Psychologist leading a project-based lifestyle
I'm not a great reader. I have every intention of reading more, but I go through long periods of not reading outside of my work. For example, 2021 was a bust in terms of reading progress. I've got off to a better start this year. I'm trialing audiobooks on my morning walk. I set aside … Continue reading Reading more
Being able to make a meaningful contribution to the society/community in which we live is a robust pathway to a sense of self-worth and wellbeing. Making a contribution helps us feel more competent, in control and connected to others - all core psychological needs. Feeling like a useful member of society is a powerful wellness … Continue reading Finding your voice in 2022
I changed the byline on my website to "Psychologist leading a project-based lifestyle". The term 'project-based lifestyle' refers to centering one's life around projects. These might be work-related - in my case, this might include something like developing and delivering wellbeing programs for students. Or they may be personal projects - in my case this … Continue reading A project-based lifestyle
I'm sitting here on Xmas eve, doing some work. This may indicate a failure of my ability to 'have a holiday' but I'm relaxed and enjoying the process, so I'll take the win. I've made a few updates to my website, mostly in terms of clarifying my core projects and and updating links. The homepage … Continue reading A few changes to my website
I recently spent some time updating content on this website. I wanted to provide basic descriptions of the main things that I am involved with. Whilst it was primarily an exercise in updating my website, it did highlight the number of things I am doing at the moment. I've always been a 'project' person. I … Continue reading I’ve reached peak project as indicated by worry procrastination
This post also appears on the Student Health and Wellbeing Blog that I manage as part of my day job. I sit in the wellbeing and mental health space. This means I spend the bulk of my work time learning about how to enhance one’s wellbeing and mental health and then trying to teach what … Continue reading Balancing acceptance and change
This one goes out to psychologists and other mental health professionals who are actively trying to improve the lives of others. When you think about the people you help, is there an overarching model that you are following? I was trained, both clinically and as a researcher, to base my practice around robust (i.e. evidence-based) … Continue reading What is guiding you when you try to help people?
I’ve given quite a few presentations these last couple of weeks - all to university students (as part of my job). A consistent suggestion I’ve given in those presentations is to document one’s victories as a mild antidote against the common tendency to focus on one’s failings. So I thought I’d try and do that … Continue reading Note your victories
Life seems replete with examples of duality- night/day, life/death, hunger/satiety, husband/wife. Our perceptions also seem to mirror that - right/wrong, smart/stupid, success/failure, love/hate, courage/coward, leave/stay. It can be easy to get trapped by some of these dualities. For example, it can sometimes be conceptually easier to cling to one side of a duality (i.e. think … Continue reading Duality
Next week we release our mental health focused campaign at Flinders called The Good Vibes Experiment. I’ll post on it once it is all up and running. A central feature of the campaign is encouraging people to experiment with adding mental health promoting activities to their everyday life. In the process, we had to think … Continue reading Do we need to sell mental health?
Dr Gareth Furber 