Frontiers Friday #89. Tech Tools for Therapists (Part II) ⭕
Frontiers Friday #88. Tech Tools for Therapists (Part II)
This week we have a new podcast featured in Light Up the Coach from Clearly Clinical, and a few wicked apps that help you in your habit formation and workflow.
In case you missed last week's Tech Tools for Therapists (Part I), click here: FF88.
New Podcast on Light Up the Coach: Undoing the Intake Model
Hosted by Elizabeth Irais, Beth guides me to talk about what led me to write the psychotherapy "romance-novel" titled book, The First Kiss.
We covered quite abit of grounds on ways to not only reduce dropouts (Hint: about 2-3 out of 10 people prematurately end therapy after the first visit), but also ways to focus on what we are giving to people and less on what we are "taking" from them in the initial session.
I also talked why the book was dedicated to Fr. Claude Barreteau.
Click here to listen (or any of your podcast apps).
App: Beeminder – An App that Stings You
This is one app that is in my recommended list in the web-based workshop Deep Learner.
Beeminder is not just about tracking your life like a fitbit. it's "a reminder with a sting."
First, you get to decide what is something sooo important to you that you want to be doing daily. Second, you make a conscious decision to monitor it. Third, if you don't do it, you pay!
Based on the principle of commitment device and Kahneman's fear of loss aversion, this is one app that I use consistently.
It sounds ridiculous, I've been using Beeminder since June 2020 to help me stay on track with being consistent with writing.
To date, I've lost $1 + $3 + $5. = $9.It's not alot of money, but it hurts! Losing $9 feels way worse than spending $9 for an app.
Of course you could cheat the system by fudging the data inputs. But what's the point? The intention was to honor my need to keep writing (or whatever you choose to do consistently).
Writing, has been a great way to not so much as to write what I know, but to write in order to know. It has sharpened my thinking, helped me keep track of my learnings, and how that might apply to the practice of psychotherapy.See Related:
Parameters and Samples for Capturing Weekly Therapy Learnings
App: Descript
If you ever need to get a quick transcription of your session recordings or any video or audio, Descript has been my go-to.
It spits out a transcribe of any audio/video input. An hour-long video takes about 5-10mins. It's not 100% accurate, but it's super-useful if you are trying to deliberately practice on aspects of your craft. Much better to go into the therapeutic conversation than to wax lyrical about what happened to you clinical supervisor.
(Free mins given for starters, but Descript is a monthly subscription app).
App: Hook
Those of you who know about my joys of note-taking in Obsidian will know that I really treasure the ability to link one note to another (i.e., bi-directional linking).
Using Obsidian as a personalised learning system (PLS) has tremendously enhanced the way I connect the dots between different ideas.
(For more on the use of Obsidian to assist in your learning efforts, see this post: The Difference Between What's Right and What's Right for You).
So when I learned about Hook for Mac, I was "hooked" (sorry, couldn't resist the pun).
Basically, Hook allows you to link nearly almost anything in your computer to nearly almost anything.
Wanna link an email to your calendar event? Done.
Wanna link a Word file to note in your note-taking app? Done.
Hook makes you feel like a ninja. Instead of constantly context-switching in order to find a related piece of information between apps, creating such links has been priceless in my workflow.
(Try for Free, but paid app. The app developer has also been super-responsive, alongside consistent updates, like a way to link to specific parts of a PDF).
Words Worth Contemplating:
“Computers are useless.
They can only give you answers.”
~ Pablo Picasso
Reflection: When was the last time you looked through your old notes? Don't underestimate the impact of retrieval practice. Some important learnings need not be new learnings, but instead ones that you've left in the memory attic.
Special Free Webinar (Over-Subscribed).
Scott Miller and I are hosting a free Q&A webinar to address some of your unspoken questions/doubts/difficulties about deliberate practice.
May 16, 2022 09:00 AM in Central Time (US and Canada)
Thanks to those who have already signed up. Scott mentioned to me earlier this week that we have 600+ folks who signed up, but we only have 100 slots (Our business account Zoom limit unfortunately).
In order to cater to all, you can do the following:
1. Join the call as early as you can, as we are only able to allow the first 100 into the virtual call).
2. Email your questions about deliberate practice, and Scott and I will do our very best to answer them. (Hit Reply to this email, or click here)
BIG HUGS TO NEW PEOPLE WHO ARE 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). You might also want to go into specific topics in the FPD Archives like
And if you want to see past newsletters, click here.
In case you missed it, see the most recent missives
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Unintended Consequences (2 Parts)
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p/s: In memory of my grandauntie who took care of me as a kid.