Daily Compassion (Guest Blog)
This was a guest blog that I wrote for the brilliant 365 Days of Compassion Blog It’s early February and you can’t quite fathom that you are breaking all your New Year’s resolutions. You are a month in and you are already overeating, missing the gym, drinking a glass of wine, the house is a […]
Behavioural Activation Part 6 – A Tool for the Future and a Promethean Act of Will
William James (1842 – 1910), the philosopher and pioneer of American psychology (teaching the first psychology course in the USA at Harvard) suffered bouts of depression throughout his life. At times they took what he described as a ‘Promethean Act of Will’ to overcome this ‘crisis of meaning’. BA is a tool that you can […]
Behavioural Activation Part 5 – Lets Get Physical – Activate Through Activity
If you look at many high functioning people who have experienced depression, you often find exercise is part of their recovery. The likes of Tim Ferris, Stephen Fry and world class endurance athlete Christopher Bergland all have credited exercise to helping them maintain and improve their mental health (if you do a little more research […]
Behavioural Activation Part 4 – Actions Speak Louder Than Thoughts and Emotions
Our feelings have evolved to hijack our attention, behaviour and motivational systems. At times this can be incredibly useful, even lifesaving. But there are times when the better-safe-than-sorry ‘smoke detectors’ in our brain produce feelings that drive behaviours that don’t help us! There is a level of sadness which can be useful in helping us […]
Behavioural Activation Part 2 – Why You Need More than Common Sense
As I wrote in part 1 BA is a common-sense approach to mental health. The problem is when you are in the depths of depression and anxiety the logical common-sense part of your brain is inhibited. You also struggle to hold on to the positive experiences in this state. In fact, at times your brain […]
Behavioural Activation Part 1 – A Common Sense Approach to Mental Health Your Gran Would Agree With
I think the best psychotherapy and well being programmes have common sense overflowing from each practice, intervention or tool. Would your Gran have told you to do this when you were a child? Did the Greeks, Stoics and indigenous cultures do these things either consciously or as part of ‘the Good Life’? If the answer […]
