Bucket Lists: whose list is it anyway? Café Psychologique, 31 January, 8 pm
‘Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.’ Francis Chan.
At the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2015, President Obama had some fun with the term ‘Bucket List’. He said:
“After the Mid-Term elections, my advisers asked me, ‘Mr President, do you have a bucket list?'” President Obama continued, “And I said, ‘Well, I have something that rhymes with ‘Bucket List’…”
The term ‘Bucket List’ was popularised by a Hollywood Film that explored the common human fear of not achieving anything of significance, and of leaving hopes or dreams unfulfilled. A bucket list might be an attempt to combat the tendency to just give up on dreams in the face of the relentless demands of daily life and work. It might also be an attempt to face down the fear of our own mortality; an attempt to die with our boots on.
This café will explore what bucket lists are, how they work, and how they can be a way to give ourselves a ‘Ctrl-Alt-Del’ reboot when life seems to have become stuck or is running like a sluggish computer. There will also be opportunity to think about what might be on your own bucket list and gain ideas from others at the café.
The café will be introduced by Terry McAndrew, a cafe regular and IT Systems Adminstrator, who found himself needing to gain fresh impetus and explore options ten years ago. He is particularly interested in how to make better decisions sooner rather than later, and definitely before it gets too late.
Join the conversation at Café Psychologique Leeds, on Tuesday 31 January 8.00 pm to 9.45 pm in Seven Arts, Chapel Allerton, Leeds. The Café costs £4 on the door.
There is a poster to download here:
Café Psychologique January 2017
You can join in the conversation online on our Facebook page: Café Psychologique
You can read the Café Rules here: Café Psychologique Rules
New Analytic Therapy Group in Leeds City Centre
New group starting in January 2017
I am currently interviewing people to join a new group, meeting in Leeds City Centre on Thursday evenings. This group meets weekly, for forty groups per year and costs £140 per month.
Before deciding to join the group I meet with you individually to talk about what kinds of help you need, and whether a group is likely to be helpful for you.
You can find out more about the group by emailing me () or ringing me (07817 089352).
Problems Group Analysis can deal with
Group Analysis is used widely across the NHS to address many different types of difficulty. It is particularly helpful for:
• personal relationship issues
• feelings of loneliness and isolation
• anxiety and depression
• workplace stress
• bullying at work or in other areas of your life
• improving self confidence
• feeling that life has lost its meaning
Strictly Come Café: Café Psychologique, 29 November
Why people dance, and how it affects us
People of all ages dance, all over the world. Some people live for it, some people loathe it, some people (very many people) follow it on television. It is used as a way of keeping fit, for artistic expression, as an act of civil protest, as means of attracting a partner, as a form of psychotherapy.
This café will explore why people dance and what effect it has on our minds as well as our bodies. As a special treat, there will also be opportunity to see some dancing and even to join in and receive some instruction for those who wish.
Dr Kay Racliffe is a clinical psychologist and ballet dancer; Andrew Wilson is a café psychologiste and ballroom dancer. Together, they will introduce our conversation at Café Psychologique Leeds, on Tuesday 29 November from 8.00 pm to 9.45 pm in Seven Arts, Chapel Allerton, Leeds. The Café costs £4 on the door.
There is a poster to download here:
Café Psychologique November 2016
You can join in the conversation online on our Facebook page: Café Psychologique
Women in Leadership: What’s it like? Cafe Psychologique, 18 October
Hillary Clinton is bidding to be the first woman to enter the White House as president while Britain has only the second female prime minister in its history. Meanwhile, fewer than 10% of board members of the top 100 companies listed on the British stock exchange are women. Only 4% of the CEOs of the world’s top 500 companies are women. The story is a little different in public, social and third sector organisations, but even where women do manage to attain leadership positions, they report being subject to stereotyping and prejudice.
This café aims to discuss what it is like to be led by a woman and what it is like to be a woman in leadership. Does it make a difference and if so what might that be? We’ll also talk about why there seem to be fewer female leaders than male, despite girls and women consistently outperforming boys and men at school and university.
Dr Frances Corrigall and Dr Ruth Hunter are clinical psychologists and will introduce our conversation at Café Psychologique Leeds, on Tuesday 18 October September from 8.00 pm to 9.45 pm in Seven Arts, Chapel Allerton, Leeds. The Café costs £4 on the door.
There is a poster to download here:
Cafe Psychologique October 2016
You can join in the conversation online on our Facebook page: Café Psychologique
Regrets? I’ve had a few… Why we make poor decisions. Café Psychologique 20 September
Have you ever made choices which you later regretted? Of course you have!
From hair-styles to Brexits, from life partners to Gulf wars, we all make choices and decisions which later fill us with horror. What is it that makes you feel regretful, or stand your ground, or even repeat the bad decisions – sometimes endlessly? Does the realisation that you’ve made poor choices in the present change the way you make decisions in the future?
Tony Blair followed Bush into Iraq. Disaster. Then he followed the US into Afghanistan. Bigger disaster. Now the UK is supporting America in attacking Syria. We wonder how that will work out? Or, maybe, you think that these were good decisions and we are all freer and safer now than we were before these wars. Why is that? Why does one person see disaster where another sees success?
At this Cafe Psychologique we shall ask these important questions. So, please join us for an evening you won’t regret.
Hmmm… We now wish we’d chosen a different topic.
Dr Elaine McMullan is a Clinical Psychologist and Philip Malone is a psychotherapist. They will introduce our conversation at Café Psychologique Leeds, on Tuesday 20 September from 8.00 pm to 9.45 pm in Seven Arts, Chapel Allerton, Leeds. The Café costs £4 on the door.
There is a poster to download here:
Café Psychologique September 2016
You can join in the conversation online on our Facebook page: Café Psychologique
Research shows walking aids creative thinking: next Room to Breathe walk, 24 September
Researchers at Stanford University in 2014 conducted four experiments that demonstrated walking boosts creating thinking at the time you are doing it and for some time after. You can read the research paper here but meantime you could also sign up to join our next seasonal walking day on Saturday September 24. There’s more information here. You’ll get some fresh air and fresh ideas in good company, with skilled facilitators.
Typical Taurus or Total Bull? Café Psychologique, 26 July
Astrology, Personality Types and What Makes Us Who We Are
People have believed for centuries that your time and date of birth are of great significance in understanding your personality and the type of person you are. While astrology remains outside the scientific mainstream, there are a host of psychological models for describing and defining personality types, such as the popular Myers Briggs Type Indicator. However, the evidence base for these is often little more robust than that for astrology.
Is personality something that can be defined into types or is each person a unique entity with distinctive traits all of their own? More than that, is personality something you are born with, whether defined by your genes or the alignment of the planets, or something that is shaped by your upbringing and your environment? Can we even talk of someone having a single, definable personality when it is clearly the case that many people change how they behave and what they are like, depending on where they are and who is with them.
Maybe the most critical question is whether we can change (or expect others to change), or whether – in the words of Popeye – ‘I yam what I yam!’, and our personality is something defined and fixed.
Ruth Sutherland is a Clinical Psychologist and she will help us explore these questions and more at Café Psychologique Leeds, on Tuesday 26 July, from 8.00 pm to 9.45 pm in Seven Arts, Chapel Allerton, Leeds. The Café costs £4 on the door.
There is a poster to download here:
Café Psychologique July 2016
You can join in the conversation online on our Facebook page: Café Psychologique
Anxiety? Don’t worry about it. Café Psychologique 21 September
Worried you might have anxiety? How would you know if you have anxiety as a treatable, clinical problem, or are just a bit of a worrier? Repeated studies suggest that 1 in 4 people in England experience a mental health problem in any given year; of those, generalised anxiety and depression is the most common problem by far. The UK Wellbeing Survey in 2013 found that nearly 1 in 5 people over 16 showed symptoms of anxiety or depression.
Anxiety comes in many forms: from sleepless nights worrying, to phobias of particular situations or things; from panic attacks where you think you are going to die, to an inability to concentrate, plan or make decisions.
This Café will help you understand what anxiety is, how it affects you and others, and what others have found to be helpful in dealing with it. It’s not as easy as just stopping worrying, but there are things that can help you manage it and even understand what’s causing it in the first place.
Dr Fiona Thorne is a Clinical Psychologist with wide experience in dealing with anxiety. She will introduce our conversation at Café Psychologique Leeds, on Tuesday 21 June from 8.00 pm to 9.45 pm in Seven Arts, Chapel Allerton, Leeds. The Café costs £4 on the door.
There is a poster to download here:
Café Psychologique June July 2016
You can join in the conversation online on our Facebook page: Café Psychologique
Room To Breathe – next walking and talking day 18 June
Fresh air, fresh ideas
Take some time out in the summer air to stretch your legs and your minds. There’ll be good conversation, good company and chance to catch your breath. More information here.
Swipe Right or Left – Café Psychologique 31 May
Relationships in the age of mobile and online dating
The popular mobile dating app, Tinder, allows its users to swipe left or right on potential partners in order to establish compatibility. A recent BBC Horizon program about how to find love online, explored the intricacies of meeting a potential partner through mobile apps like Tinder and other online dating forums. A Ted Talk entitled How I Hacked Online Dating has had nearly 5 million hits.
How does this new way of meeting potential partners change our perspectives and values of relationships? How does this experience compare to how things were before technology could be used in this way? Is it easier or harder to find love in the age of technology?
Of course, Café Psychologique is the perfect environment to talk about this, as it’s been described by one participant as ‘like Twitter, but in person with real people’. So you might learn something, and might even meet someone new. In any case you’ll have chance to talk, listen, think and understand online dating from a psychological perspective
This Café Psychologique will explore dating, relationships, and the digital world. Stephen Mayer is a Clinical Psychologist in training and will introduce our conversation at Café Psychologique Leeds, on Tuesday 31 May from 8.00 pm to 9.45 pm in Seven Arts, Chapel Allerton, Leeds. The Café costs £4 on the door.
There is a poster to download here:
Café Psychologique May June July 2016
You can join in the conversation online on our Facebook page: Café Psychologique
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