This week’s activities (25th April – 29th April, 2016)

This Monday (the 25^th), I’ll be dealing with university business (including analysis of an undergraduate colleague’s research into the fundamental attributional error in our understanding of mental health problems and other people’s response to emotional stress), before heading off to Nottingham for the British Psychological Society’s annual conference, which opens on Tuesday. 

On the Wednesday, I hope – unless something dramatic and unexpected occurs – I’ll take up the reins as President of the Society at the A.G.M on Wednesday afternoon. Before then, I hope I’m going to be able to discuss our plans for policy and public engagement over the next year with our new Director of Policy and Communications at an open meeting (which we’ll have to slip into the programme somehow).

On Thursday 28^th, in my first day as President, I’ll be in London, at a meeting to discuss formulation as a core skill for workers in mental health care – perfectly timed, as Skills for Health are currently looking into exactly this issue. In the evening, I’m a panellist in a discussion about mental health… which I’d love to share in more detail, but unfortunately the Arts Club restricts such information to members.

On Friday 29^th, I’ll be representing the BPS at the launch of the ‘National Guideline Alliance’ led by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and coordinating the production of clinical guidelines on behalf of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). I’ll probably also be trying to catch up with lots of emails !

This week’s activities (18th April – 22nd April, 2016)

As usual for a Monday, I’m holding a regular teleconference about British Psychological Society business first thing (when I’ll catch up on Jamie’s rather distressing news), as well as a couple of other telephone and Skype calls; about BPS publications and public reports, and about a new All PartyParliamentary Group for Prescribed Drug Dependence, but spending the rest of the day on a combination of university and NHS business.

Tuesday is solely a university day, but on Wednesday 20^th, I am travelling to Teesside University for a celebration of the 20 year anniversary of their Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) programme

On Thursday, I’ll be busy with university business, but in London; visiting the new economics foundation (they write their name in lowercase, I don’t know why) to discuss our joint interest in community wellbeing.

Then, on Friday, I’ll be meeting with the new BPS Policy and Communications Director to discuss our plans for BPS policy. For me, implementing the BPS ‘charitable object’ - “to promote the advancement and diffusion of a knowledge of psychology pure and applied” – that means a focus on social justice, wellbeing, health, mental health, education and criminal justice… for starters. Then, I’ll be having lunch with colleagues from psychotherapy organisations – BACP, UKCP, and BPC, before a meeting with colleagues from the Joanna Simpson Foundation.