They always say time changes things, but you have to change them for yourself. (Andy Warhol) Stuff happens. Things happen around us and to us. Sometimes we have little or no control over changing circumstances and events. But always there are things that we can do to make things better. Whether you're preparing for a three hour mock exam or a two-day cross-examination, setting up innumerable completions for
So many things happened during the course of the year hard on the heels of each other that Chris really didn't have time to feel that he had dealt with one situation before another presented itself to him. He had experienced a number of losses during the course of the year and had helped to help others to cope with their losses when he heard of his business partner's death.
“How did you go bankrupt?”, Bill asked. “Two ways”, Mike said. “Gradually and then suddenly.” (Ernest Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises) During the course of the year as events unfolded around and entangled him, Chris's sense of organisation and self-control diminished. Thinking of his sailing experience, he said, “It was like being out in a storm with the rudder bust”. It felt like he was at the mercy of
Daniel Goleman has summarised the notion of ‘social intelligence’ as an overlap of social awareness and social facility. ‘Social awareness’ refers to a spectrum that runs from instantaneously sensing another's inner state, to understanding their feelings and thoughts, to ‘getting’ complicated social situations. This includes primal empathy (feeling with others and sensing non-verbal emotional signals), attunement (listening with full receptivity and attuning to a person), empathic accuracy (understanding another person's
In the late 1940s Western society faced serious challenges: rationing, economic uncertainty, and the reassembling of family and social life after prolonged upheaval. (Now that sounds familiar as I edit this blog in early 2021 ...) Working primarily with traumatised ex-servicemen at this time, Wilfred Bion and others at the Tavistock Clinic in London experimented with novel approaches in psychotherapy, particularly in group settings. Bion was a psychoanalyst who had
One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you’re into jazz. (Lou Reed) Groups can be complex, confusing and chaotic. Where three or more people meet to carry out a common task the potential for creativity and productivity is unimaginable. Alongside this, the potential for conflict and disruption increases exponentially. Before her confrontation with Steve, Beth's perception of her place in the department was blinkered.
