Archive

Lighting the fires of curiosity

Ian Florance meets Rob Hutton, who is involved in the British Psychological Society’s Psychological Government Programme. They also discuss, among other things, the overlapping applications of human factors/ergonomics and psychology.

Veterans, horses and the rediscovery of ‘with’

Adrian Needs considers the processes at play in equine-assisted learning with members of the armed forces.

A more fluid approach to drinking

Young adults are consuming less alcohol than previous generations. Dominic Conroy and Fiona Measham look to understand changing ‘styles’.

‘Many of us are not optimally using our concentration span’

Deputy Editor Annie Brookman-Byrne asked Professor Stefan Van der Stigchel about his new book Concentration: Staying Focused in Times of Distraction (MIT Press).

What Improv, Ubuntu, and Covid-19 have taught me about leadership

David Murphy, British Psychological Society President 2019-2020, gave his Presidential Address at the online conference.

Rethinking the public health approach to obesity

Joanne A. Rathbone, Jolanda Jetten, Fiona Kate Barlow, and Jasmine Russell challenge the assumptions of anti-obesity campaigns.

‘We need to broaden the conversation to institutional bias’

We hear from Nasreen Fazal-Short, Chair of the British Psychological Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce; and from Sarb Bajwa, Chief Executive.

Musings on music

Emma Young digests the research.

Really 'doing better' on racism

Craig A. Harper and Harry Purser argue that institutional virtue-signalling on racial inequality is not good enough, and suggest alternatives.

‘Change needs to happen on a real systemic level’

Dr Tosin Bowen-Wright (Clinical Psychologist and a manager within the Camden CAMHS service) in conversation with Paul Jenkins (Chief Executive of the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust).

We are dynamite

Our editor Jon Sutton reports from Professor Stephen Reicher's opening keynote at the British Psychological Society's online 2020 Conference.

From tots to teens – psychology and the school return

Ella Rhodes reports.

Towards a mental health super science

Deputy Editor Annie Brookman-Byrne reports from Professor Miranda Wolpert MBE’s keynote at the British Psychological Society's online 2020 Conference.

One on one... Maria Qureshi

We dip into the Society member database and pick… Maria Qureshi, who is a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire Doctorate in Clinical Psych programme and Clinical Psychologist in West London NHS Trust.

Five minutes with… Dr Rose Stewart

Living with diabetes can lead to a multitude of psychological challenges – Dr Rose Stewart, Principal Clinical Psychologist for Wrexham Young Adult Diabetes Service, told Ella Rhodes her expertise in this under-represented area was of particular importance in times of Covid-19.

‘The more who die, the less we care’

Our editor Jon Sutton on Professor Paul Slovic’s keynote at the British Psychological Society’s online conference.

The aftermath of the Hans Asperger exposé

Rabbi David Ariel Sher on implications for psychologists.

The unique life history of humans

Deputy Editor Annie Brookman-Byrne reports from Professor Alison Gopnik’s keynote at the British Psychological Society's online 2020 Conference.

Digital behaviour in a social context

'We need each other'

A nuanced story of liberation and equality

Professor David Legge 1936-2020

Turning reflection into meaningful action

‘The heat and light that draws us together’

Dr Ruth Mann 1965-2020

Coercion or Constructive Force?

Inside a dehumanising, emotionally destructive job on death row

Dr Philip Henshaw 1964-2020

'Join us on our journey to find the next generation of treatments and approaches'

Editorial, September 2020

Tackling gender imbalance in psychology

‘Systematic disadvantage can accumulate, and prevent access to the profession’

Naming the poison

Accepting the raw elements of living

Covid-19 and the media

‘Nothing could be worse than a return to normality’

Can psychology save the world in a ‘new normal’? Lee Rowland curates 10 quotes…

'We need a certain amount of humility'

At the beginning of April, our editor Jon Sutton talked to Stuart Ritchie, a psychologist and a Lecturer in the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King’s College London, about concerns over coronavirus coverage and more.

Restoring and honouring community

Sally Zlotowitz, with thanks to Ebinehita Iyere and Rachel McKail from MAC-UK.

‘We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world'

New British Psychological Society President Dr Hazel McLaughlin follows up last month’s interview with a focus on change and the future.

Editorial, summer edition 2020

An introduction to a special themed issue, 'Towards a new normal, and beyond', from Dr Jon Sutton.

A green perspective

Jan Maskell with two visions from a warming planet.

‘Trying to keep up the illusion of authority is decreasing trust’

Gemma Milne looks at how hype can blinker our understanding of what’s going on.

10 lessons for dealing with a pandemic

...from Jolanda Jetten, Stephen Reicher, Alex Haslam and Tegan Cruwys.

‘We will have to live with the risk of Covid-19… but Psychology has much to say about that risk’

Kavita Vedhara on the fascinating world of vaccine adjuvants and more.

‘We now fit the system to the person’

As psychologists working clinical health, we have been close to the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic and the lessons that are ours to seize and hold on to. We have dared to imagine a progressive (perhaps utopian?) future, written from the perspective of a new graduate, and we invite you come along with us…

It's 2040. Psychology has changed. How?

To tie in with the British Psychological Society's Annual Conference theme of 'Psychology of the future: Changing landscapes', we asked contributors for their '2040 visions'.

Vaccinating against viruses of the mind

David Robson on psychological efforts to achieve ‘herd immunity’ against the spread of misinformation in pandemic times.

‘We can support the engagement of the wider community to develop solutions…’

Ella Rhodes reports on the British Psychological Society's efforts to provide support and guidance around coronavirus.

Arts and culture in a ‘new normal’

Helen Johnson considers how psychologists can foster a relationship with the arts that nourishes all.

How do we ensure the responsible and practical use of PPE?

Sandra Lovell on the place of Personal Protective Equipment in safety controls for Covid-19.

‘The patients are just so sick…’

A Consultant Clinical Psychologist in Wales’ largest Intensive Care Unit in Cardiff, Dr Julie Highfield led the BPS Covid-19 Coordinating Group’s staff wellbeing work and has recently taken up a secondment with the Intensive Care Society as its National Project Director for Wellbeing. Ella Rhodes spoke to her.

‘The levers that government are pulling are psychological’

Our editor Jon Sutton hears from Kathryn Scott, Director of Policy for the British Psychological Society.

‘A high stakes version of Groundhog Day’

Matthew Warren, editor of our Research Digest, with an update on the research response to Covid-19, and the issues raised.

‘We have to remember to find the beauty in what’s already at home with us’

Keon West’s photography from Instagram.

The psychology of physical distancing

As lockdown rules ease in the UK but distancing guidance remains in place, how can we use group norms to make distancing easier for people at mass gatherings? John Drury, Stephen Reicher and Nick Hopkins have some advice.

A web of coronavirus perspectives

As lockdown began, The Psychologist team set to work collecting evidence-based perspectives on coronavirus and the pandemic response for our website. At the time of writing, there are more than 90 views, interviews and more gathered there, from more than 120 psychologists. We are very grateful to all who gave their time and expertise so generously during challenging times.

Which utopia, whose future?

Gavin Miller considers science fiction and psychology.

‘It’s everyone, everywhere, everything… There’s nothing that’s untouched’

Dr Rowena Hill is a psychologist from Nottingham Trent University now seconded full-time to the cross-governmental C19 National Foresight Group. On 1 May, our editor Jon Sutton spoke with her from lockdown.

‘People are having a very different experience of death’

Ella Rhodes hears from those working on bereavement during the pandemic and beyond.

Psychology as a thing of the past

Prof-bots or a psychologically informed future? You decide, says Angel Chater.

‘We can come out of it poorer, but better’

Kim Stephenson and Pradnya Surana on the importance of reframing our relationship with money in pandemic times.

What could Psychology look like?

Alison Clarke with a call to action.

Moral progress after Covid-19

Roger Paxton thinks a better society is not just possible but likely.

When the job hunts you

Linda Kaye on putting our online data to work.

Work, workers and workplaces

Roxane Gervais on flexibility and leadership.

Featured job: IAPT Practitioner, The Forward Trust

‘What is remarkable about what we've achieved is that it's unremarkable’

One thing I’ve learned about myself, or Psychology, during the pandemic…

Global states of uncertainty

Close to home in the time of Covid-19

From the Chief Executive, Summer 2020

Supporting parent carers

Joanna Griffin on emotional wellbeing in parents of disabled children.

'We are interested in how the clock breaks down’

Our editor Jon Sutton meets Professor Stephany Biello (University of Glasgow) at the annual meeting of the Psychobiology Section.

Reuben Conrad 1916-2020

An appreciation from Dorothy Bishop.

Hocus Pocus

Richard Wiseman on a new tool for teaching and outreach.

The kingdom of dogs

Matthew Adams revisits Pavlov’s labs from a dog’s perspective.

‘Putting individuals at the centre of health care means something different’

Dean Fathers didn’t train in psychology, but during his discussion with Ian Florance it became clear that he has a clear vision of the role of psychologists and, more widely, of health provision within society.

‘You need to talk to people who are at the coalface’

Our editor Jon Sutton meets Debra Malpass, Director of Knowledge and Insight at the British Psychological Society.

‘These are the Jonas Salks, the Louis Pasteurs, the Marie Curies of education’

How learning happens: Seminal works in educational psychology and what they mean in practice by Professor Paul A. Kirschner and Dr Carl Hendrick, published by Routledge, is out now. Annie Brookman-Byrne asked Paul about the book.

Walk in my shoes

Liam Cross gets in sync in search of solutions to intergroup conflict.

Is lack of sleep a problem?

Emma Young digests the research.

A Brexistential crisis?

Joel Vos, Digby Tantam and Emmy van Deurzen on how Brexit has emotionally impacted Europeans in the UK, and how psychologists are helping.

Realms of recognition

Rupert Brown considers the life and legacy of Henri Tajfel (1919-1982).

‘The vision needs to be compelling’

We meet Dr Hazel McLaughlin, who takes over as British Psychological Society President at the end of June.

‘We cannot continue to be part of environments that perpetuate inequality’

Anne Templeton has suggestions to build inclusive supervision environments.

Society comes together while apart

Ella Rhodes speaks to some of the British Psychological Society members working on its response to coronavirus.

Compelling listening

Holding our hands up

Daring and unpredictable sci-fi

Real experiences and real pain

Understanding the BAME gap

Watching cartoons as self-care

Education in creativity

Interactive learning on ethics

Professor Marcia Worrell 1966-2020

Attention as intention

Your new online community

An authentic human story

Editor's column, June 2020

Dr Janet Carr 1927-2020

From the Chief Executive, June 2020

Prof. Aidan Moran 1956-2020

British Red Cross memorandum

Keith Wesnes 1950-2020

A role for pharmacists in suicide prevention?

Featured job: Regional Wellbeing Services Manager

The Reflective Room

Examining gamma bias

Content bias or unconscious bias?

One on one... Raffaele Presti

A hero by any other name…

Robert MacRory-Crowley and Kevin O’Malley on ‘heroism science’, ahead of its third biennial conference at the University of Limerick.

How leadership reputations are won and lost

Dr Richard G. Ford is a corporate psychologist specialising in leadership coaching and senior executive assessments, and his book on ‘How Leadership Reputations are Won and Lost’ is out now (Libri Publishing). This book gets to grips with how and why careers are successful, falter or plateau; how our reputation is formed in the real world, and what makes the difference between winning and losing a reputation; and how to take control to manage and develop your reputation and build a personal brand.

A golden age of play for adults

Dave Neale on a growing yet under-explored area.

A road to art therapy in six works

Sue Holttum on bringing lived experience and applied psychology to art therapy.

One on one... Dr Edward Ong

We dip into the Society member database and pick out… Dr Edward Ong, Associate Lecturer at Coventry University.

How psychology researchers are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic

Matthew Warren, editor of our Research Digest, investigates.

Learning in unexpected places

Elian Fink and Jenny Gibson on the importance of play in early childhood.

Psychological assessment and ‘the lost clinicians’

Jack Chalkley revisits what Monte Shapiro offers clinicians who doubt whether their assessments capture what is personal and vital in their patients’ distress.

Compassion: the essential orientation

Tim Anstiss, Jonathan Passmore and Paul Gilbert.

‘Psychologists must consistently argue for human beings’

Ian Florance interviews Alison Clarke who, among many other roles, is Chair of the British Psychological Society’s Practice Board.

What friendships really look like these days

Nejra Van Zalk and Claire P. Monks preview their book Online Peer Engagement in Adolescence, published by Routledge this month .

‘We had to bring people together’

Taking organisational safety to the next level

Cook wins Spearman Medal

'Science is a world without walls'

The structure of racism

From the Chief Executive, May 2020

A twist in a traumatic tale

Editor's column, May 2020

Maternal power and its demise

Messy narratives of childhood

Enduring sisterly love

How do we want to live?

Featured job: Highly Specialist Psychologist, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Remaining with death

Khyati Tripathi with a personal journey into death studies.

‘The magazine is you’

Our editor Dr Jon Sutton in conversation with Professor Catherine Loveday, Chair of the Psychologist and Digest Editorial Advisory Committee.

'Are you okay?'

A clinical psychologist’s account of having a daughter with depression, from Dr Annie Hickox. Now with added postscript.

Reflecting on mirror-writing

In 2012 Robert McIntosh and Sergio Della Sala, both at the University of Edinburgh, published an article in The Psychologist on mirror-writing, which has had a surprising impact. The article is the most read piece on our website ever; viewed hundreds of thousands of times, and still getting around 10,000 views a month. We caught up recently with the authors, to talk about the article’s success, and to get an update on any developments in the field.

Towards ‘smart justice’

‘It’s about giving people hope’… Ian Florance talks to Geraldine O’Hare.

Dreams and their relationship to waking life

Nikolay Petrov and Oliver Robinson.

Ghosts of patients past

Katy Mitchell reflects on unknown endings.

‘We have huge potential to make positive change’

Ella Rhodes on the British Psychological Society’s ‘Psychological Government’ programme.

Coronavirus – Psychological perspectives

Psychologists are actively working on the response to Covid-19, and psychological theory / research is relevant in many ways… this page will serve as a growing resource collecting those contributions.

Seven strange quirks of human vision

Emma Young digests the research.

A life’s journey

From the President, April 2020

From the Chief Executive, April 2020

Featured job: Dovehouse Psychology Services

Uncertain and volatile lives

Disaster response training

Raising body positive girls

Students – conference and community

Poems for the NHS: ‘the best poem a country has ever written’

‘Change is coming’

The personal and psychological experience of gender

One on one... Nothando Ngwenya

Bruce Napier 1949–2020

Implicit and explicit cultural clashes

Editor's Column, April 2020

Into a world of torment and colour

A world without trees?

A culture of silence and denial

Gamma Bias: A new theory

Doing statistics better

The psychological science I know and love…

De-medicalising mental illness

Empowering women

‘Majestic animals 
become props in a story’

Geoffrey Beattie on his new book, Trophy Hunting: A Psychological Perspective.

‘We don’t just need warm words, we need actions’

Binna Kandola is Chair of the British Psychological Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce. He met with Society President David Murphy to discuss some questions we had put to them.

‘Life is mostly good, despite the greater power of bad things’

Dr Roy Baumeister is a social psychologist at Florida State University. For his new book, he joined forces with science journalist John Tierney to explore The Power of Bad. Dr Tom Farsides, a Lecturer in Social Psychology at the University of Sussex, fired some questions at Dr Baumeister.

School’s out…

Naomi Fisher considers the arguments for self-directed education.

Decolonisation among clinicians

Sarah Atayero on the need for diversity in training and the workforce.

Five minutes with... Dr Chantelle Wood

Ella Rhodes spoke to the psychologist and University of Sheffield academic and lecturer about the 'Plastics: Redefining Single Use' project.

Speaking the unspeakable

The Truth Project, part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, has now heard from more than 4000 victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. As it launches its public awareness campaign, we talk to chief psychologist to the Inquiry, Dr Rebekah Eglinton, about the trauma-informed approach. Throughout, we also include quotes, in italics, from survivor ‘Esme’.

From the Chief Executive, March 2020

Sarb Bajwa writes.

Character – ‘caught’ or ‘taught’?

Emma Young, writing for our Research Digest, combines a recent conference and research to consider how individuals and societies might best flourish.

POST briefing note on autism

Ella Rhodes reports.

‘We need to bring unconscious bias into the open’

Dr Ilona Singer talks to Ian Florance.

‘New Power is responding to a very natural human impulse’

Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms are entrepreneurs and activists, and authors of the 2018 bestseller 'New Power: How Anyone Can Persuade, Mobilize and Succeed in our Chaotic, Connected Age'. Our editor Jon Sutton posed them some questions.

The power of placebo

Hannah Steinberg 1924-2019

Changing landscapes in Leeds for Conference 2020

The tensions of 'meaningful work'

Changemakers on the big issues

Including children in their own education

A journey of hope and doubt

Into the sur-real

Run for wellbeing

Pockets of resistance and change

All our personal histories

Painful memories motivate mentalisation

Overcoming the light

Editor's column, March 2020

One on one... with Saida Melgar

Finding joy in decolonising

Politics, psychology, the Society and The Psychologist

More debate on prescribing rights

‘Critical force for collective action’

In a feature from our Research Digest blog, Emma Young considers activism.

'We need a transformation in how we regard difference, diversity and inclusivity in psychology’

Ian Florance meets Zenobia Nadirshaw.

A beginning, and change, if you dare to look…

For our latest annual poetry competition, we received dozens of entries…

Victimised all over again

Following a personal encounter with the criminal justice system, forensic psychologist Dr Hannah Jones voices her concerns over the potentially retraumatising processes victims must go through.

‘Even after the worst possible days, what’s sustaining is the connections’

Yvonne Shell is a Forensic and Clinical Psychologist who works as Director of Criminal Justice for the charity Together, and as a Senior Clinical Teaching Fellow at the University of Portsmouth. She spoke to Ella Rhodes.

Rebuilding lives in the Recovery College

Eloise Stark on a promising addition to the mental health landscape.

‘It’s an exciting time to be researching and writing about drugs’

Dr Suzi Gage is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Liverpool. Annie Brookman-Byrne asked Suzi about her new book Say why to drugs: Everything you need to know about the drugs we take and why we get high (Hodder & Stoughton; £16.99).

‘If they succeed, I succeed; if they fail, I fail’

Dr Anna Naumenko, Chartered Psychologist and Psychometrician, on working with start-ups.

Child interpreters: Source of pride or cultural burden?

Sarah Crafter and Humera Iqbal on the positives and negatives of child language brokering in the everyday lives of immigrant families.

Moving outside the clinic

'Be curious, be brave'

A history of labels

One on One... with James Lewis

Christine Sprigg 1968-2019

It's time for me to step out…

‘We may be reaching a tipping point’

We all 'come from away'

Working with parliamentarians

Their song could be our song

Amy Orben honoured

Identity and the ever-changing everyday

A mixed bag of diverse views on psychologists prescribing

Beyond inequality

Children's take on cupid and psyche

E-cigarettes: A mixed blessing?

Editor's column, February 2020

Going in the right direction?

From poverty to flourishing – February round-up

Featured Job: Child and Adult Psychologists

From the Chief Executive, February 2020

Psychologists as managers

Making data open

Finding patterns

Stories of hope and growth

Four very different Assistant Psychologists find a common thread through peer supervision – the inspirational power of people’s stories, and working in a way that allows them to be shared.

‘This is a great time for therapeutic architecture’

Kate Johnstone speaks to Dr Evangelia Chrysikou, one of the few architects in the world holding a PhD in ‘healthcare architecture’

‘It is hard to be poor, harder than we thought’

Emma Young digests some research related to the Society’s 2020 theme, ‘From poverty to flourishing’.

Shaking off the shackles of imposterism

Laura Kilby offers up some advice based on her own journey.

‘You can safely and effectively stretch the traditional ideas of how we create change’

Our editor Jon Sutton meets Consultant Clinical Psychologist Dr Jenny Taylor.

The pivotal role of emotions

In interviews for our website, Dr Kal Kseib has met some of the founders of modern psychotherapy approaches. Here, he reflects on what he has learnt.

‘We are busy about everything’

Claudia Hammond is an award-winning broadcaster, author and psychology lecturer. Her latest book, The Art of Rest, examining the science behind our struggles to rest and relax, is published on 5 December by Canongate. Our editor Jon Sutton asked her about it.

‘What is therapy’s value, and how do we decide this?'

Ian Florance meets Professor Rosemary Rizq, a Counselling Psychologist and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist who combines her academic role at the University of Roehampton with work as clinician and writer.

A blind spot for the climate crisis?

Technology changing our emotions

One on One... with Costas Karageorghis

Mental health trailblazers

Northern growth

The [Redacted] Review

Driving global impact

A relentless uphill struggle

Book award winners

The ups and painful downs of day to day life

From the Chief Executive, January 2020

Featured job: Clinical Psychologist, plans4rehab

How did we do… 2019 policy campaign

‘A damning picture of the challenges facing psychologists’

What qualifies as the best kind of qualitative research?

‘They were all obsesssed with a single question’

Psychology, Society, and the public

Developing a trauma-informed forensic psychology

Case histories revitalised

Fly or die in academia?

Adapting addiction treatment

Experiences of otherness

BAME representation and psychology

Fired up for change