1.) Next term I will be supervising some Master's dissertations for the first time. :D Finally a chance to indulge my inclinations for power and domination. Or at least my inclinations for coherently structured analysis and a good solid methods section. 2.) Term ended on a sad note at my second job....

Anxious demanding parent, you should be proud that your child is doing so well academically, given how very unwell they've been. So be proud, and stop bombarding me with aggressive emails criticising how I do things and trying to get me to push the child harder. I know you are anxious, but you need ...

1.) It's been a rollercoaster of a month. On the up: yesterday I was offered some extremely generous funding to carry out a three-year research project I proposed all the way back in August, to start next autumn. I'm a bit dazed. I'd be based at a very prestigious uni (and I know prestige isn't ever...

If aspects of Weekes's approach are embedded in ACT (and I don't know much about ACT, but I think it's possible that other psychologists might have arrived at the idea of acceptance independently) then it already is being widely used and practitioner psychologists are aware of these techniques. I do...

What level is your dissertation at, and has it received ethical approval? Part of the ethics process should involve explaining exactly how you're going to obtain your data. If you wrote that you would use material that's in the public domain without checking first that the material existed, then I t...

Thank you, Lakeland. I think my dad could find humour in almost anything. :) He's a great one for that. 1.) I rang Parental Central, expecting to get my dad, only to be greeted by my mum's voice. I think she was nearly deafened by my excitement. She has to go back in for another operation in the New...

1.) My mum had a heart attack yesterday. She's in hospital. I thought she didn't seem quite right when I saw her on Saturday, but I didn't say anything. :cry: This came as such a shock, as she doesn't smoke, she eats healthily, and she and my dad spend half their lives hiking up hills. The doctors s...

1.) I must really finish this conference paper. 2.) I must really start this conference paper. 3.) I had a lovely visit from my parents in my new house. I feel as if I've lived here for ages, and it's only been two weeks. 4.) One of my closest friends is very upset after his long-term relationship e...

1.) After I approached my GP for help coping with the aftermath of a traumatic bereavement, it took six weeks for me to have a phone assessment with IAPT, who told me what I already knew - that their service wasn't right for me. They signposted me to a local charity. It took me two and a half months...

Even if you have a DClinPsy or PhD it doesn't inoculate you against approaches that play into your beliefs around the world or "feel" instinctively correct and therefore should work. Most snake oil is sold successfully because it panders at some level to some of our own strongly held beliefs. This ...

I have also experienced an eating disorder. Personally I would be very, very cautious about ever working in an ED service in any capacity, not only for my own sake (I still feel competitive when I'm around low-weight individuals), but for the sake of the patients. When I was receiving treatment myse...

I teach an undergrad research methods module, and I sometimes use dodgy pseudo-therapies like these as case studies to help students learn to distinguish evidence from anecdote. Many of them are aspiring to be clinical psychologists or at least to work in the mental health field, so I think it's imp...

Thanks. Louise Bomber has a book that looks as if it might be just what I want. I've ordered it.

It was the same thing for SALT. I just prefer it if the main things I raise in my interview are also mentioned in the application form, even if only briefly, as it helps me to stay collected (I reread my form before I go in) and I think maybe it's easier for the interviewer to remember everything th...

1.) I'm moving house! Today my parents came over to help me and we transferred most of my things. My new flat is quite a lot smaller than my current one, but it is in a beautiful semi-rural location and it feels much more 'me'. I've even got a little private patio area that is screened by a trellis,...