Tuesday, October 20, 2009

CBT/Philosophical Counselling workshop comes to Shrewsbury (tutor: Julie Johns)

Just heard about  this workshop, sounds interesting

Touching the Problems of Life

SATURDAY 

NOVEMBER 21ST 2009

10am – 3.00pm

Business Centre, The Priory School, Longden Road, Shrewsbury, SY3 9EE

£35

‘We feel that even when all possible scientific questions have been answered,

the problems of life remain untouched’ (Wittgenstein).


A workshop to discover how aspects of CBT and Philosophical Counselling may help you to deal with the problems of life such as anxiety, panic, self -esteem, confidence, depression, moral dilemmas or difficult decisions.  A maximum of 20 of people will have an opportunity to look at descriptions of what it is to ‘be’ human - in particular your life, your loves, your difficulties, your treasures, and the passion of the vision that you have of who you are and how you want to be.  We will talk, we will think and then we can take what we have clarified or discovered to help us in our own process of living. To book a place for £35 contact me:

JULIE JOHNS 

07540 399586

or email me: ttt.julie@yahoo.co.uk


See http://www.talkthinktake.com/talkthinktake/Workshops.html   for more details

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Positive Psychology course - starting at City Uni on Thursday evening, October 8th

Sign up now to find out all about the exciting new subject of Positive Psychology, starting this Thursday evening  at City Uni.
Actually it's more than a survey, it's an interactive experience of positive psychology, that last year led to a significant
increase in the happiness of most participants. How do I know that? Because students did questionairres at the beginning and end of the course.
Moreover, this wasn't happiness by osmosis - as part of the course students carry out many of the most effective interventions that have
been found to boost happiness. We'll also have lively discussions, videos and student presentations. No previous experience of
psychology required.

To sign up, visit
http://www.city.ac.uk/cae/cfa/business/coaching_business_skills/positive_psychology.html

or call 020 7040 8865 between 9.30am and 5.00pm quoting course ref  CE1941

Course Code: CE1941
Start date(s): Thursday 8 October 2009
Class Time: 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Number of Classes: 10 weekly classes
Course Fee: £300.00

Understanding psychology can improve your well-being and success, both at work and in your personal life. Positive psychology is the growing branch of psychology that focuses on the positive, including strengths, positive states and happiness. This course will have a particular emphasis on applying positive psychology in your personal and working life.


Topics studied will include:

  • Happiness
  • Goals and meaning
  • Strengths
  • Flow
  • Hope, luck and optimism
  • Emotional intelligence and resilience
  • Mindfulness and meditation
  • Positive relationships and empathy
  • Wisdom and decision-making




Who is your ancient guru?

The prolific writer Mark Vernon has produced a short on-line quiz to help you discover your ancient philosophy guru.


You will be asked questions like
Do you think it's more useful to think about how to be happy or how to cope with suffering?
and
Do you prefer pondering big issues or practical matters?
I wasn't sure  how to answer the question about the relative importance happiness or suffering, but when I plumped for happiness my ancient guru turned out to be Epicurus, which was uncannily accurate. I do have a lot of sympathy for Epicurus's values of friendship, philosophising, reason and happiness.

When I took the test again and answered "suffering" to the first question my guru turned out to be the Stoic Zeno, which again was pretty much on the money.

Just for fun, I also tried answering  the exact opposite of my real views, and my anti-guru turned out to be the sceptic Pyrrho. So I know not to read more about him ....

Vernon's quiz isn't meant to be taken too seriously.  I'd  be uncomfortable thinking of Epicurus or Zeno as my guru, and would  turn just as happily to  Aristotle, Plato or Socrates if looking for  wisdom. But the quiz is good fun and could well generate ideas about new philosophers to look at.

To read about a variety of ancient gurus, you can also buy  Vernon's new book, Plato's Podcasts.

To take the quiz, go to http://www.markvernon.com/quiz/my-philosophy-guru/

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