I’m in the process of moving this blog from WordPress to a location on the MindFields College website. I’m so pleased with the amount of interesting content we’ve built up on this blog and I hope this can be continued at the new location which will look and perform the same but will just be under a different URL.

I’m still tinkering with the layout and pictures but from now on, to read more posts from Mindfields College and the Human Givens Institute on depression, anxiety, dreaming, psychosis, trauma, education, therapy and lots more – GO HERE —>>!

If you have links to this blog, I’d be so greatful if you could update them to direct to http://www.mindfields.org.uk/blog/

New Blog posts at the new location:

- Why do we yawn?
- A human given: the need for autonomy and control
- How To Be Cool And Attractive
- Is the NHS capable of learning from nature?
- Petals around the rose
- Addiction Book Review
- Why doesn’t dreaming de-arouse the emotions which result in trauma?
- “If you really believe something is going to do you some harm, it will.”
- 15th Century Islamic medical textbook contains no mention of Schizophrenia

Thanks for all your support and see you over there!

Eleanor Tyrrell

Something I didn’t anticipate from feedback to our new dreaming website and the theory explored on it was how influential the phenomenon of lucid dreaming was. Lucid dreaming was fed back to us a few times as something Joe Griffin had overlooked, as a type of dreaming that the expectation fulfilment theory could not explain, but this is not the case.

Lucid dreaming seems to be a big issue in America particularly. It’s an ‘Art’, it’s a ‘Science’. Type “lucid dreaming” into Google and it yields 710,000 results, “LUCID DREAM IN JUST 7 DAYS – NEW KIT IS 100% GUARANTEED” – people have dedicated their lives to the phenomenon and are making money from it. People pay to ‘learn’ it and attain that magical state of gaining control of their own dreams.

Who wouldn’t want to be able to control their own behaviour in a dream, to experience all the reality, adventure and meaning first hand, instead of “wasting” those out of control 22 years of your life you spend sleeping, unable to influence your own behaviour like you can during the day?

We have added a section stating our position on lucid dreaming on the Why we Dream website as the subject has been covered in the Dreaming Reality book, we just didn’t anticipate the amount of interest this facet of dream research would generate!

“Theories of dreaming that do not allow for occasional lucidity are, necessarily, incorrect or incomplete, because lucid dreaming is an acknowledged phenomenon. Our view of the REM state and the function of dreaming does not exclude lucidity in dreams.

Lucid dreaming occurs in the REM state like any other phenomenon involving memory, metaphor and imagination. The same effects can be achieved through hypnosis, a focussed state of attention that artificially accesses the REM state. Knowledge of how to do this has been around for perhaps 40,000 thousand years.”

So if lucid dreaming interests you, please read the full What about lucid dreaming? section and other related pages for further information on why the expectation fulfilment theory of dreaming does not exclude lucid dreaming.

Posted by: Eleanor

A core element of each Human Givens Diploma Course are the two live therapy sessions from Ivan Tyrrell and Joe Griffin on both weeks of the course. This gives our students the opportunity to experience the therapeutic process right in front of them, and is a vital teaching tool for someone being prepared to work effectively with distressed clients.

These two sessions are FREE, with expenses paid, and usual applicants suffer from a range of problems, including but not limited to: depression, anxiety, PTSD, trauma, sleeping problems, problematic anger, relationship difficulties, phobias, addiction, psychosis and obsessive compulsive disorder.

We are looking for suitable people to benefit from these free sessions this autumn at Gilwell Park in London on these dates:

Wednesday 12th September 2007 – Session 1
Tuesday 16th October 2007 – Session 2

Friday 14th September 2007 – Session 1
Thursday 18th October 2007 – Session 2

To discuss the free therapy sessions or if you would like an application, either ring Kathy Hardy on 01323 811 440 or email: kathyhardy@mindfields.org.uk

Posted by: Eleanor

Here is clip from David Grist’s creativity in therapy presentation from the Human Givens Conference.

PTSD, phobias and trauma are NOT life long conditions, and can be treated quickly and easily with the rewind technique, a non voyeuristic and fast method of detraumatising both individual and extended traumatic events.

Piers Bishop, a Human Givens Practitioner who specialises in treating PTSD explains why the technique works, what happens during it, and how to get help fast.

Don’t let suffering from PTSD or trauma symptoms control you, watch this video and change your life.

Posted by: Eleanor

The latest issue of the Human Givens Journal is now out.

Major articles

Angry Soldier, unstable diagnosis, unholy muddle: Traumatised servicemen and women are getting a raw deal because of squabblings over diagnoses, says Piers Bishop.
Extract:

“From being incandescent with rage, B, the soldier who was going beserk, now just feels regret about the lost time: ‘I feel sad about the two years I drifted through and wasted, and regret at all the hurt I caused around me. But I now feel that I am able to get on with my life without the intrusive effects of PTSD. I have become much calmer and to this day have not had one flashback or re-inactment episode. I threw out my anti-depressants. I have reconnected to those around me and have been able to hold down a job . I can control my drinking. I hope that the detraumatising therapy which healed me gets the recognition it truely deserves, as it quick and effective. The alternative is wasteful and will put a burden on the already overstretched NHS. For someone suffering from PTSD, there is nothing to lose in having the rewind treatment, and the opportunity to get their life back.’”

The meanings of psychosis: Our own cognitive and perceptual ‘fault lines’ can help us understand psychotic patients. Michael Garrett, David Stone and Douglas Turkington explain

Helpless to help: What it is like to care for a psychotic brother when professionals don’t know how to help

Ask, don’t tell: Noël Janis Norton discusses with Denise Winn how even the most challenging of children can be motivated to learn

“How can you sleep at night?”: Denise Winn finds out how lawyers cope psychologically when defending clients accused of committing abhorrent crimes

On the receiving end: Caroline Gallup describes the emotional upheaval she and her husband experienced during stressful infertility treatment

The carrot and the stick: Mark Evans describes how his use of rewards and punishments in therapy has helped clients quickly achieve change

The journal is also packed with the usual news, views and information, book reviews and letters.

You can read more about the quarterly journal here and subscribe to it here. (UK yearly subscription =£30, Overseas yearly subscription =£38)

Posted by: Eleanor

“Mental illness is now the second largest reason for UK workers taking time off, a report suggests.

A study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found an increasing amount of sickness leave is due to depression or stress.

Analysis of the records of 30,000 people found only muscle-related problems such as bad backs were cited as a greater cause of absenteeism.
Staff with depression were said to take an average 30 days off annually.

Those with stress were reported to be away for 21 days.

The CPID found public sector workers were more likely to take time off work because of mental illness and overall the problem was more prevalent among older staff.

Reduced hours

The CIPD said its findings will be “particularly worrying” for the government in light of a “huge” increase in the number of people with mental health problems claiming incapacity benefit.

“This research shows how important it is for managers and HR practitioners to be aware of the signs of mental ill health so that they can take action early and provide support before the individual’s condition deteriorates to the point they go off on long-term sick leave,” said Ben Willmott, CIPD employee relations adviser.

He called on the government to provide tax incentives to encourage more firms to offer occupational health services.

GPs need to work more closely with employers to identify opportunities for “phased return-to-work” for those affected with less demanding or reduced hours roles, Mr Willmott added.”
Source

Posted by: Eleanor

It has been 10 years since the term ‘human givens’ was first used, and last weekend, on the 19th-20th of May, the third Human Givens Conference, attended by over 165 delegates, was held in Sunningdale Park near Ascot.

The event was a huge success, and we thank everyone who attended for making it the inspiring and entertaining weekend it was.

For those who were unable to attend, or for those who read this blog and would like to see some of the people and organisations who are implementing the human givens approach with great success into the ‘real world’, here is a short summary (a longer one is being prepared for the next HGI Newsletter for professional members of the institute) of all our speakers over the two days, complete with photos!

First up, after an introduction from Pat Williams, were Iain Caldwell and Julian Penton from Hartlepool MIND (website coming soon!), where they have had fantastic results (which you can read an article about here) using a human givens approach ‘recovery model’ with members of the community of Hartlepool who have mental health problems. They reported back on the progress of their organisation, gave some insight on how they got government funding, and proposed some new plans for getting similar projects going in other areas of the country.

Next was David Grist, the youngest member of the team working at The SPACE, a residential therapeutic community for children aged between 8 and 19 years. He gave a case study of how he was able to creatively tackle the problems of a boy with difficulties during a game of Badminton, using simple human givens therapeutic principals. Read more about the fantastic work being done at The SPACE here.

Judith Desbonne, a human givens therapist, then gave a talk about culture competency and what this means for someone from an ethnic minority working from the human givens approach.

Steve Osmond, Head of Education in a secure children’s home, has many years’ experience working with disturbed young people, and he described in his moving presentation the changes that have come about since the introduction of the human givens approach into his work.

Richard Brooks then talked about his experiences with young offenders. He is a Senior Practitioner with a Youth Offending Team, and teaches a workshop for MindFields College – Effective Interventions for Young Offenders.

After lunch…

…came a very entertaining talk called “Experiencing Education” by Jenny Moss, Trevor Bailey, Mike Beard and Sean Flynn.

Trevor Bailey, head teacher of Worles School and Jenny Moss, headteacher of Westhaven School told of how both their schools have embraced the human givens approach, after gaining Pathfinder Status in the Government’s new Trust Schools program. The HGI is a partner in the Pathfinder Trust.

Mike Beard, who has long been a prominant exponent of the human givens approach in education and is the head of the HGI Education Section, shared techniques for showing younger children how their brains work, including a fantastic demonstration from Sean Flynn…

.. who is has a background in art, dance and drama.

Joe Griffin then presented on his new theory of Molar Memories, one that he has worked on for many years and is now concrete enough to be shared. For those who were at the conference and were helped by the explanatory diagram (proposed by Piers Bishop) using the APET model, it is reproduced here:

Also shown was a film of a discussion between Joe and an anorexic woman who, after 10 years of battling with the condition, was cured in one session of human givens therapy using molar memories. This video may be available online soon.

The second day, Sunday, was chaired by Consultant Psychiatrist Farouk Okhai…

… and began with a highlight of the weekend, our guest speaker, Anne Moir.

Anne Moir Ph. D, co-author of Why Men Don’t Iron and author of Brain Sex, and Sex Matters, gave an enlightening talk on the brain differences between men and women and their consequences, and showed us some clips from her TV programmes on gender. Her books are well worth reading as the information in them, among other issues, contain huge implications for education because of the different needs of girls and boys in the classroom.

Piers Bishop, a human givens therapist with a background in the media then presented a case study within his special interest, PTSD and trauma. He told the story of how he treated a soldier with severe PTSD. Piers then highlighted the need for fast trauma cures (the rewind technique) to be more widely used to detraumatise soldiers returning from Iraq. His case study will appear in the next edition of the Human Givens Journal.

Chris Dyas, who works with children, gave an example of his innovative way of working with an inspiring case history of how he used ‘play therapy’ to treat a suicidal 9 year old girl. Read more about Chris’s work here.

Harold Mozley, who works in the legal sector in family courts, discussed what the human givens approach brings to ethics. This fascinating topic has the potential to be expanded into an entire ethics weekend, so do contact me for Harold’s email address if you might be interested in this.

The final talk came from Ivan Tyrrell who, although plagued by time constraints, managed to cover the prehistoric origins of mental illness, the confusing way psychotherapy and psychiatry attempts to deal with it and how the human givens approach has the potential to bring clarity to this chaos. He emphasises the importance of the REM state in all forms of mental illness, and gave everyone a lot to think about regarding what occurs when essential emotional needs aren’t met in healthy ways.

After an eloquent summing up by writer and therapist Pat Williams, there was a lively panel question and answer session between the audience and all the speakers.

Throughout the weekend Bill Andrews, the driving force behind the Human Givens Institute Practice Research Network worked hard at his stand explaining the use of outcome informed measures and encouraged therapists to use and submit their ORS/SRS and CORE forms for the commencement of a multisite study later this year.

The importance of becoming outcome informed was raised again and again over the course of the weekend, especially in Bill’s presentation at the Human Givens Foundation’s AGM on Sunday morning, and we encourage all human givens therapists to visit his website and aid him in his research.

Posted by: Eleanor

Following Eleanor’s previous post about our new website, and to further highlight the need for up to date knowledge on sleep and dreaming: here are some almost unbelievable direct quotations from a ’science’ programme on BBC Radio 4 called The Defeat of Sleep.

The programme was about the drug companies search for ’smart drugs’.

“There is a theory going round that we’re failing our brains. Vast potential remains untapped. If we could just maximise the time we spend in deep thought and subtly alter the ways in which we think, then maybe mankind could make rapid advances.”

“If we are going to take advantage of the untapped potential of our brains the obvious first step is to remove the time we waste, those eight hours we spend each night in the land of nod.”

“The part of the brain which really does require sleep more than any other are the higher centres, so what is very clear is that when we go to sleep at night the brain appears to go into what appears to be a deeper sleep and more profound, recovery sleep than the later part of the night and, as sleep progresses this depth of sleep decreases and we go into lighter sleep and more dreaming sleep it seems. So there is a certain element of sleep towards the end of the night that becomes redundant, more pleasure rather than anything else.”

“Infants evolved to sleep more, not because they need to, but simply in order to give their parents a rest.”

The people saying these things work in University departments and are cited as ‘experts’. And the ironic thing is that the programme was supposed to be about making humanity smarter!

Posted by: Ivan

Have you ever wondered why we evolved to dream?

A new website from Human Givens Publishing Ltd has just been launched that explores in depth Joe Griffin’s expectation fulfilment theory, the latest psychobiological explanation of dreaming, which has become an integral part of human givens therapy.

Find out:

- why dreams can be so bizarre
- why dreams can feel so meaningful
- why we dream in metaphor
- what the REM state is
- how hypnosis works
- the cycle of depression and how you can innoculate yourself against it
- the link between dreaming and psychosis
- how to interpret your own dreams

and much more…

We are intending this site to be used as a valuable resource and we are hoping if you find it useful, you will be able to share it among friends, clients, collegues, relatives – anyone who many be interested to know more about this influential theory.

(Also, this is the first site I have ever built so if you spot any mistakes just contact me and I’ll do something about it!)

Posted by: Eleanor