News Articles & Podcasts
Where we explore good mental health, resilience and how we can all thrive.
Looking at life from all angles, if you would like to know more about anything we discuss, please get in touch.
May 05th, 2020
Calming our unfounded fears
I have two daughters. Both in their 20s, my eldest is safely ensconced in her house share with three friends. My youngest is far away, adrift on the Caribbean, aboard a ship that cannot dock.
Apr 29th, 2020
The survivor tree & me
There are many trees planted around the site, but this one is special; special, because this tree somehow managed to survive the catastrophic attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001.
Apr 20th, 2020
Everyone’s a critic
Most of us don’t like being criticised. Our common responses include throwing up our defences, attacking back, or crumpling in a mental heap! Forced, as many of us currently are, to live and work, closeted 24/7 with partners, children, in-laws or flat mates, I am willing to bet that none of us can escape the immortal line: “I wouldn’t do it like that…”, or worse.
Mar 23rd, 2020
Resilience
You may be forgiven for thinking the term ‘resilience’ has psychological roots, but, in fact, it originates from engineering and is centuries old. So, for humans, what do we mean by resilience and it’s good to know that we’ve all got what it takes.
Mar 23rd, 2020
Then don’t worry
Just to help us keep our psychological balance during unique and uncertain times.
Mar 20th, 2020
· For there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so….
You don’t have to look too hard to find wisdom! This is one of my favourite quotes because it reminds me of the impact our thinking has on how we feel. And nearly everything we “think” is actually just a story we’re telling ourselves – a story of our own invention, which can, therefore, change. And that is actually very empowering!
Jan 24th, 2020
Reality not relentless positivity Me, myself & I
I’ve never really been a fan of “looking on the bright side”! Don’t get me wrong, I am one of life’s eternal optimists, but for some people I work with, life really is shit, and suggesting they count their blessings, or think of three things they’re grateful for, seems belittling of their situation and, quite frankly, quite insulting.
Jun 21st, 2019
High Risk Roles, High Stakes for Mental Health
Some jobs involve a higher risk of exposure to emotionally, psychologically and physically demanding events than others and these roles often require managing the challenging behaviour of others.
What is Psychological Fitness
Twenty twenty-three has, quite frankly, been shite! Things started to go badly in January and declined thereafter, right through to December. I list the events not for sympathy or compassion (although both are most welcome), but for illustrative purposes only.
Detachment: Talk to the Person, Not the Role
After workload and non-work related issues, the third most commonly cited source of work related stress is management style. This rather horrifying statistic was presented at a recent Policy UK workshop on Mental Health in the Work Place, by Rachel Suff, a senior advisor for the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD).
Working in a Culture of Fear
“What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”, so asked Sheryl Sandberg, a leader over at Facebook, she is clearly a formidable woman (her Wikipedia entry is awesome). And her quote above posses an equally formidable question, at least from the perspective of a psychologist like me, and that’s, “Afraid of What?”
Delivering Difficult News
A few weeks ago, I fell of my horse and fractured my spine. A compression fracture of one vertebra, but a fractured spine nonetheless. It wasn’t a dramatic fall; my horse did nothing wrong, no psychological trauma, just the embarrassment of looking like a total novice despite 54 years in the saddle...
Bad Apple or Bad Barrel?
A junior doctor in the 2000s, Adam Kay was working 97 hours a week. As a week only consists of 168 hours this is an extraordinary feat of endurance, but for Adam and junior doctors like him, this was considered normal. After a particularly harrowing and traumatic chain of events Adam quit his role as a doctor and left the NHS. He had given his heart and soul to a job he had trained for many years to do well.
Do You Know How to Empower Your Staff to Thrive?
Empowering people to thrive at work is challenging, not least because of how complex and diverse we all are. And because of the dynamics that result from a myriad of different mental ill-health outcomes when we fail to thrive. Petros offers a range of solutions, interventions and strategies to enhance the psychological wellbeing of your employees.