendless children, those who had friends were less likely to report depressed feelings.

The researchers believe that "Friendship disrupts the negative and long-term effects of withdrawal. Friendship promotes resilience and protects at-risk kids from internalizing problems such as feeling depressed and anxious."

They concluded that the key to avoid peer rejection is to make at least one friend.

Link to full article on 'Science Daily'

Video games and Violence

2010-12-15T16:54:00.002Z

The verdict is still out on Video Games - Do violent games cause aggression in children?

Well this recent study found that, no, in this case they showed no significant effect on children!

So this study recruited 302 (mainly Hispanic) children between 10 and 14 as part of a larger study of youth violence. They were interviewed twice - once at the start of the study and again 12 months later.

Their exposure to violence both in video games and on television as well as negative life events, including neighborhood problems, negative relationships with adults, antisocial personality, family attachment, and delinquent peers were all taken into account, as well as the styles of family interaction and communication, adolescents' exposure to domestic violence, depressive symptoms, serious aggression, bullying and delinquent behavior.

One year later they found that only 7% of the children who played violent videogames reported engaging in at least one criminally violent act. Only 19% reported engaging in at least one non-violent crime.

The researchers concluded that violent video games were not a good predictor of violent behaviour.

But what they did find was that depressive symptoms were a strong predictor for youth aggression and rule breaking, and their influence was particularly severe for those who had pre-existing antisocial personality traits.

This evidence doesn't end the argument about video games, but it's another step towards finding out the truth!

Link to Article

The Best Motivation to Stop Smoking?

2010-12-14T17:12:00.004Z

What's the best way to motivate smokers to quit? Tell them what their habit is doing to their insides? Show them pictures of what it's doing to their inside? Tell them how much money they could be saving?

All good ideas.

But what about showing them what smoking is doing to their outside... in the future!

Using state-of-the-art morphing technology, researchers have been able to produce images of how smokers will age if they continue to smoke compared to if they stop.

Results were successful with over two thirds of participants in the project claiming they will quit smoking as a direct consequence of seeing how their appearance will change.

Professor Sarah Grogan, Project Lead and Professor of Health Psychology, said: "We found that women were very concerned about the impact of ageing on their faces in general and in particular the additional impact of smoking on their skin - Many experienced a physical shock reaction, including reports of nausea, to seeing how they would age if they continued to smoke.

Now THAT's motivation!

The researchers plan to retest the research participants six months later to see if they kept their word and stopped smoking.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Article

Video Games and Children's Health.

2010-12-14T17:06:00.004Z

How do we get children to eat their vegetables and drink more water? Fact-filled TV adverts? ...Funny radio characters? ...Computer games?

Well maybe so!

Two games, "Escape from Diab" and "Nanoswarm: Invasion from Inner Space" are video games specifically designed to lower risks of type 2 diabetes and obesity by changing behaviors.

"Diab and Nanoswarm were designed as epic video game adventures, comparable to commercial quality video games. These games incorporated a broad diversity of behavior change procedures woven in and around engrossing stories. The games motivated players to substantially improve diet behaviors," according to lead investigator Tom Baranowski, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, U.S. Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service supported Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine. "Serious video games hold promise, but their effectiveness and mechanisms of change among youth need to be more thoroughly investigated."

Amazingly they found that children actually ate more fruit and veg per day, however it didn't increase the amount of water they drank or physical activity. These children basically wanted to sit inside, play computer games and eat an apple! I guess it's better than a chocolate bar!

Oh well, you can't win them all!

But it's a huge step forward in using a medium that children really like to get them to lead healthier lives!

Link to Paper

Imaginary food is just as filling!

2010-12-13T17:35:00.002Z

A new study has found that when you imagine eating a certain food, it reduces your actual consumption of that food.

"These findings suggest that trying to suppress one's thoughts of desired foods in order to curb cravings for those foods is a fundamentally flawed strategy," said Carey Morewedge, lead author of this study. "Our studies found that instead, people who repeatedly imagined the consumption of a morsel of food -- such as an M&M or cube of cheese -- subsequently consumed less of that food than did people who imagined consuming the food a few times or performed a different but similarly engaging task. We think these findings will help develop future interventions to reduce cravings for things such as unhealthy food, drugs and cigarettes, and hope they will help us learn how to help people make healthier food choices."

In the first experiment, participants imagined performing 33 repetitive actions, one at a time.

A second group imagined inserting 30 quarters into a laundry machine and then imagined eating 3 M&M'S.

A third group imagined inserting three quarters into a laundry machine and then imagined eating 30 M&M'S.

All the while, a control group imagined inserting 33 quarters into a laundry machine.

Next, all participants ate freely from a bowl filled with M&M'S. Participants who imagined eating 30 M&M'S actually ate significantly fewer M&M'S than did participants in the other groups.

To ensure that the results were due to imagined consumption of M&M'S rather than the control task, the next experiment manipulated the experience imagined (inserting quarters or eating M&M'S) and the number of times it was imagined. Again, the participants who imagined eating 30 M&M'S subsequently consumed fewer M&M'S than did the participants in the other groups.

"Habituation is one of the fundamental processes that determine how much we consume of a food or a product, when to stop consuming it, and when to switch to consuming another food or product," Vosgerau said. "Our findings show that habituation is not only governed by the sensory inputs of sight, smell, sound and touch, but also by how the consumption experience is mentally represented. To some extent, merely imagining an experience is a substitute for actual experience. The difference between imagining and experiencing may be smaller than previously assumed."

So if you want to stop craving that tasty christmas food come January, just think about eating it a little more often and watch your cravings melt away!

Link to Paper

Depression and it's link with Obesity

2010-12-10T16:48:00.003Z

A new recent study has found that past surveys show having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more increases a person’s risk of depression by 50% to 150%.

Lead author said: “I expect that the relationship between depression and physical activity goes in both directions, Increased physical activity leads to improvement in depression and improvement in depression leads to increased physical activity. We see in our study that they go together, but we can’t say which causes which.”

In the study, women involved were put in two groups.
Group 1: Focused on weight loss
Group 2: Focused on weight loss and depression.

38% of the women who had at least a one-half point decrease on the Hopkins Symptom Checklist depression score lost at least 5% of their body weight.

But only 21% of the women who had no decrease in their depression score lost the same amount.

It seems that levels of depression can greatly affect your weight, perhaps suggesting that you must first help the mind before the body can be effectively helped also.

Simon GE, et al. Association between change in depression and change in weight among women enrolled in weight loss treatment. Gen Hosp Psych, 32(6), 2010.

The 'Secret Ingredient' of Religion

2010-12-09T17:15:00.003Z

Entering the world of Positive Psychology now, a recent study has found that a 'Secret Ingredient' in religion actually makes people happier!

Researchers found that it was not necessarily the spiriual aspect of religion that makes people happier - but the social side! Friendships made within religious congregations lead to greater life satisfaction!

The study compared those who attend religious services weekly, those who attended a few times a year and those that never attended. According to the study, 33% of religious people who have three to five close friends in their congregation report that they are "extremely satisfied." But only 19% of religious people who have no close friend in their congregation report the same.

23% of those who attended only a few times a year but have three to five close friends in their congregation reported that they were "extremely satisfied."

Last of all, 19% of those who never attend religious services say they are extremely satisfied with their lives. The same as those who attend every week, but have no friends within the congregation. This suggests strongly that the part of the service that is most beneficial to the person, in terms of life satisfaction is the socil side!

The researchers commented that: "One of the important functions of religion is to give people a sense of belonging to a moral community based on religious faith. This community, however, could be abstract and remote unless one has an intimate circle of friends who share a similar identity. The friends in one's congregation thus make the religious community real and tangible, and strengthen one's sense of belonging to the community."

They found this evidence within a wide range of Christian denominations as well as similar results within Jewish and Mormon communities.

So you want to be happier? Head out there and make some friends! :)

Article

Dopamine and Individual Styles of Response

2010-12-09T17:01:00.003Z

Contrary to popular belief, researchers have found that the differences in individuals' styles of response to environmental cues can influence chemical reward patterns in the brain. This has a great impact for future treatment and prevention of a number of compulsive behaviours.

The age old question: to what extent is the dopamine released by the rat's brain related to the lever's ability to accurately predict the food. They concluded that it depends on your style!

An example the researchers used: "Some people will see a sign for an ice cream shop and for them it's simply that, an indicator that ice cream is available nearby. But other people will have a stronger reaction to the sign -- the tantalizing association between the sign and ice cream is so powerful, they can already taste the treat and often hurry to buy some."

Similar reactions could be said to occur when people are addicted to harmful substances, not just food.

Using a technique called 'fast-scan cyclic voltammetry,' researchers measured the dopamine responses in the rats' brains - Analysis showed that the rats that were fixated on the environmental cue (the lever) got a jolt of happiness just from the lever, while the other rats did not. This desire for the lever continued even after the food reward was removed - showing how the environmental cue was enough for some rats to be rewarded, but not for others.

So it seems that although maybe we all seem the same on the outside, inside we could all have vastly different chemical processes occuring, based upon our reaction to the world around us..

Journal Article

Family History of Alcoholism linked with Decreased Neuronal Activity

2010-12-07T16:56:00.004Z

New research exploring the neural processes of adolescents with alcohol abuse in their family history has indicated that a positive family history may confer a significant risk for future alcoholism in the teenager!

Researchers examined teenagers that had not begun to drink, but had a family history of alcoholism, to rule out any brain differences caused by alcohol as a direct result.

In the experiment, the participants were required to prevent themselves from reading a color word out loud, and focus instead on the color of the ink the word was written in.

The researchers discovered that the teens with a familt history of Alcoholism showed higher levels of frontal lobe activation during the Stroop Interference test, suggesting they had decreased neuronal efficiency, meaning - to get the same score as the control group their brain had to work harder.

Link to Article

Depression and Related Problems

2010-12-03T17:10:00.006Z

The World Health Organization has predicted that depression will be the world's leading cause of disability by 2020. But what can we do about it?

Well, it may not break any records but for a start - let's try and minimise smoking!

Based on the results of a new study, researchers involved recommend quitting smoking to improve mood! In the study they tracked the symptoms of depression in people who were trying to quit and found that they were never happier than when they were being successful, for however long that was.

"The assumption has often been that people might smoke because it has antidepressant properties and that if they quit it might unmask a depressive episode," said Kahler. "What's surprising is that at the time when you measure smokers' mood, even if they've only succeeded for a little while, they are already reporting less symptoms of depression."

With smokers that only quit temporarily, their moods were clearly brightest at the checkups when they were abstinent but after going back to smoking, their became more depressed and sometimes the depression was actually worse than before. Surprisingly, participants who never quit remained the unhappiest of all.

So if you want to start feeling better, it's time to stop smoking!

And best get started quickly as another study has found that depression may be a consequence of and risk factor for Diabetes!

Research found that women with depression were about 17% more likely to develop diabetes after controlling for other risk factors, such as physical activity and body mass index (BMI). Those who were taking antidepressants had a 25% higher risk of developing diabetes than those who did not have depression.

After controlling for other risk factors for mood disorders, women with diabetes were 29% more likely to develop depression. Women who took insulin for diabetes had a further increased risk -- 53% higher than women without diabetes.

The WHO may be right, and if so - maybe we need to look at all this small things to try and curb depression in society. Maybe it seems like very small changes, but a number of small changes add up to something bigger!

Article 1

Article 2

How Lemonade Curbs Aggression

2010-12-01T16:40:00.004Z

Need to give somebody some bad news and fear they may get just a little bit angry with you? Give them some Sugary Lemonade first and be amazed at the difference!

A recent study has found that people who drink a glass of lemonade with sugar acted less aggressively toward a stranger a few minutes later than people who consumed lemonade with a sugar substitute.

Now why would this make a difference? The researchers suggest that the increased glucose in the sugared lemonade allows the person to have greater self control, which enables them to avoid their angry impulse. This is because self control takes a lot of energy, and the extra glucose gives this energy to the brain.

It was also found in other studies that that people who have trouble using glucose in their bodies show more evidence of aggression.

"Diabetes may not only harm yourself -- it is bad for society," said Bushman (co-author of the study.) This is because those with diabetes struggle with using their glucose, meaning, this study suggests, they are likely to suffer from increased aggression.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study to find that boosting glucose levels can reduce actual aggressive behavior," Bushman said.

Interestingly, when 2001 data was anaysed, the researchers found that diabetes rates for each of the 50 US states were linked to violent crime rates. Those states with higher diabetes rates also tended to have higher rates of murder, assault, rape and robbery, even after controlling for poverty rates in each state.

In a Prisoner's Dilemma experiment, those who scored higher on diabetic symptoms were less likely to forgive an initially uncooperative partner, when compared to those who scored lower on diabetic symptoms.

Evidence does seem to be mounting against those who cannot metabolise their clucose correctly!

The researchers believe that "with the rate of diabetes increasing worldwide, it is something that should concern all of us."

And maybe it should!

Article 1

Stress and the Unknown Stressor

2010-11-30T17:25:00.005Z

We all try and avoid stress if we can. But sometimes Stress is unavoidable, especially if the stress is just the waiting.

Researchers recently found that not knowing your diagnosis is a very serious stressor - and can be worse (in terms of stress) than knowing you have a serious illness!

In this study 214 women scheduled to undergo different diagnostic and treatment procedures ahd their stress levels checked. About half were awaiting breast biopsy to check a suspicious lump in their chest, whilst the others were undergoing treatment for cancer or uterine myoma or benign fibroids.

Breast biopsy patients reported significantly higher levels of anxiety/stress, compared to the group undergoing treatment.

The researcher running the study, Dr Lang, said: "These results really drive the point home that the distress of not knowing your diagnosis is serious." It seems that the emotional and psychological effect is far worse when you don't know what the problem is, compared to knowing about a serious illness under treatment.

Similar results were found in a 2008 study by Jacob Hirsh and Michael Inzlicht. They found that, with neurotic individuals, participants experienced immediate and uncomfortable response to uncertainty, even more so than when they are faced with clear negative information.

“Uncertainty can be very stressful,” said Hirsh.

So enough of umm-ing and ahh-ing, whoever you are! People need to know one way or another, because to not know is just stressful!

Article 1

Article 2

Gambling away your health..

2010-11-29T17:23:00.005Z

Although just a correlation, a recent study has found that Pathological Gamblers are at risk of Mental Health Disorders - they are 3 times more likely to commit suicisde than non-gamblers.

"..Pathological gamblers account for five percent of all suicides. These staggering statistics motivated us to study the difference between gamblers and non-gamblers," says study co-author, Richard Boyer.

The study examined 122 suicides between 2006 and 2009 and found that 49 (40%) were pathological gamblers.

Those committing suicide were found to be twice as likely to be suffering from Specific Mental Disorders than other suicide cases, suggesting that the personality disorder is a significant flag towards increased suicide risk.

Boyer reported that there are three elements generally recognised: depression, alcohol or drug consumption and a personality disorder. They believed that it was the interaction between these problems that led ultimately to suicide.

But they didn't stop there. The study also found that gamblers who committed suicide were three times less likely to have seen the doctor the year preceding their death.

Boyer believes this is because they see their financial or alcohol/drug problems as a result of their gambling addiciton and seek help for that rather than get help for their other issues.

Do you know anybody in your life with a gambling problem? It could affect anybody! Just keep an eye out for the warning signs and remember that gambling may not be their only problem!

Link to Article

Men (and women) Behaving Badly

2010-11-24T17:02:00.003Z

In two recent studies at University of Toronto Scarborough, researchers tested people's willingness to behave badly.

"People are more likely to cheat and make immoral decisions when their transgressions don't involve an explicit action," says Rimma Teper, lead author on the study, "If they can lie by omission, cheat without doing much legwork, or bypass a person's request for help without expressly denying them, they are much more likely to do so."

In the first study, two groups of participants took a test on a computer. Group 1 were told if they pressed the space bar that the answer would appear on the screen. Group 2 were told the answer would appear if they didn't press the enter key within five seconds of the question.

They found that those who didn't have to actively do anything to see the answer, they were more likely to cheat.

In the second study, participants were asked if they would volunteer to help a student with a learning disability to complete part of the test. Group 1 had only the option of checking a 'yes' or 'no' box on the computer. Group 2 could follow a link at the bottom of the page to volunteer their help or press 'continue' to move on to the next page.

They found participants were more likely to volunteer when they had to pick either 'yes' or 'no.' They concluded that it is difficult for people to explicitly deny help to others and this was linked to emotion, proably either guilt or shame. Those that didn't have to explicitly make a 'yes/no' choice wouldn't feel these emotions as strongly so it didn't affect their decision making, meaning they were more likely to make the immoral choice.

It also has critical implications for those in the business of soliciting peoples' good will, money or time.

Link to Article

Falling in Love and its Cognitive Effect

2010-11-17T17:19:00.003Z

A new study has found that falling in love generates the same feeling as cocaine use and affects the intellectual areas of the brain!

Results showed that 12 areas of the brain work together to release euphoria-inducing chemicals icluding dopamine and adrenaline.
This also affects mental representation, metaphors and body image.

Other researchers also found blood levels of nerve growth factor were significantly higher in couples who had just fallen in love.

"The findings have major implications for neuroscience and mental health research because when love doesn't work out, it can be a significant cause of emotional stress and depression."

"It's another probe into the brain and into the mind of a patient," says Ortigue. "By understanding why they fall in love and why they are so heartbroken, they can use new therapies." By identifying the parts of the brain stimulated by love, doctors and therapists can better understand the pains of love-sick patients.

So, don't fall into drug use! Fall in love instead!

Link to Article

Marijuana use and its cognitive effects

2010-11-16T17:07:00.005Z

Although recent papers have been released suggesting that it is Alcohol and not Marijuana that is the most harmful drug, this study by Staci Gruber highlights the risks that are still present in long term, young-starting marijuana use.

Cognitive flexibility - the ability to switch behavioural responses according to feedback from your surroundings, was found to be highly affected after long-term marijuana use.

Using a Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, the participants are shown four cards that differ in color, symbol, and value. The participants are asked to sort the cards, but not told what the rules are, leaving them to work out what the rules must be when receiving 'correct' or 'incorrect' feedback. Half way through the rules are changed and the participant must change their behaviour accordingly. This is an indicator of how strong a participant's cognitive flexibility is.

But what did they find?

Habitual marijuana users made more repeated errors than those that started after 16 and who did not habitually use marijuana and also had difficulty maintaining rules once they were set.

I guess it's not particularly new, and kind of obvious - but the study concluded that the younger you start, and the more you use, the greater effect Marijuana has on your cognitive functioning.

Those that claim Marijuana has no long term on them be warned! You may be killing your brain without even knowing it!

Link to Article

2 Articles into Obesity

2010-11-15T17:25:00.004Z

Two interesting articles caught my eye this week on the Subject of Obesity.

1. Researchers confirmed that Obesity and Overeating are directly linked to excessive activity in a specific gene found in the human body.

You can't argue with a headline like that! It immediately grabbed my attention.
In this study the researchers bred mice with a particular gene that was identified in 2007 amongst heavier human subjects, which they believed could be the 'fat' gene. In the recent study they found that the mice with overactivity in this gene, "although healthy, ate more and became fatter than normal mice."

I argue that I wouldn't say these mice (nor people with this gene) are 'genetically' obese, they just eat more. Although their body may be telling them that they are hungry, when perhaps they are not, they don't have to eat and therefore put on weight.

Still, regardless of what people can conclude, it was an interesting study.

2. Lose weight by eating junk food?

A researcher recently proved that this IS possible. How? Just don't overeat!

Mark Haub, nutrition professor, believed that "It's all about how much you eat, not what you eat."

He tested the theory on himself, only eating a maximum of 1800 calories today (down from the usual 2600) and he ate only food that you would typically found in vending machines.

After 2 months of his experiment, his weight dropped to 174 pounds, and his BMI dropped to a healthy 24.9. The experiment even improved his other health statistics!

I wouldn't recommend this diet, and nor did he, but it is interesting how this actually seems, in a roundabout way, to back up the first article.

Although some may have this overactive gene, in the end it really does seem to be the quantity of what you eat that determines your weight. As Mark Haub showed, quantity makes a large difference, and quality seems to take a step back. The mice study shows that an veractive gene is merely causing people to eat more, increasing their weight.

To me, this evidence shows very clearly that it is nurture that alters our weight and nature is sitting the fight of Obesity out.

Article 1: Mice
Article 2: Mark Haub

Get Rhythm When You Get The Blues

2010-11-12T17:16:00.003Z

Genes that regulate circadian rhythm were examined in people with and without a history of depression and found that those with a history of depression had a higher level of activity in this gene.

Higher expression levels of this gene could affect sleep patterns and other physiological functions governed by circadian rhythm - this is highly interesting as Sleep disturbance is a common symptom of depression.

This is only a link, it cannot be inferred either way whether the gene difference is the cause or the effect of depression but it does advance what we know about depression and brain structures that seem to indicate it.

In terms of advances in treatment, those with depressions and this genetic profile may benefit most from sleep-related treatments: Light therapy or a antidepressants that act on melatonin (a sleep regulatory hormone.)

Link to Article

Does Adolescent Stress Lead to Mood Disorders in Adulthood?

2010-11-09T17:18:00.003Z

As depression in young people is increasing in successive generations, we have to wonder what is the cause for this increase? With people suffering earlier in life is stress the problem?

Researcher Mark Ellenbogen is particularly interested in the link between childhood stress and the development of depression.

"Previous studies have shown that kids from at-risk families are at higher risk of having a psychiatric disorder in their lifetime," says Ellenbogen. "We know that they're not just inheriting these traits but they are also being raised in environment that is stressful, chaotic and lacking in structure. Our goal is to tease out how this type of environment influences these children's mental health in adolescence and adulthood."

Ellenbogen's findings have shown that the adolescents of "at-risk" families have higher stress levels than kids from families without disorders, which continues into adulthood.

Ellenbogen says, "We have not yet confirmed that these children then go on to develop mood disorders of their own. However, we have some exciting preliminary data showing that high [stress levels] in adolescence doubles your risk for developing a serious mood disorder in young adulthood."

Although this study focuses on the home life of children generating stress, if stress in childhood can indeed lead to the increase in mood disorders then perhaps stress through examinations, competition or homework (for some individuals) could also lead to mood disorders later in life?

Clearly, Ellenbogen is planning further study, so once there is evidence that's slightly more concrete, perhaps we will be able to say better the link between childhood stress and mood disorders in adulthood

Link to Article

Seeing Meat Makes People Less Aggressive

2010-11-08T17:14:00.003Z

According to new research seeing meat appears to make human beings significantly less aggressive.

Odd!

Researcher Frank Kachanoff says:
"I was inspired by research on priming and aggression, that has shown that just looking at an object which is learned to be associated with aggression, such as a gun, can make someone more likely to behave aggressively. I wanted to know if we might respond aggressively to certain stimuli in our environment not because of learned associations, but because of an innate predisposition. I wanted to know if just looking at the meat would suffice to provoke an aggressive behavior."

Kachanoff believed that humans may have evolved a predisposition to respond aggressively towards seeing meat. In the experiment, participats had to punish a script reader every time he made an error while sorting photos. Some photos were of meat whilst others were neutral.

Kachanoff believed that the use of 'ready to eat' meat images may have been the problem as when our ancestors were eating they would have been with friends/family and thus calm. He is interested in trying again using 'hunting' images instead, and expects to find different results.

Kachanoff's research is important because it looks at ways society may influence environmental factors to decrease the likelihood of aggressive behavior. Perhaps more pictures of food around would lead us all to be calmer!

Link to Article

Alcohol: More harmful than Heroin or Cocaine?

2010-11-05T16:48:00.003Z

Alcohol, although one of the only legal 'recreational drugs' available to the public, has been seen in a new light recently with the publishing of a paper by Professor David Nutt.

A new system that ranks drugs on the basis of harm caused to both the user and others has placed alcohol as the most harmful drug - this is above even heroin and crack!

Professor Nutt attempted this assessment in 2007, which provoked major interest and public debate, although it raised concerns about the choice of the nine criteria and the absence of any differential weighting of them.

Drugs were scored with points out of 100, with 100 assigned to the most harmful drug on a specific criterion. Zero indicated no harm. Explaining their model, the authors say: "In scaling of the drugs, care is needed to ensure that each successive point on the scale represents equal increments of harm. Thus, if a drug is scored at 50, then it should be half as harmful as the drug that scored 100."

The nine categories in harm to self are:

- Drug-specific mortality
- Drug-related mortality
- Drug-specific damage
- Drug-related damage
- Dependence
- Drug-specific impairment of mental function
- Drug-related impairment of mental functioning
- Loss of tangibles
- Loss of relationships
- Injury.

The harm to others categories are:

- Crime
- Environmental damage
- Family conflict
- International damage
- Economic cost
- Decline in community cohesion.

Heroin, crack, and crystal meth were the most harmful drugs to the individual.

Alcohol, heroin, and crack were the most harmful to others.

This system showed alcohol was the most harmful drug (overall harm score 72), then heroin (55) then crack (54.)

The implications this study could have on drugs policy is potentially huge. But one ahs to question, with such a large number of people drinking alcohol opposed to, say, taking heroin - has this made a difference to their results? Surely there are more people that enjoy alcohol with relatively little harm than those taking heroin or cocain?

However accurate/valid the study, it cannot be denied that it has and will cause much controversy. It will be interesting to see if future studies find similar results.

What are your opinions?
Is alcohol more harmful than heroin or cocaine?

Link to Article
Link to Paper

How anger makes you want things more

2010-11-04T17:26:00.003Z

Researchers found that associating an object with anger actually makes people want the object.

For the study participants watched a computer screen while images of common objects, like a mug or a pen, appeared on the screen. What they didn't realize was that immediately before each object appeared, the screen flashed either a neutral face, an angry face, or a fearful face. This subliminal image tied an emotion to each object. At the end of the experiment, the participants were asked how much they wanted each object. In a second version of the experiment, they had the person squeeze a handgrip to get the desired object -- those who squeezed harder were more likely to win it. People put more effort in action to obtain objects associated with angry faces.

When participants were asked why they worked harder to get it, they said, 'It's just because I like it.' That shows how little we know about our own motivations."

The study above into motivation shows how even emotions that we would usually consider to be undesirable and negative can actually be a driving force behind getting what we want - possibly without ever knowing that's the reason.

Think back to school, there would always but that smug class-mate that thought they were the best at everything. How much did they annoy you? (Or maybe they were you?) Didn't you want to beat this person at whatever you could, not necessarily because you wanted to win, and if there wasn't this rival perhaps you wouldn't even bother, but because of your anger you strive to achieve.

Maybe schools or universities or even jobs use this competition to their advantage? or maybe 'Angry-Advertising' could be the tv-commercials of the future!

Link to Article

Depression and the Percentage of Relapse

2010-11-02T17:10:00.003Z

"A study of adolescents who had a major depressive disorder found that nearly all recovered from their episode after treatment. But within five years, nearly half of them had relapsed, and females were at much higher risk of another major episode, researchers at Duke University Medical Center found."

"After the initial 12-week treatment, the subjects were then followed for five years. They found that 96.4% of the participants had recovered for at least 8 weeks after short-term treatment. Those who responded to the short-term treatment rather than partially or not at all were significantly more likely to recover by the two-year follow-up mark. The most effective treatment was a combination of the antidepressant fluoxetine (Prozac) with CBT."

"Reaching recovery within two years was not significantly related to being in the group that received the combination therapy. Instead, it mattered whether the patients responded to treatment, as opposed to being partial responders or nonresponders."

"Of the 189 patients who recovered, 88 of them had a recurrence of major depression. Recurrence couldn't be predicted by the child's full short-term treatment response or by original treatment. Gender played a significant role in recurrence, with a majority of females (57.6 percent) having another major depression versus just 32.9% of males."

This study may be confirming what we already know, that those who recover from depression are likely to relapse, but what is interesting about it is the overwhelming percentage of relapse and the gender difference as well. Transtheoretical models such as John Norcross' stages of change wouldn't see relapse as a problem however, more of an expected, and possibly necessary part of change. More study in this area in the future may prove even more fruitful and maybe go on to explain even further the reasons behind the relapse and gender differences.

Link to article

The Warning Signs of Stress

2010-10-29T15:09:00.001+01:00

Stress warning signs:

Of course, different people deal with stress in different ways, but here is a list of mental and physical symptoms to help you understand if you're stressed.

The mental symptoms may involve you being:

•Angry
•Depressed
•Anxious
•Always hungry, or having no appetite
•Crying often
•Have trouble sleeping and feel tired
•Have trouble concentrating

The physical symptoms may involve:

•Chest pains
•Constipation, or diarrhoea
•Cramps, or muscle aches
•Feeling dizzy, or fainting
•Engaging in nervous behavior like biting your nails
•Twitches, or experiencing pins and needles
•Feeling restless
•Having sexual problems, from erectile dysfunction to lowered sex drive
•Feeling breathless
•Can't sleep

Having just a few of these symptoms may indicated that you are stressed, and you should address the issue.

How stress works
When you are in a stressful situation, your body will release the hormones cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline, and these will go on to cause the physical symptoms of stress.

You may start sweating, and your blood pressure and heart rate may rise.

This, in turn, may undermine your immune system, making you more susceptible to illness, as well as lead your body to release fat and sugar into your blood stream, which may lead you to gain weight.

As stress raises your blood pressure, if you are stressed in the long term, you can develop high blood pressure, which in turn can increase your risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.

Link to Article

Can problem drinkers drink at a 'normal' level again?

2010-10-28T17:23:00.004+01:00

Problem drinkers may reduce the amount of alcohol they consume over a period of years but not to the level of the average adult, according to a new study!

Using a telephone screening program, researchers identified 672 problem and dependent drinkers who had not been in an alcohol treatment program for at least 12 months. Eleven years later, men in the study had reduced their average number of drinks per month by 51%, and women had reduced their average number of drinks by 57%

However, even after this reduction, male problem drinkers still consumed 160% and female problem drinkers 223% more alcohol than the average adult. This suggests that problem drinkers and heavy drinkers may never lower their consumption to the level of the general population.

"Our people were functional, for the most part. They had addresses, a lot of them had insurance at baseline, and they're not at the 'bottom of the barrel,' which is interesting," said lead researcher Kevin L. Delucchi.

The researchers also examined which factors appeared to be linked with continued heavy drinking. Participants who received help from Alcoholics Anonymous or community social service agencies were likely to drink less. However, those who had heavy-drinking friends in their social network, received general suggestions that they do something about their drinking, and went to a formal treatment program were actually likely to drink more.

An interesting study that highlight the power of substance addiction and how difficult it can be to beat. Being able to stem the consumption to under 50% of the previous usage and function well within society seems to me to be a success, we don't expect those addicted to be perfect, but at least they are not at the 'bottom of the barrel' - they can contribute to society and perform within it. Whether or not they could ultimately choose to completely give up on alcohol is another question, and perhaps with support they could, but as long as they are functioning is it really a problem?

Or is alcoholism only a problem when it starts affecting other people?

Link to Article

Genes and their affect on Alcohol response

2010-10-21T17:06:00.005+01:00

"The study compared the brain's response to long-term alcohol drinking in two genetic variants of mice. One strain lacked the gene for a dopamine receptor, which produces feelings of pleasure and reward. The other strain was genetically normal.

In the dopamine-receptor-deficient mice, long-term alcohol drinking resulted in significant biochemical changes in areas of the brain well know to be involved in alcoholism and addiction."

These findings may help explain how someone's genetic profile can interact with the environment to produce these changes only in some individuals, but not in others with a less vulnerable genetic profile. The work supports the idea that genetic screening could provide individuals with valuable information relevant to understanding risks when deciding whether or not to consume alcohol."

Further research on the interaction between genetic and the environment will increase the understanding of addiction. This information will be imperative to the public and will help people make more informed decisions about their behaviors"

Although this does highlight a genetic link between addictive behaviour and alcohol, it does make me wonder how much we are controlled by our genes, and whether or not our free will can be compromised by our genetic makeup. Perhaps a gene would not make addiction unavoidable, but it would increase a propensity towards it. Should a person, genetically designed to become addicted to alcohol for go alcohol entirely, or is it about how we choose to behave with this propensity in mind?

Link to article

Gambling Addiction is not limited to a single 'type' of person

2010-10-18T16:41:00.005+01:00

Out of four types of compulsive gamblers identified by researchers at the University Hospital of Bellvitge (IDIBELL) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)shows signs of a significant pathology.

The study shows it is possible to distinguish four groups of pathological gamblers based on their personality traits and associated psychopathology.

Type I, which could be called 'disorganised and emotionally unstable', is characterised by schizotypal personality traits, high degrees of impulsiveness, alcohol and substance abuse, psychopathological alterations and early onset age.

Type II, which is a schizoid type, exhibits high levels of harm avoidance, social distancing, and alcohol abuse.

Type III is reward-sensitive, and is characterised by high levels of sensation-seeking and impulsiveness, although without any psychopathological alterations.

Type IV is a high functioning, globally-adapted personality type, without any disorders relating to substance abuse, and no associated psychopathological alterations.

Types I and II are pathological gamblers who exhibit problems in controlling their responses, "but only type II shows signs of a significant concurrent psychopathology," with high levels of impulsiveness and sensation-seeking.

An interesting look into behavioural addiction and how there seems to be no one reason or type of person that can become addicted to gambling. Would a similar thing be found for other addictions, either substance or behavioural?

Link to Article

Young Teens Who Play Sports Feel Healthier and Happier About Life

2010-10-15T17:13:00.003+01:00

Taking part in sports is good physically, socially, and mentally for 12 - 14 year olds!

New research shows that young teens who are physically active and play on sports teams are more satisfied with their life and feel healthier.

The 12- to 14-year-old boys and girls were asked to fill in questionnaires assessing their physical activity levels, their overall satisfaction with life and asking them to describe their own health.

In boys, participation in physical activity had no effect on either life satisfaction or self-rated health but with girls those who had taken part in activity in the last week were significantly more satisfied with their life compared to girls who had not, but it had no effect on their self-rated health.

Playing on a sports team was linked to higher life satisfaction in both boys and girls.

It makes me wonder if it is the actual physical activity that is creating the greater feelings of satisfaction, the winning, or just because the boys/girls are part of an in-group. Perhaps those not in sports are less likely to be part of an in-group.

In either case, Parents may find it better for their child to encouage sports and general physical activity to maintain life satisfaction. Makes sense. However, I remember being that age and, being the geek I am, greatly disliked any form of physical exercise. Would more PE have increased my life satisfaction?

Maybe, maybe not.

Link to article

Background noise affects taste of foods

2010-10-15T17:01:00.004+01:00

A news article I read the other day:

The level of background noise affects both the intensity of flavour and the perceived crunchiness of foods.

Diners were blindfoldee and has to judge the sweetness, saltiness, and crunchiness, as well as overall flavour, of foods as they were played white noise. Interstingly, whilst louder noise reduced the reported sweetness or saltiness, it increased the measure of crunch.

"In a comparatively small study, 48 participants were fed sweet foods such as biscuits or salty ones such as crisps, while listening to silence or noise through headphones.

Meanwhile they rated the intensity of the flavours and of their liking.

In noisier settings, foods were rated less salty or sweet than they were in the absence of background noise, but were rated to be more crunchy.

"The evidence points to this effect being down to where your attention lies - if the background noise is loud it might draw your attention to that, away from the food," Dr Woods said."

The article went on to talk about how this was the reason airplane food tasted so bland, which may be one of the reasons...(quality of food may be another but it's been a number of years since I was on a plane, perhaps it's different to how I imagine!)

It does highlight the interesting idea of attention though, and the white noise acts as a distracter, meaning we arn't concentrating on the food in our mouth, but instead to our other senses. But does it make a difference if the participant is blindfolded or not? Does the inclusion/ommision of sensation to the eyes impact on the taste of food? Surely if extra information to the ears can divide attention then the same could happen with visual information?

So, any restaurant owners want to boost their ratngs? Look to making your restaurant quieter - and possibly darker! - and your food could potentially taste far better, even if less crunchy!

Link to Article

Link to study

Therapy and Medication for Migraine Sufferers works the best

2010-10-15T16:53:00.002+01:00

The combination of preventive medication and behavioral changes offered significant relief for 77% of participants.

"Migraines are a long-term disorder and we wanted to closely monitor participants every day for at least 16 months to find out if these treatments keep working over time," said lead author Kenneth Holroyd.

Participants were assigned randomly to have one of four treatments. One group received the combination of preventive medication (beta blockers) and behavioral migraine management, one received only the medication, one received only the behavioral therapy, and one served as a control group.

The combined therapy group showed the greatest improvement in the number of migraines, days with migraine and in quality of life, the researchers report.

A small percentage of participants reported fatigue as a side effect of the preventive medication, and some participants reported lack of time to learn or practice the behavioral techniques. But used consistently and together, the two approaches were effective for prevention and management of migraines.

These findings could be very useful to when treating patients with frequent, hard-to-control migraines. More evidence that medication alone is not always the best course of action!

Link to Article

SDS Report: What’s the Ideal Size for a Therapy Group?

2010-10-08T20:18:00.002+01:00

As you remember we promised to share with you our report on the ideal group size based on your responses.

The report is now available here: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=67
– just follow the link: “Is there such a thing as the “ideal” group size? We asked our delegates of their opinions on the subject. Read our report based on your replies here.”

You still can add your comments to this discussion in our blog: http://sdsmedia.blogspot.com/2010/09/request-for-help-whats-ideal-size-for.html or contribute to many other debates of hot topics in psychology and health care: http://sdsmedia.blogspot.com/

A quick reminder: EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT OF £26 on "The Essential Toolkit for Running Groups" seminars is available only until 15 OCTOBER 2010.

Virtual Food Causes Stress in Patients Affected by Eating Disorders

2010-10-08T17:06:00.003+01:00

Food presented in a virtual reality (VR) environment causes the same emotional responses as real food.

The 10 anorexic, 10 bulimic and 10 control participants, all women, were initially shown a series of 6 real high-calorie foods placed on a table in front of them.

Their heart rate and skin conductance, as well as their psychological stress were measured during the exposure. This process was then repeated with a slideshow of the same foods, and a VR trip into a computer-generated diner where they could interact with the virtual version of the same 6 items. The participants' level of stress was statistically identical whether in virtual reality or real exposure.

Speaking about the results, Gorini said, "Since real and virtual exposure elicit a comparable level of stress we may eventually see VR being used to screen, evaluate, and treat the emotional reactions provoked by specific stimuli in patients affected by different psychological disorders."

Interesting study showing how virtual food can create a response within those with Eating Disorders.

Could this affect advertising in the future? Especially as advertising is slowly moving to becoming more interactive..

Link to Article

Patient Personality Can Hinder Detection of Depression

2010-10-08T16:56:00.002+01:00

"Friends and family members of a person who is highly outgoing and fun-loving and who is likely to experience happiness and excitement often miss the signs that indicate the person is depressed."

"When a person who has enjoyed socializing and whose mood normally is positive becomes depressed, friends and family often don't recognize it. Depression is inconsistent with the expectations that people have," said Paul R. Duberstein.

When the research began, researchers hypothesized that friends and family would miss depression in a person who is introverted.

"But our research showed the opposite to be true," Duberstein said. "We found the signs of depression were more likely to be missed in people with an outgoing, extraverted personality."

The researchers also found that friends and family missed signs of depression in a person characterized as "agreeable," someone who is more trusting and more altruistic or who might be considered a conformist.

"It is important for people to understand that people who are highly extraverted and highly agreeable can become depressed and that the signs of depression for these people are more likely to be missed or detected by friends and family," Duberstein said "Don't assume that because someone is outgoing or agreeable that they are not vulnerable to becoming depressed."

But surely you'd think we'd be more likely to notice if our usually outgoing friend was depressed? Apparently not! But why is this? Perhaps because we're not looking for it, we're just refusing to see it. If somebody is very happy and outgoing, this is the image we have of them in our head, even if they have not been acting this way recently. Perhaps it is just our selective attention that is the problem!

Link to Article

Why CBT often isn't what it seems

2010-10-06T17:18:00.001+01:00

I would like to share with you today a piece of research that I recently came across.

Isn’t it interesting how stereotypes develop? Many practitioners and clients expect CBT to be prescriptive, directive and "top down". A recent study by Westra et al (2010) * certainly questions such stereotypes:

In the study, eighteen clients were interviewed following 8 sessions of CBT. 84% of them stated that their experience of CBT was not as they expected. Most related to the fact that therapy was more collaborative than expected and that they learnt more about themselves than anticipated. Even in instances where the outcome of therapy was negative, clients typically still remained positive towards their therapist and attributed lack of progress to other factors such as time constraints.

The gap between prejudice and reality is a common psychological and social phenomenon with pre-existing attitudes often leading to selective attention. CBT is not only a valuable approach and toolkit of strategies which therapists can use to help change emotions and behaviour – it also "bolts onto" other existing modalities of helping people to change.

If you are interested in exploring the reality behind the myth and the prejudices surrounding CBT, have a look at our Introductory CBT course: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=69

OR

if you have your own thoughts or experiences on the topic let us know by reply or commenting on our blog: .

As a "big tent" training organisation we are interested in all views on this subject... supportive or otherwise. :-)

Best Wishes
Paul Grantham

* Westra, H., Aviram, A., Barnes, M., & Angus, L. (2010). Therapy was not what I expected: A preliminary qualitative analysis of concordance between client expectations and experience of cognitive-behavioural therapy. Psychotherapy Research, 20 (4), 436-446

Request For Help: What’s the Ideal Size for a Therapy Group?

2010-10-06T14:43:00.000+01:00

Hello everybody

I am writing to ask for your help on a question that keeps cropping up in group work but which never really gets a sound answer – namely what is the “ideal” size for a therapy group?

Whether it is activity based, CBT, psycho-educational, exploratory or discussion based – we all know intuitively that group size has an enormous bearing on outcome and many of us have strong opinions on it. So what research is there on the subject? The surprising answer is – remarkably little. There is lots of opinion expressed, there are traditions and norms for group size, but actually there is very little controlled research available to answer this question.

We will explore the available research evidence in our upcoming seminar "The Essential Toolkit for Running Groups" (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=67 ). However, prior to it I would like to approach the issue in a slightly different way and to ask for your help on the matter.

If you have experience in running groups or ever being involved with it in any way – I would very much like to hear from you regarding:

what size your groups usually are (e.g. 6-16),
who your client group is (e.g. young people with depression, or elderly clients, or clients with eating disorders etc)
how many people are running the group (e.g. only you or 2 co-leaders etc.)
do you think that types of clients’ problems you are working with might dictate different group sizes

PLEASE POST YOUR REPLIES HERE AND FORWARD THIS POST TO YOUR COLLEAGUES WHO WORK IN THE FIELD. WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM THEM TOO.

What we aim to do is to create a database of current group practice which we will post on the SDS website (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/ ) as well as feed into our subsequent group training http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=67 . That is why the more examples of different types of groups we receive from you, the broader the range of group topics or aims we can cover – the better. This should at least begin to provide us with a reference point regarding current practice.

Again... please help us to create this guide that will be used by many of your colleagues by forwarding the details of your groupwork experience.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Take care, Paul

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT ON "THE ESSENTIAL TOOLKIT FOR RUNNING GROUPS" SEMINARS IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. SAVE £26 OFF THE REGULAR PRICE. EXPIERES IN OCTOBER 2010.

Nutrients in milk link to obesity

2010-10-05T17:35:00.004+01:00

Taken from yahoo news:

Feeding babies milk enriched with nutrients to promote faster weight gain in infancy makes them fatter later in life, researchers have suggested.

Body fat mass in five to eight-year-olds was 22% to 38% greater in those who were given nutrient-enriched milk as babies than those who had standard formula, according to a team based at the University College London Institute of Child Health.

Researchers looked at two randomised, controlled, double blind studies - where neither they nor the mothers knew which kind of milk they were assigned - involving small newborn babies in hospitals in Cambridge, Nottingham, Leicester and Glasgow.

Mothers who had no plans to breastfeed were given either standard formula milk or a formula containing extra protein, energy-boosters, vitamins and minerals.

In the first study, which was conducted on 299 babies between 1993 and 1995, the formula was used for nine months.

Researchers then measured the body fat of 153 (51%) of the children in their homes between 1999 and 2002.

The second study involved 246 infants between 2003 and 2005 - until it was stopped early due to evidence of the link between early over-nutrition and later obesity - of whom 90 (37%) were followed up to assess fat levels in 2008-09.

Professor Atul Singhal, from the MRC Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, who led the study, said: "This study robustly demonstrates a link between early nutrition and having more fat in later life in humans - a finding suggested by previous studies and confirmed in many other animals."

It is interesting to think that what we eat/drink in infancy can have such a poweful affect on our lives in adulthood.

Link to Article

The Mechanism that links Obesity and Addiction

2010-10-05T17:19:00.003+01:00

When an animal finds food in the wild, it is a rewarding stimulus for the animal and is recognized by the brain by the release of dopamine.

Illicit substances such as cocaine, heroin and amphetamines also cause the release of dopamine and therefore make people feel rewarded when they take drugs. The release of dopamine also occurs in tasty and highly-caloric foods. For this reason it's clear that dopamine has a role in addiction and the development of obesity.

Professor Bill Colmers set out to find if dopamine may have an effect on the memory-forming brain cells in the dentate gyrus. 'Conditioned Place Preference' is the name given to the behaviour when an animal knows it can expect rewarding stimuli, like a treat, in a certain location. This forms spatial memories in the dentate gyrus.

They found that when dopamine was added, it increased the excitability in part of the brain cell called the dendrites. A chemical secreted by the brain, Neuropeptide Y, had the opposite effect making the cells less excitable.

"You can find the fridge and you know there's good stuff in there, so you can find it in your sleep, and people do," said Colmers. "So there's this whole reward aspect to place that we've been able to unravel."

So if location and 'reward' can be linked, then avoiding places where we usually have a 'treat' (e.g. not going to the employee lounge on our breaks!) may help reduce those cravings for high-calorie foods. Similar findings have already been talked about in regards to drug use, (e.g. smokers not sitting outside can help curb the need to smoke) but with this finding used to explain eating behaviour and obesity, it shows how obesity and drugs addiction are not worlds apart.

Link to Article

How can people be motivated to make better health choices?

2010-10-01T14:57:00.003+01:00

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) is considering ways to persuade people to take better care of their health, due to the considerable impact that unhealthy habits are having on the NHS.

The NICE study examined a series of proposals, including one in Kent which pays dieters up to £425 for losing weight and another in Scotland which gives pregnant women shopping vouchers worth up to £650 for quitting smoking.

According to the proposals being considered by the health watchdog for England and Wales - people could be given cash incentives to encourage them to give up smoking or to lose weight.

Can cash incentives motivate people to make better health choices?
Are there better ways to encourage people to take care of their health or we are now at our last resort – hard cash?
Would offering money as an incentive to improve health be cost-effective for the NHS or would the money be better spent elsewhere?
Is it the right way forward?

You, as one of those professionals who work in the front line of helping people, are qualified better then anyone to answer these questions on the basis of your experience. Your opinion is invaluable and needs to be heard. We have created a simple poll were you can make your view known in two seconds: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5WWMS39

Please vote – we will make sure that your answers are known to those who make decisions on the matter.
Please feel free to send us your views on the matter as well as to post comments in the comments box of the poll or on our Psychology & Psychotherapy Blog.

This is an important topic closely linked to our training on Motivational Interviewing and Beyond (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=5) and we will definitely address this issue as part of our course discussion. However, we would like to give all of you the opportunity to express your opinion whether you are taking part in the course or not.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Do Brain Abnormalities Cause Antisocial Behavior in Boys?

2010-09-30T17:20:00.002+01:00

"Brain responses to everyday rewards and punishments gradually guide most youngsters' decisions to conform with society's rules. However, when these seriously troubled kids experience rewards and punishments, and make decisions, their brains apparently malfunction," said Thomas Crowley, lead author on the study.

All particpants played a computerized risk-taking game that repeatedly presented a choice between a cautious and a risky behavior. The scientists examined brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as the boys decided to press right or left, and then as they experienced wins or losses after presses.

During decision-making, antisocial boys had significantly less brain activity than normals in particular decision-making areas.

As predicted by others not associated with the study, the antisocial boys also had dysphoria, a chronic sad-anxious state, with "reward insensitivity"; in the game their brains responded less than the comparison boys' brains to wins. They also had "punishment hypersensitivity," with greater brain response to losses than comparison boys.

Interestingly, the number of 'risky' decisions was similar in the two groups. The scientists speculate that this occurred because the game forced the boys to deliberate for several seconds before pressing either button.

It is interesting how they found different brain activity when comparing control to the antisocial boys, this does seem to indicate a fundimental difference between the two groups. But in terms of decision making, both groups made similar decisions.

Does this really suggest a genetic difference for decision making?

Link to Article

The link between popularity, friends and drug consumption

2010-09-28T17:07:00.003+01:00

"Our study highlights a correlation between popularity and consumption," says Jean-Sébastien Fallu, lead researcher and professor at the Université de Montréal's School of Psychoeducation. "The teenagers we studied were well-accepted, very sensitive to social codes, and understood the compromises that it takes to be popular."

The findings showed an increase in consumption, as the child got older regardless of their popularity level. However, the more popular a child and their friends were, the greater this consumption was.

"Teenagers don't consume to belong to the group or to increase their popularity level, they do it to remain well-liked," says Fallu. "It's more about keeping their status than increasing it."

Teenagers who aren't considered popular are more inclined to develop violent behaviors than consume alcohol or drugs.

Is drug taking cool? Maybe it was just the area I grew up in, but popularity in my school wasn't measured in the amount of drugs consumed! This study highlights a motivation for drug consumption that maybe hadn't been considered previously.

But what are your thoughts? Is social popularity the cause of drug consumption in teens? Or is the level of popularity the result of the drug consumption? Is level of social status enough motivation for teenagers to consume drugs? Is this type of peer pressure overt or just expected?

Why is drug taking considered 'cool' behaviour? Is it just because rules are being broken? Or is there another reason?

Let us know what you think.

Link to Article

Teasing about weight and its affect on pre-teens

2010-09-27T17:13:00.004+01:00

"We tend to think of adolescence as the time when kids become sensitive about their body image, but our findings suggest that the seeds of body dissatisfaction are actually being sown much earlier," said Timothy D. Nelson.

For the study, Nelson and his colleagues surveyed hundreds of public school students whose average age was 10.8 years. They collected participants' heights and weights and calculated their Body Mass Index, then examined the relationships between weight-related criticism and children's perceptions of themselves.

Their results showed that overweight pre-teens who endured weight-based criticism tended to judge their bodies more harshly and were less satisfied with their body sizes than students who weren't teased about their weight.

Because children who develop such negative views of their bodies are at higher risk for internalizing problems, developing irregular eating behaviors and ongoing victimization, researchers said these results should be a signal for more early identification and intervention efforts at schools.

"There's often a sense that overweight people 'deserve' it, or that if they are continually prodded about their weight, they'll do something about it," said Nelson

So what do you think?

Do children think about their body weight as much as this study suggests? Are weight-related criticisms found more in groups of girls or boys? Can pre-adolescent taunting really affect children for the rest of their lives?

And what should be done to try and stop this happening in schools?

Are weight issues a problem generated by the media? e.g. super skinny people in magazines and on the tv.
Or are they now being generated by the Health Authority by chastising those who are overweight?

What's your opinion?

Link to Article

Talking yourself into Control

2010-09-23T17:08:00.004+01:00

Much like the post yesterday - it seems our ability to verbalise thought affect more of our behaviour than we realise.

Yesterday was Self-regulation and today is self-control:

"New research shows that using your inner voice plays an important role in controlling impulsive behaviour.

"We give ourselves messages all the time with the intent of controlling ourselves -- whether that's telling ourselves to keep running when we're tired, to stop eating even though we want one more slice of cake, or to refrain from blowing up on someone in an argument," says Alexa Tullett, PhD Candidate and lead author on the study. "We wanted to find out whether talking to ourselves in this 'inner voice' actually helps."

Through a series of tests they found that people acted more impulsively when they couldn't use their inner voice or talk themselves through the tasks. It's always been known that people have internal dialogues with themselves, but until now, we've never known what an important function they serve "This study shows that talking to ourselves in this 'inner voice' actually helps us exercise self control and prevents us from making impulsive decisions."

Participants performed a test on a computer. If they saw a particular symbol appear on the screen, they were told to press a button. If they saw a different symbol, they were told to refrain from pushing the button. In order to block their "inner voice," participants were told to repeat one word over and over as they performed the test. This prevented them from talking to themselves."

The study yesterday talked about how vocabulary helped boys self-regulate, and today talking ourselves through a task has been shown to help us self-control. It seems that a lot of our actions can be enhanced or reduced by talking to ourselves about it.

The knowledge of this can be applied to such things as anger therapy or mild eating disorders, showing how patients could talk themself out of the negative, impulsive actions.

This principle could also be applied to other aspects of our lives, such self-esteem, happiness, mild compulsive disorders, panic attack or phobias.

Link to Article

Vocabulary and Self-regulation

2010-09-22T17:17:00.003+01:00

Developing language skills appears to be more important for boys than girls in helping them to develop self-control and, ultimately, succeed in school.

The study is the first to suggest language skills have a bigger impact on boys' self-regulation than on girls'.

As with previous research, Vallotton and Ayoub found that language skills - specifically the building of vocabulary - help children regulate their emotions and behavior and that boys lag behind girls in both language skills and self-regulation.

While girls overall seemed to have a more natural ability to control themselves and focus, boys with a strong vocabulary showed a dramatic increase in this ability to self-regulate.

But why is self regulation important? Good self-regulation results in better personal-study, which aids school-learning as well, resulting in better exam results. But why does vocabulary change this? Surely if you want to learn, then you'll want to learn - regardless of vocabulary?

Well, perhaps the fact that the child has a strong vocabulary is indicitive of the fact that they enjoy learning in the first place, so is not so much a cause of greater self-regulation but a result of.

In either case, it is another interesting study that shows how early life experience really can shape our future.

Link to Article

Is changing your lifestyle fun?

2010-09-21T17:36:00.004+01:00

"According to the authors, approximately one in five U.S. citizens over the age of 12 admits to binge drinking at least once per month, and nearly 10 million people suffer from clinical eating disorders. These epidemics make it critical to examine what can be done to encourage people to regulate consumption.

In one study, the researchers asked participants to hold pieces of candy between their fingers, and put it in their mouths and then take it out. "The goal of this task was to let people perform tasks with the candy but not be able to actually eat the candy," the authors explain.

Once the participants completed the initial tasks they moved on to taking unrelated surveys. But the candy was left on their desks without instruction as to whether they could eat it or not. The researchers measured how much candy the participants consumed and measured how much self-control the participants usually exerted.

"We found that participants who are usually high in self-control perceived the initial candy task - which involved touching, but not eating Skittles and M&Ms - as an opportunity to have fun (they were playing with candy)," - "Participants who are usually low in self-control, however, perceived the initial candy task as an obligation to work."

The study could also highlight people's motivation to change, those that see therapy and changing their lifestyle as work are likely to be less motivated to make the changes than those that view the changes to their lifestyle, and their therapy, as fun.

Wording of techniques or exercises could make the difference between an individual feeling like their therapy is all hard work and an individual feeling that therapy is fun!

Link to Article

Rumination on violence increases aggressoin

2010-09-21T17:18:00.006+01:00

"Playing a violent video game can increase aggression, and when a player keeps thinking about the game, the potential for aggression can last for as long as 24 hours.

This study shows that (for men) ruminating about the game can increase the game's tendency to lead to aggression long after the game has been turned off.

The researchers randomly assigned college students to play one of six different video games for 20 minutes. Half the games were violent (e.g., Mortal Kombat) and half were not (e.g., Guitar Hero).

After 24 hours:
Men who didn't think about the game: the violent video game players tested no more aggressive than men who had played non-violent games.

Men who did think about the game: More aggressive than the other groups.

The researchers also found that women who played the violent video games and thought about the games did not experience increased aggression 24 hours later."

This study is interesting as it supports the basis of Brief Solution Focused Therapy. When the participants were not thinking about violence (i.e. the violent game) they were no more violent than those who were thinking about non-violence (i.e. the non-violent game.)

But when they were thinking about violence, they themselves became more violent.

To me this just supports the view of BSFT that ruminating on behaviour will encourage that behaviour. For example, those with depression who ruminate on their problem are going to feel worse than those ruminating on the solution (what their life could be like without depression.)

It also makes me wonder if those that play money-making video games are more likely to be better at business than their peers?

Link to Article

Perception of Emotion Is Culture-Specific

2010-09-16T17:09:00.004+01:00

An interesting study of other cultures, Tanaka's study shows how we don't necessarily all perceive emotion in the same way:

"A new study examines how Dutch and Japanese people assess others’ emotions and finds that Dutch people pay attention to the facial expression more than Japanese people do."

Most of the research on understanding the emotional state of others has been done on facial expression; Tanaka and his colleagues in Japan and the Netherlands wanted to know how vocal tone and facial expressions work together to give you a sense of someone else’s emotion.

For the study, Tanaka and colleagues made a video of actors saying a phrase with a neutral meaning —“Is that so?”— two ways: angrily and happily.

Then they edited the videos so that they also had recordings of someone saying the phrase angrily but with a happy face, and happily with an angry face.

They found that Japanese participants paid attention to the voice more than Dutch people did — even when they were instructed to judge the emotion by the faces and to ignore the voice.

Akihiro Tanaka: "I think Japanese people tend to hide their negative emotions by smiling, but it’s more difficult to hide negative emotions in the voice.” Therefore, Japanese people may be used to listening for emotional cues. This could lead to confusion when a Dutch person, who is used to the voice and the face matching."

"Our findings can contribute to better communication between different cultures."

Indeed! The study may also affect therapy sessions, as what may seem to be an obvious emotion to one person, may not be so obvious to another. More specifically, one method of therapy that works in the west may not be as effective in the east.

In any case, it shows how our culture can directly influence our perception of the world and this brings us one step closer to understanding each other.

Link to Article

Prejudice and Mental Health

2010-09-16T17:00:00.004+01:00

A decade into the 21st Century and the prejudice towards mental illness is decreasing, at least - that's what we'd hope:

"A joint study by Indiana University and Columbia University researchers found no change in prejudice and discrimination toward people with serious mental illness or substance abuse problems despite a greater embrace by the public of neurobiological explanations for these illnesses."

The "disease like any other" approach, supported by medicine and mental health advocates, had been seen as the primary way to reduce widespread stigma in the United States but 'Prejudice and discrimination in the U.S. aren't moving,' said IU sociologist Bernice Pescosolido.

But more alarmingly: "In fact, in some cases, it may be increasing. It's time to stand back and rethink our approach."

Stigma can produce discrimination in employment, housing, medical care and social relationships, and negatively impact the quality of life for these individuals, their families and friends.

Some key findings include:

2006: 67% of the public attributed major depression to neurobiological causes, compared with 54% in 1996.

Holding a belief in neurobiological causes for these disorders increased the likelihood of support for treatment but was generally unrelated to stigma. Where associated, the effect was to increase, not decrease, community rejection.

This study amazed me. I'm not naive enough to think that all people had dropped their prejudices toward those with mental illnesses, but I find it incredible that this number may actually be increasing.

This is another case that shows how increased public knowledge of a topic does not necessarily mean increased public intelligence.

Link to Article

The Pain of Discrimination

2010-09-15T16:58:00.003+01:00

"In a new study, researchers found that adolescents from Latin American and Asian backgrounds experienced more discrimination than their peers from European backgrounds and that the discrimination came not only from other adolescents but from adults as well. The level of discrimination also impacted these teens' grade-point averages and their health and was associated with depression, distress and lower levels of self-esteem.

601 Teens (equal males and females) kept a daily diary for 2 weeks to record any discriminatory events or comments they experienced. They were also asked to separately record on a four-point scale any physical symptoms, such as headaches, stomach-aches or general pain.

Among the teens in the study, nearly 60% reported experiencing discrimination from other teens, and 63% reported discrimination from adults; 12% reported experiencing discrimination on a daily basis.

The researchers found that teens who reported higher levels of peer or adult discrimination also reported more aches, pains and other symptoms, as well as a lower overall grade-point average. Thus, discrimination may not only tax adolescents' physical and psychological resources but may also affect their ability to achieve in school, the researchers said.

"Discrimination significantly predicted lower GPAs, higher levels of depression, higher levels of distress, lower self-esteem and more physical complaints," Fuligni said. "So the bottom line? Discrimination is harmful."

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This interesting study highlights the link between the personal world, i.e. one's own wellbeing and health, and the social world. This link can be good, in terms of positive interactions and suppport, but, as this study shows, negativity in the social world can create bad results in the personal world.

Although people may think the discrimination is only small, it can mount up on a single individual, much like in the story 'An Inspector Calls' by J.B Preistley, and can manifest itself in a number of physical and psychological problems.

The modern world already seems to be accelerating the number of people that are being diagnosed with depression and ADHD and personality disorders etc, and people are quick to blame the fast paced life and music and videogames. This study is an interesting wake-up call that shows how our interactions with each other, although seemingly harmless, may be commiting more pain than we realise.

Link to article

Benefits of Video Games

2010-09-14T16:34:00.003+01:00

We all hear how computer games are bad for youth. They sit inside, are less active, can affect social skills, can affect school work or, in some extreme cases, violent video games have been connected with mass murders. Whether or not these accusations are true is still up for debate - but what is interesting is a study released recently proclaiming the positive benefits of video games, in particular - action games.

"Cognitive scientists from the University of Rochester have discovered that playing action video games trains people to make the right decisions faster. The researchers found that video game players develop a heightened sensitivity to what is going on around them, and this benefit doesn't just make them better at playing video games, but improves a wide variety of general skills that can help with everyday activities like multitasking, driving, reading small print, keeping track of friends in a crowd, and navigating around town."

The researchers tested dozens of 18- to 25-year-olds who were not ordinarily video game players. They split the subjects into two groups. One group played 50 hours of the fast-paced action video games "Call of Duty 2" and "Unreal Tournament," and the other group played 50 hours of the slow-moving strategy game "The Sims 2."

After this training period, all of the subjects were asked to make quick decisions in several tasks designed by the researchers. In the tasks, the participants had to look at a screen, analyze what was going on, and answer a simple question about the action in as little time as possible (i.e. whether a clump of erratically moving dots was migrating right or left across the screen on average).

The action game players were up to 25% faster at coming to a conclusion and answered just as many questions correctly as their strategy game playing peers.

"It's not the case that the action game players are trigger-happy and less accurate: They are just as accurate and also faster," Bavelier said. "Action game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference."

In short, they concluded that as the brain makes hundreds of calculations every second based on the visual and audial data provided. This is 'Probabilistic inference.' An example provided: "As you drive, for instance, you may see a movement on your right, estimate whether you are on a collision course, and based on that probability make a binary decision: brake or don't brake."

The sci-fi world often talks about humans of the future being faster or stronger or taller - perhaps a future of action-gamers will make this, at least partially possible - just another thought: maybe cars will be faster, to match our faster reflexes or time limits for 'spot the difference' games will have to be reviewed?

Link to article

Portion Control: is it all a matter of perception?

2010-09-07T17:20:00.003+01:00

Research suggests that the key to losing weight could lie in manipulating our beliefs about how filling we think food will be before we eat it, suggesting that portion control is all a matter of perception.

Test subjects were more satisfied for longer periods of time after consuming varying quantities of food for which they were led to believe that portion sizes were larger than they actually were.

Memories about how satisfying previous meals were also played a causal role in determining how long those meals staved off hunger. Together, these results suggest that expectations before eating and memory after eating play an important role in governing appetite and satiety.

In the first experiment, participants were shown the ingredients of a fruit smoothie. Half were shown a small portion of fruit and half were shown a large portion. They were then asked to assess the 'expected satiety' of the smoothie and to provide ratings before and three hours after consumption. Participants who were shown the large portion of fruit reported significantly greater fullness, even though all participants consumed the same smaller quantity of fruit.

In a second experiment, researchers manipulated the 'actual' and 'perceived' amount of soup that people thought that they had consumed. Using a soup bowl connected to a hidden pump beneath the bowl, the amount of soup in the bowl was increased or decreased as participants ate, without their knowledge. Three hours after the meal, it was the perceived (remembered) amount of soup in the bowl and not the actual amount of soup consumed that predicted post-meal hunger and fullness ratings.

Dr. Brunstrom: "Labels on 'light' and 'diet' foods might lead us to think we will not be satisfied by such foods, possibly leading us to eat more afterwards - One way to militate against this, and indeed accentuate potential satiety effects, might be to emphasize the satiating properties of a food using labels such as 'satisfying' or 'hunger relieving'."
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So these diet foods could actually be causing us to eat more as we still think we should be hungry? Interesting!

This study really does highlight how that aspects of our lives that we never really considered anything more than biologically driven really can be altered by our psychological state of mind!

This is an interesting situation for advertisers. Do they want to avoid using 'diet' on their labels so people don't feel like they're missing out on food? Or keep using it because the 'diet' part is the reason people keep buying it?

I know I'll be paying more attention to the fine print now!

Link to Article

Non-Invasive Therapy Significantly Improves Depression

2010-09-06T17:38:00.003+01:00

"Major depression is a common and disabling brain condition marked not only by the presence of depressed mood but also by its effects on sleep, energy, decision-making, memory and thoughts of death or of suicide."

A unique new therapy that applies electrical stimulation to a major nerve emanating from the brain is showing promise.

In a recently completed clinical trial at UCLA, trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) achieved an average of a 70 percent reduction in symptom severity over an eight-week study period. The study's principal investigator, Dr. Ian A. Cook, presented the results at a recent National Institutes of Health conference on depression and other psychiatric disorders, noting that 80 percent of the subjects achieved remission, a highly significant result in this pilot study.

The stimulator that was used in the depression clinical trial is about the size of a large cell phone. Two wires from the stimulator are passed under the clothing and connected to electrodes attached to the forehead by adhesive. The electrodes transmit an electrical current to the nerve. All the patients in the trial used the device for approximately eight hours every night while asleep. In contrast to antidepressants, no major side effects were noted.

In describing TNS, DeGiorgio, co-principal investigator for the depression trial, explained that what is remarkable about the TNS approach is that it is possible to send signals to key structures deep in the brain without penetrating into the skull.

Cook hypothesized that electrical stimulation of the trigeminal nerve generates a cascading sequence of events in the existing neuronal infrastructure. In essence, he said, "TNS provides a high-bandwidth pathway into the brain."

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Does this further evidence that Major Depression is in fact more based in the physical world than the mental world? Although very successful (80%) the people that didn't benefit from this treatment make me wonder if Depression still isn't as simple as people want to believe!

Any thoughts?

Full Article

Paul Grantham on Brief Solution Focused Therapy

2010-09-04T00:06:00.000+01:00

Mindfulness Meditation Increases Well-Being in Adolescent Boys

2010-09-02T17:20:00.006+01:00

'Mindfulness', the process of learning to become more aware of our ongoing experiences, increases well-being in adolescent boys, a new study reports.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge analyzed 155 boys from two independent UK schools, Tonbridge and Hampton, before and after a four-week crash course in mindfulness. After the trial period, the 14 and 15 year-old boys were found to have increased well-being, defined as the combination of feeling good (including positive emotions such as happiness, contentment, interest and affection) and functioning well.

Professor Felicia Huppert of the Well-being Institute at the University of Cambridge said: "More and more we are realising the importance of supporting the overall mental health of children. Our study demonstrates that this type of training improves well-being in adolescents and that the more they practice, the greater the benefits. Importantly, many of the students genuinely enjoyed the exercises and said they intended to continue them -- a good sign that many children would be receptive to this type of intervention.

"Another significant aspect of this study is that adolescents who suffered from higher levels of anxiety were the ones who benefitted most from the training."

The success of this initial study has recently led to the creation of an exciting 8 week mindfulness curriculum for schools in both the state and private sectors. This new curriculum, which includes games and video clips, should have even greater benefits.

(More information by clicking HERE)

Another link: mindfulnessinschool

Link Between Everyday Stress and Obesity Strenthened

2010-09-02T17:16:00.005+01:00

Stress can take a daily toll on us that has broad physical and psychological implications. Science has long documented the effect of extreme stress, such as war, injury or traumatic grief on humans. Typically, such situations cause victims to decrease their food intake and body weight. Recent studies, however, tend to suggest that social stress--public speaking, tests, job and relationship pressures--may have the opposite effect--over-eating and weight gain. With the rise of obesity rates, science has increasingly focused on its causes and effects--including stress.

A recent study conducted by the Departments of Psychiatry and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, examined the effects of stress on the meal patterns and food intake of animals exposed to the equivalent of everyday stress on humans. The results suggest that, not only does stress have an impact on us in the short term, it can cause metabolic changes in the longer term that contribute to obesity.

Stress is experienced by animals and humans on a daily basis and many individuals experience cycles of stress and recovery throughout the day. If, following stress, we consume larger and less frequent meals, the conditions are favorable for weight gain--especially in the abdomen. We know that belly fat, as well as stress, contributes to the development of cardiovascular disease, immune dysfunction and other metabolic disorders. Further studies using the VBS model will help us understand the relationship between stress and obesity and help us treat and prevent the development of these diseases

(More information on this study can be found by clicking HERE)
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With obesity and body image in the media more and more in recent years, it seems now more than ever trying to maintain a healthy diet and exercise is important - especially if you've had that extra-stressful day at the office!

Possible methods to help you relax? Meditation, Tai Chi or a nice cup of tea!

Smoking-Mind Over Smoking-Matter: Surprising New Study Shows Cigarette Cravings Result from Habit, Not Addiction

2010-09-01T17:08:00.004+01:00

A new study from Tel Aviv University shows why patches and nicotine gum are ineffective.

In the new study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Dr. Reuven Dar of Tel Aviv University's Department of Psychology found that the intensity of cravings for cigarettes had more to do with the psychosocial element of smoking than with the physiological effects of nicotine as an addictive chemical.

"These findings might not be popular with advocates of the nicotine addiction theory, because they undermine the physiological role of nicotine and emphasize mind over matter when it comes to smoking," Dr. Dar says. He hopes this research will help clinicians and health authorities develop more successful smoking cessation programs than those utilizing expensive nicotine patches or gum.

Dr. Dar's studies conclude that nicotine is not addictive as physiological addictions are usually defined. While nicotine does have a physiological role in increasing cognitive abilities such as attention and memory, it's not an addictive substance like heroin, which creates true systemic and biologically-based withdrawal symptoms in the body of the user, he says.

Dr. Dar believes that people who smoke do so for short-term benefits like oral gratification, sensory pleasure and social camaraderie. Once the habit is established, people continue to smoke in response to cues and in situations that become associated with smoking. Dr. Dar believes that understanding smoking as a habit, not an addiction, will facilitate treatment. Smoking cessation techniques should emphasize the psychological and behavioral aspects of the habit and not the biological aspects, he suggests.

More information on this study can be found by clicking HERE