Personal Development Through Philosophy and Psychology Newsletter, January 2011
Tim LeBon
There are some interesting trainings coming up in London in the very near future in both cognitive therapy and existential life training, and details of both are included in this newsletter. You'll also find some inspiring words of positive psychology and one of the most interesting new(ish) philosophical therapies. Hope it proves useful ...
Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive therapy (or CBT) is one of the therapies which has the most empirical evidence for its effectiveness. As a result, the government has put a lot of money into providing IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) services and training therapists in CBT to train in IAPT services. But to get on an IAPT course, you already need to know a fair amount of CBT. I've previously given one day CBT courses at City Lit, which will continue, but I'm delighted to be part of a longer, 6 day training which provides a more thorough introduction. There are still places available on the course. Details as follows
Introductory Certificate in Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy
Get Started using CBT in your Therapy Practice
Weekend one: 5th - 6th February 2011Weekend two: 12th - 13th February 2011
Weekend three: 26th - 27th February 2011
Course Venue: Best Western Mostyn Hotel, Marble Arch, London W1 (2 mins walk from Marble Arch tube station)
Course Overview
If
you’re
interested in expanding your therapy skills, this is your
perfect opportunity
to begin training in cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT).
There’s a growing
demand for evidence-based psychological therapists using
methods such as CBT.
This six day introductory certificate course has been
specifically designed for
people who already work with therapy clients but want to learn
more about CBT.
The course is delivered by experienced trainers who specialise
in CBT: Henry
Whitfield, Tim LeBon and Dr. Polly Ashworth.
For
more details and to book see http://www.ukcognitive.com/mod/resource/view.php?id=221
or
Click here to book and pay
securely online.All major credit
and debit cards are accepted. Call free on 0800 195 9809
(Monday-Thursday, 10am
- 6pm).
Existential Psychotherapy and Coaching
Existential Psychotherapy uses insights and methods from existential philosophy to help individuals lead more authentic lives. One of the people most responsible for its prominence in the UK is Emmy van Deurzen. Starting this Tuesday, there is a unique opportunity to experiencLife Training classes with Emmy van Deurzen, starting on Tuesday 25th January at the Existential Academy, which is based with the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling, Belsize Road, London NW6. Ten weeks, Tuesday evenings, 5.30pm to 7.00pm: learn about life and how to live it better. £250 for ten weeks.
Some places remaining. Applications now. See www.nspc.org.uk and www.existentialacademy.com or phone 020 76240471 for more information.
Practical Philosophy
One of the most interesting developments in the therapy world is the emergence of ACT or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.Whilst it has developed as part of a philosophy called functional contextualism, it seems to me that ACT in practice can be seen as a synthesis of Stoicism, Buddhism and values-based philosophy.
To oversimplify somewhat, the two key ideas are to
1) Accept that negative emotions are a part of life - the good life, as the Stoics urged, isn't one where you experience no negative emotions, but rather one in which you lead a meaningful and virtuous life. ACT provides some techniques from Buddhism and mindfulness to help one defuse negative emotions.
2) Commit yourself to those actions which constitute a meaningful life
ACT provides a good toolkit of techniques, which you can read about in The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris, which is one of the new entries in my yearly top 10 personal development books.
Positive Psychology
Positive Psychology provides a good stock of resources for those wishing to lead a more flourishing life or indeed those coaches or therapists who are aiming to help others do so. Its goal is to turn human flourishing into a science, by researching and validating activities and interventions that can help people use their strengths, become more optimistic, experience more flow and become happier. One of the things I like most about positive psychology is the community of interested parties who share ideas and resources at The Friends of Positive Psychology listserv. One of the most prolific contributors is Marcello Spinella, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. Marecllo is producing a
Compendium of Positive Psychology Quotations which he has shared as a google doc.
Here are three quotations I find particularly inspiring.
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms-to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
--Viktor Frankl
"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."
--Aesop
"If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.”
--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The quotations are grouped together according to the the VIA character strengths
You can access Marcello's complete list of positive
psychology quotitations at
If anyone has any suggestions, please email Marcello at marcello...@HOTMAIL.COM
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I have a limited number of places available to see people for psychotherapy, counselling or life coaching in my private practice in Central London
If you are interested, please e-mail me at t...@timlebon.com