Counselling and Psychotherapy Workshop Handouts

From time to time I run workshops at counselling / psychotherapy events. Here are the handouts from two different workshops, one on Narrative Therapy and one on the links between mindfulness and Transactional Analysis.

Re-Writing Life Stories
Workshop at TA Through the Ages Conference, Edinburgh, November 2007

From the handout: "In narrative therapy people are invited to find new ways to tell their story... Through various techniques – such as ‘externalising the problem’ – the person is invited to discover alternative storylines that have been waiting in the shadows. The invitation is not just for different stories, but stories that open-up instead of limiting possibilities for action and for living."

• Outline of Workshop
• Interview Crib Sheets
• Handout and References

Buddhism and Psychotherapy: Two Approaches to Mental Well-Being
Workshop at TA World Conference, Edinburgh, July 2005

From the handout: "The message of skilful action is lost if we are inclined to become ‘psychological weight-lifters’ obsessing about achieving the most skilful outcome possible."

• Handout

Links

Dulwich Centre for narrative therapy.

Access to Insight for articles / materials on Buddhism.

tatherapy.com for Falkirk-based therapist Debra Pickering.

www.hilaryspenceley.org.uk for Edinburgh-based therapist Hilary Spenceley.

Bramble Acupuncture in Sheffield and Whitwell, near Worksop.

Other things

	'Grand designs' was an activity that I helped create for young people in 2007. We asked young people to come up with proposals for the design and operation of a supported accommodation unit. I was inspired by the young people's creativity and focus on the day. The results are written up in this short briefing. More on young people and homelessness can be found at www.scsh.org.uk.
	A book review I wrote for the Times Literary Supplement in 2003. From the review: "Science seems to portray us as complex lumps of matter, whereas common-sense sees us as rational, free, and conscious agents. Can we reconcile these two pictures?" This version includes the spelling error that the sub-editor and I both missed, but one TLS reader and letter writer did not. Can you spot it?
	Daniel Dennett: Reconciling Science and Our Self-Conception (Polity Press, 2003) A book I wrote about the contemporary American philosopher, Daniel Dennett.
	'Should vegetarians play video games?' from Philosophical Papers 29(1) 21-42 (2000) From the paper: "[C]ertain kinds of sophisticated video agents ... do seem to be the most extraordinary kind of creature, much stranger, surely, than any we might meet from Mars. But they are creatures nonetheless." Although this is a playful paper, I stand by my arguments.

Feedback

If you find any of the extra on this page useful or have suggestions for links, please let me know. My email contact is on the right hand side of this page.