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The University of Sydney research I mentioned recently on the unacknowledged costs of those supposedly money-saving, fun and creativity-enhancing open plan offices has just been published in the December issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology. It led me [thanks to an article in the Wall St Journal, unfortunately behind a pay wall], to some research from the University of California which...
Edited by Jill Wright,
One would have to say that the timing might have been a little better. First came the news, on Monday, that a survey by the Australian Psychological Association had found a disturbing level of stress, anxiety and depression in the national workforce. The APS psychologists interviewed 1548 workers for their Stress and Wellbeing in Australia report and discovered less satisfaction...
Edited by Jill Wright,
One of my favourite columnists, the Financial Times' Lucy Kellaway, had a tip for HR departments this week: forget psychometrics and instead watch how prospective employees ride a bicycle. According to Lucy, we reveal a tremendous amount about ourselves when we are on two wheels, and that information could tell a boss a great deal about what someone would be...
Edited by Jill Wright,
Several of our psychologists have recently been working with clients to help them get more in touch with the way their thoughts can affect their physical condition and use their minds and their breathing to control stress and achieve relaxation. These sorts of tools are increasingly available to consumers, using inexpensive digital devices or iPhone and Android apps and sensors...
Edited by Jill Wright,
While a lack of self-confidence can impose all sorts of unwelcome limits on someone's life - which is why we help clients with low self-esteem counselling, including a class on improving self-confidence - according to Guardian columnist Oliver Burkeman, recent research indicates that when empty of competence, expertise or trustworthiness, confidence is over-rated. A study aimed at improving group decision-making...
Edited by Jill Wright,
The fact that Positive Psychology authority Professor Barbara Frederickson has been forced to "partially withdraw" her paper claiming a mathematically precise so-called "positivity ratio" leading to emotional flourishing, unfortunately doesn't seem to have stopped her from continuing to sell her 2009 book, Positivity: Top-Notch Research Reveals the 3 to 1 Ratio that Will Change Your Life, and inviting the public to...
Edited by Jill Wright,
The insights offered by Dr Pauline Chen's New York Times Doctor and Patient blog post about the extraordinary benefits for burnt-out physicians of a course of mindfulness training are a must read for anyone suffering from the emotional, mental and physical symptoms of a condition that is all too common these days. Dr Chen drew her observations from two studies...
Edited by Jill Wright,
I want to acknowledge right now that I have been carrying around an unconscious prejudice about technology professionals. I've always held them in awe for their expertise in a domain that frankly turns my brain to jelly, but I have somehow imagined that they have little interest or expertise in human psychology. I'd fitted them, you see, into a convenient...
Edited by Jill Wright,
The op-ed column in the New York Times this week drawing attention to "psychotherapy's image problem" is something that deserves similar attention in this country. It's not your conventional image problem: as the author, Brandon A. Gaudiano, points out, psychotherapy has proved itself in numerous peer-reviewed studies to be more effective than drugs in relieving the most common mental health...
While I was exploring the topic of psychologists and cyberbullying in my most recent post, I came across another thoughtful take on the less-than-optimal legislative responses to bullying in an earlier issue of The Walrus by Rachel Giese. There's an audio file here. Giese asks whether anti-bullying measures that are being enacted internationally as a response to public horror over...