Frontiers Friday #51. Deliberate Practice (Part V)
Frontiers of Psychotherapist Development
Frontiers Friday #51. Deliberate Practice (Part V)
Besides this week's 5 recommendations on deliberate practice (in case you missed the last 4 missives on this topic, click here), get to the end of this newsletter to see a special invitation to 5 people for a new book that I'm working on.
From My Desk: Instead of The “10,000” Hour Rule, Why Not The “60” Hour Rule?
Besides the actual deliberate practice activity, here's one over-looked aspect of what's needed to help us become our best: Rest.
Same Dusty Desk: What Does General Athleticism Got to Do With Psychotherapeutic Skills? There are limits to how much we can draw the analogy from sports into therapy, but there is something more fundamental that we can look at: being better all-around vs. at a particular modality.
Read: Practice Perfect
Even though this is not a "therapy" book, Doug Lemov et al. really got me thinking about how we can create learning environments to help myself and other practitioners.
Research: To be or not to be an expert: Revisiting the role of deliberate practice in improving performance
This paper is a re-analysis my colleagues and I did of an original meta-analysis on deliberate practice. As we wouldn't academics housed within a university, this took us a really long time! (Growing up in an entirely non-gifted stream in secondary school, it was quite a bizarre experience to have this published in the journal of Higher Abilities Studies).
Words Worth Contemplating:
"There is a pervasive form of modern violence to which the idealist…most easily succumbs: activism and over-work.
The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence.
To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence.
The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his (or her) work… It destroys the fruitfulness of his (or her)…work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.” ~ Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander.
Reflection:
In last week;s Words Worth Contemplation Improv teacher Pat Madson said, "Turtles are a good model, since they make progress only when they stick their necks out."
But let's not forget: The turtle's shell is brilliantly designed. We all need this shell to retreat every now and then.
"Hiding is a way of staying alive. Hiding is a way of holding ourselves until we are ready to come into the light." ~ David Whyte, Consolations.
So the reflection is this: How do we honor our need--and our client's needs too--for this shell to hide and retreat into, at different seasons of our lives?
Looking for 5 Beta-Readers!
I've been working on a new book, around the topic of mental health. I'm hoping to invite 5 willing parties to go through the rough sketches I have at this point. I'm not looking for any editing or copyproofing, but I do have specific questions around the idea of this short book.
If you would like to be a beta-reader, please drop me an email on the button below. I'd also send you copies of the book for free, when it gets out.
BIG HUGS TO NEW SUBSCRIBERS WHO WANT TO BE AT THEIR FRONTIER!
If you've just joined us, I'm glad you can join us at the "bleeding edge." Feel free to check out the back catalogue of Frontiers of Psychotherapists Development (FPD).
And if you want to see past newsletters, click here.
In case you missed it, see the most recent missives
Part I Unintended Consequences
Part II nintended Consequences
Part III of Deep Learner
Part IV of Deep Learner