Nurturing Development in the Right Direction

Make Haste Slowly With Your Development

People are just as wonderful as sunsets if i can let them be. In fact, perhaps the reason we can truly appreciate a sunset is that we cannot control it... I watch it with awe as it unfolds. I like myself best when i can appreciate my staff member, my son, my daughter, my grandchildren, in this same way. 
~ Carl Rogers, A Way Of Being, pp.22-23

Hey ,


So much has happened over the last month. Here's two:

1. Donald Trump is now the elected president of United States,

2. Leonard Cohen's passed away at aged 82. 

What has been your reaction? 

I don't feel competent to comment on the first, though I'd highly recommend you take a look at Michael Moore's post on 5 Reasons Why Trump Will Win. 

As for Leonard Cohen, I'm sure many of you would have heard the song "Hallelujah," either from Jeff Buckley's version or some variate of it from shows like American Idol, X factor and the like.

Here's Cohen explained to Bob Dylan how long he took to write the song.

“Two years,” Cohen lied.

Actually, “Hallelujah” had taken him five years. He drafted dozens of verses and then it was years more before he settled on a final version. In several writing sessions, he found himself in his underwear, banging his head against a hotel-room floor.
(I highly recommend this New Yorker article on Leonard Cohen. Also check out Malcolm Galdwell's new podcast Revisionist History that talks about this)

Cohen's a man worth mentioning, simple because of his evolution as a writer, songwriter, and monk. Check out his last album released just this year, You Want It Darker. The title track is excellent. 



Four-on-Floor Resources:

Here's some recent blogposts, websites, and podcasts that will pique your interest:

1. Useful Cheatsheet to Explain the Effectiveness of Psychotherapy :
I've created an outline called Three Surprising Facts About Psychotherapy That You and Your Doctors Need to Know.
So the next time, you don't have to play second cousin at a party when someone says that psychotherapy is just talk. You now have evidence to boot that it is as effective, if not more effective, with less side effects that most medical treatments. 

2. It's the Practice that Counts, Not the Product
One of my favorite writers, Steven Pressfield writes in a recent blog about the important of the practice ritual. Even though he talks about writing, you can easily transpose what's he saying into our field of therapy.
I also highly recommend his two books, The War of Art (do not mistake this with the Art of War), and Turning Pro. 

3. Kindness is Care, Not Self-Sacrifice: 
 This is a good short video reminder to all the givers in the world. Be a gift, but don't give yourself away. 

4. In Praise of Incrementalism:

For those who have not heard of the famed book Freakonomics, or Think Like a Freak, I highly recommend you check out their podcast. Here's a recent episode that is fascinating, In Praise of Incrementalism. 


Events:

Hosted by the Mental Health Commission, Australia, my colleague and mentor Scott Miller is in Perth at this moment running some a 2 day workshop on feedback informed treatment (FIT) in Perth, Australia. If any of you are attending this, love to hear your thoughts and learnings about it.

Stay tuned, Scott and I are looking to bring the FIT intensives to Perth that we run in Chicago to Perth next year. Lets see if we can make this work!


In the mean time, lets make haste slowly in our lives. Lets take on the road ahead, in incremental ways. And don't forget to take in what you can appreciate. Remember what President Dwight Eisenhower said, "What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important."
 
You are receiving this because you attended a workshop/consultancy/ supervision with me in recent times, or a subscriber to the Frontiers of Professional Development (FPD) blog. I want to keep you up to date on some developments that you will find useful. You might also be interested to check out the previous Oct'16 FPD Newsletter from some useful resources: 

 

Love to hear back from you, if you have any questions or comments.

Stay in touch. 

Blessings, 

Daryl Chow, Ph.D.
Senior Associate & Trainer, International Center for Clinical Excellence (ICCE);
Psychologist & Board Approved Supervisor,
Specialist Psychological Outreach Team (SPOT) @ Henry Street Centre, Fremantle, W Australia.
Senior Psychologist (on locum),
Institute of Mental Health, Singapore.