Blindness

Blind trials are experiments in which the subjects do not know what kind of treatment they are receiving, so their expectations about the treatment cannot affect the results. Unsurprisingly, researchers who aim to prove some pet theory or other rarely use a blind trial.

Vote

Members of the BABCP are considering how (and whether) to vote for a new president and board members.

Walls

The people in the walls are becoming noisier. Their previously whispered discussions are now more heated. There’s shouting, and it goes on half the night, making sleep impossible. What to do?

Maybe the doctor can help…

Jazz

Being very drunk, perhaps, to the point of almost but not quite falling over, then staggering on with only a few “Oh shit!” moments along the way…

It occurred to me as a result of this that psychotherapy is somewhat like jazz, in a certain sense that I will now attempt to explain.

Numbers

Numbers have a special power, it seems, but their power is not always beneficial.

Puzzle

Here’s a puzzle.

Conventionally, I would give you the puzzle first and the solution after, perhaps upside down at the bottom of the page to discourage peeking, but because I’m mean and grumpy I’m going to spoil your fun by giving you the solution first…heh.

Stability

There’s a quiet public pathway where I often go for a walk at lunchtime if the weather is fine. I was there again a couple of days ago, but this was the hot Sunday afternoon of the Bank Holiday weekend. What a difference! A throng of walkers, joggers, runners and cyclists stretched for miles along the path.

Lunch

A secret lunch party in London next month could shape the future of CBT in the UK…

…but it probably won’t.

Dreams

How is it that the interpretation of dreams continues to have a place in modern psychotherapy? The answer lies as much in the politics of therapy as in the popular fascination that dreams hold.

Counselling

The UK government’s Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme has come under attack from various quarters for its focus on CBT. People who practise other kinds of psychological therapy in the NHS are understandably concerned that their work will not be valued so much when CBT becomes widely available.