First Psychology blog

Happy St Andrew's Day! St Andrew's Day is, of course, Scotland's national day so we thought it fitting to take a look at national psychology, which dates back to the mid-19th century. The Scots are tight, the French are romantic and the Germans are serious, or so they say. We've all heard these stereotypes and, whether or not they are true, stereotypes exist for a reason – to help us form opinions about people we don't have time to get to know.  The psychological makeup of particular nations, ethnic groups or peoples is believed to be characterised by a combination of human attitudes, values, emotions, motivations and abilities. These are culturally reinforced by our education, upbringing, the state and media. Closely related is national character which refers to the values, norms and customs which people of a nation typically hold, and in particular, how they habitually respond to situations. Indeed, reference is sometimes made to a 'national psyche' to...

It is a common human trait to dwell on things that go wrong rather than those that go right and  traditional psychology tends to focus on specific issues and problems too. However, since the late 1990s, a new branch of psychology which finds its roots in the humanistic approach has been gaining in popularity. Positive psychology, as it is known, aims to help individuals and even organisations identify effective strategies which allow them to thrive, find and nurture genius and talent and make life more fulfilling. Coaches, therapists, counsellors, and even HR professionals, are using this new method to increase and sustain the well-being of individuals who are not necessarily suffering from mental ill health. Below are some positive psychology coaching techniques, which can help to improve wellbeing: Three good things - at the end of each day, write down three good things that happened during the day. These do not have to be hugely significant events. They could be anythi...

We are delighted to be working with The University of Edinburgh to deliver the course ' Cognitive-behavioural therapy: an introduction for counselling and psychotherapy practitioners '  next spring. The course, which will be tutored by Chris Denmark, cognitive-behaviour therapist and couples counsellor at our Edinburgh centre, will offer participants the opportunity to explore current debates about the use of concepts and practices originating in cognitive behaviour therapy. Sessions for this continuing professional development course will be delivered over a six week period from 20 April to 25 May 2012 at the Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh. For more details about this course, see page 13 of the prospectus at:  http://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.64857!fileManager/client-copy-V11_web.pdf

In honour of anti-bullying week this week from 14-18 November, we are focusing on a potentially common problem in every organisation - workplace bullying. Indeed, surveys by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development suggest between 3 and 14 million employees in the UK are subjected to bullying. Bullying can occur face-to-face or remotely via email and other media and may take the form of abuse, physical or verbal violence, humiliation or simply trying to undermine someone’s confidence. Employers have a ‘duty of care’ to their employees which includes dealing with bullying at work. It can be difficult if you are being bullied, but here are a few steps you could take to help improve the situation. Talk to your line manager as they have a responsibility to resolve the issue. If the bully is your manager, then speak to your union/workplace representative or someone in Human Resources as they can accompany you to meetings with your manager. Alternatively, you could contac...

With Christmas just around the corner and the chancellor due to announce his November budget in just a few weeks, many of us may be worrying about how we can afford all those parties, presents and festive trimmings,  particularly if our bank balance isn't looking too healthy. Debt can make us feel depressed and when we are low in mood we are likely to spend money to make ourselves feel better which unfortunately leads us further into debt. So it seems there is a close link between debt and depression and this concept has been referred to as ‘debtpression’. We've put together five tips on how to deal with debtpression. Understand your spending   You may think you spend money randomly but often your spending follows a pattern. Some people buy things to make themselves feel or look better. Identifying the triggers that make us want to spend money, by perhaps keeping a diary of thoughts, feelings and the situations, can help us feel more in control and better able to change ...

Today is National Stress Awareness Day - a day aimed at raising awareness of stress and the impact it can have on our lives. As an independent provider of counselling, psychology and coaching services we see many many people who are suffering the ill effects of stress in their lives. So what can we do about it? We are running a FREE 'Stress Factor' event in Glasgow this autumn to help you manage stress and we will be giving away a free 'stress guide' to all attendees too. For more details see  http://www.glasgowpsychology.co.uk/stress_factor.htm