Psychology to Live By

This Q & A explores issues arising from 'Mastering Difficult Conversations Part 1 (What's Going On?)'. Topics discussed included: how nurturing trust over time makes subsequent difficult conversations much easier; the distinction between naive and mature trust; the distinction between reacting and responding, and how we can use analysis of conversational dynamics to shift to respon...

This roundtable discussed the podcast with Alyssa Coco and Matt Merritt and focussed on the following themes: how 'comparison is the thief of joy' and the necessity of transforming the cycle of comparison to a cycle of inspiration; how studying others' successes builds one's own success; how mindfulness can help in identifying one's negatiev reactions thereby allowing a more po...

Part 2 of ‘Thee or Me’ uses the lens of evolutionary psychology to explore our moral complexity driven in large part by the tension between hardwired self-interest and reciprocal altruism.  The crowning glory of homo sapiens is our ability to cooperate. There is little doubt it is THE thing which enabled us to survive and thrive as a species. Topics explored include cheating and deception, mo...

This Roundtable discusses the "Thee or Me?" podcast - subtitled ‘Altruism & Compassion’. Issues discussed include: how all people are contradictory and may have within themself a 'community of selves'; how polarisation is fed by social media, how we are all prone to it and are offered incentives to be extreme; the problem of scale and the innumeracy of empathy; the salience o...

In this Music & Mental Health Podcast I’m talking with Alyssa Coco and Matt Merritt from singer and songwriter indie pop band Roses and Revolutions. Our topics, as usual are creativity and music and their relation to mental health, with a focus on what challenges our wellbeing and our creativity and what Alyssa & Matt have found that helps. We discuss how Alyssa has learne to cope with her...

In 'Thee or Me? Part 1: Morality & The Prisoner’s Dilemma' I explore why we are sometimes selfish and at other times altruistic.  The answer is a complex mix of nature and nurture, personality and circumstance.  As with self-interest, altruism is a hard-wired feature of our species – one that is critical for our survival. The first podcast explores how ethical behaviour is a product...

This Roundtable discusses the "Thee or Me?" podcast - subtitled ‘Morality & The Prisoner's Dilemma’. Issues discussed include: that genetics can play a part in personal morality and different moralities are reflected in the egocentric bias common to us all; a discussion of behavioural economics and the way culture and public forces can nudge or 'crowd in' or 'crowd ou...

This roundtable discusses the podcast Music, Creativity & Mental Health with Emily James. Terry McBride, Chairman & CEO of Nettwerk, Coleen Novak, Artist Manager, Chris Norwood, Chief Strategy Officer and Caren Mix, Director People & Operations reflect on the podcast just as the dust was just settling on the United States election, so you’ll see some pretty interesting ways this discus...

As we get older time appears to go by faster.  This may be because we experience less novelty each day and therefore record fewer new frames of memory to 'replay' in recollection.  It may also be because our brain processing is slower because it is far more complex than for younger people, and because  our neural architecture degrades over time.   Also it makes a big difference if we are p...

This Q & A explored the podcast entitled: 'Is Our Time Running Out?' We begin with a summary of that podcast and then the main themes touched upon in our discussions were: the wisdom for us all of an eledely father who says: 'I don't look to the future. I'm not wishing my life away. I want to live for the day'; how to live more of the 'holiday paradox' (that it...

In this podcast I talk with Emily James, an indie singer, songwriter and producer about music, creativity and mental health. We discuss the unfortunately high prevalence of mental illness in the music industry and the factors that underlie this, including the constant comparisons among artists and levels of success, the financial burdens and insecurities, the impact of social media, and so on. We...

Part 3 in this Time Series explores altered states of consciousness and their effects on time perception.  We see that in everyday trance we can lose all track of time, such as when you are lost in thought or daydreaming.  Hypnotic states alter time perception in various ways, especially where we think an experience was very short, when in fact it was quite long. In meditation time often sems to e...

We begin with a summary of the podcast 'Time Series Part 3: Hypnosis, Meditation and Awe', and then our discussion included the following topics: finding awe internally, not just externally; experiencing awe in the mundane; the ever-available awe of others; depression as the opposite of awe; the relationship between staying in the moment and experiencing awe; recognizing negative emotions...

Our roundtable discussion of the William Fitzsimmons podcast explored a range of fascinating ideas including: that music, as an aesthetic form of creativity, is about expressing and communicating feelings, and is in fact a force for therapeutic healing; that creative process is about suspending judgment and making music for the sake of making it, rather than being focused on whether it is good eno...

This is part 2 of a series exploring the perception of time. How we experience time depends on what’s happening, our age, our mental health, our motivation, our emotions, what drugs we have ingested and the nature of our attention - for example, if we are looking backwards, at-the-present-moment or forwards.  And, how we perceive time makes a big difference to us: it impacts our mood, our wellbein...

This Roundtable begins with a summary of the podcast focusssd on the notion of 'Time Affluence'. In particular, the benefits of this sense of having enough time are identiifed. Both objective and subjective to straegies to increase time affluence are explored. Topics discussed in the Roundtable include: how we can grow the subjective capacity to enjoy our leisure; how we can navigate other...

In this Music, Creativitiy, and Mental Health I had the honour of talking with musician, singer and songwriter William Fitzsimmons. In a wide-ranging and insightful discussion topics covered include: the relationship between severe mental health issues and addiction and creativity or (the myth of the tortured artist); deep suffering as a normal part of life that provides stimulus and content for c...

This is part 1 of a series exploring the perception of time. How we experience time depends on what’s happening, our age, our mental health, our motivation, our emotions, what drugs we have ingested and the nature of our attention - for example, if we are looking backwards, at-the-present-moment or forwards.  And, how we perceive time makes a big difference to us: it impacts our mood, our wellbein...

We begin with a summary of the podcast and conclude that, with notable exceptions, this sense of a time famine is misplaced. It is a subjective, not objective, experience. Topics explored in the Roundtable include: the question of whether children in the digital age are being inducted earlier into 'continuous partial attention; the need for empty spaces to foster creativity; the problem of hig...

It is quite common in life to ‘get what you resist’.  This podast explores examples of this: people who stutter more when they try not to stutter; golfer’s who have the ‘yips’; jealousy in relationship producing infildelity; and more generally how insecurity breeds insecurity.  The antidote is acceptance and we explore ways acceptance reduces the suffering of those with chronic pain and tinnitus. ...

This Roundtable examines the podcast 'You Get What You Resist'. A short summary of the podcast covers how resisting things often makes them worse. We tend to get fixated on things that we are trying to resist. Practical examples include the experience of pain, stuttering, panic attacks, tinnitus, jealousy and getting the 'yips' in golf. General solutions are acceptance and shifting...

In the ‘Stranger in My Room’ podcast our hyper-social nature is explored using a thought experiment that reveals our obsession with what other people think of us.  This is linked to our survival mechanisms as a species – both in terms of our interdependence and in terms of the ‘threat of the stranger’. The practical implications of this are that we should take notice of our gut reactions when we a...

This Roundtable focuses on the ‘Stranger in My Room’ podcast in which our hyper-social nature is explored using a thought experiment that reveals our obsession with what other people think of us.  The conversations in the Roundtable covered an array of topics: the central human drive for control and our important need to predict and anticipate socially; the difficulties for introverts at parties a...

This podcast explores the question 'would you rather be right or happy?' in the context of road rage.  We begin with a counselling client who had an encounter with a bus.  We then compare his story to two other true stories: 1.  where a driver pursued another driver until he ran out of fuel; and 2.  another, sadly, that led to one driver dying.  We reach the conclusion that it is our minds...

This Roundtable features the podcast ‘Rather Right Than Happy’ which examined the strong drive we have for righteousness. We are hardwired for certainty, so being wrong can feel threatening, so it appears we will frequently sacrifice happiness in order to be right. Topics that emerged in the Roundtable included that: we become trapped in our own upsetting thoughts thereby upsetting ourselves; that...