tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86600351443081276402011-08-03T18:02:56.666-07:00Bill Cooper, MSW, LICSWBill Cooper, MSW, LICSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870855081640247727noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8660035144308127640.post-1054134514490159312010-07-03T14:33:00.000-07:002010-07-03T14:49:12.650-07:00

I'm including a link to a podcast with Steven Hayes, co-founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), by Kelly Brownell the director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity: http://bit.ly/BO9HF.. Steven talks about applying ACT to weight loss and healthy lifestyles, particularly how just losing weight is not enough--the person needs to connect to deeper values. Much of what he says

Bill Cooper, MSW, LICSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870855081640247727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8660035144308127640.post-4483829422558513252010-06-23T20:50:00.001-07:002010-06-23T20:56:50.535-07:00

I recently read Breaking Free of Managed Care by Dana Ackley and in this book he listed 5 benefits provided by therapists:We help people replace despair with hopeWe help people replace incompetence with effective problem-solving skillsWe help people replace terror with calmWe help people replace intractable conflict with understanding and cooperationWe help people replace misunderstanding with

Bill Cooper, MSW, LICSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870855081640247727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8660035144308127640.post-15713358827742799192010-06-19T17:35:00.000-07:002011-03-19T16:18:07.620-07:00

Bellevue is not exactly the center of the world when it comes to mindfulness or meditation; however, there are several places one can start, regardless of religious orientation. Here is a short list of people or centers offering teachings or retreats in mindfulness:The Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace offer several days of contemplative prayer. The center is located on Lake Washington: http://

Bill Cooper, MSW, LICSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870855081640247727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8660035144308127640.post-61116182690480541302010-06-14T19:58:00.000-07:002010-06-16T18:57:42.302-07:00

One of the hardest things for many technical managers to understand is the role of so-called "politics" at work. I've noticed that technical people pride themselves in their scientific thought and product development, but oftentimes they have a distaste for the "political" influences that affect the decision-making related to their work. What usually happens if you continue to ignore office

Bill Cooper, MSW, LICSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870855081640247727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8660035144308127640.post-18481126959624420032010-06-07T21:10:00.000-07:002010-06-07T21:23:23.376-07:00

Recently I saw a useful tool in a book called, Mojo: How to Get It, How to Keep It, How to Get It Back if You Lose It. The book is by Marshall Goldsmith, a renowned executive coach, and in it he wrote about a useful, simple tool called The Daily Questions, which can also be found at his website: http://www.mojothebook.com/about-mojo-book/.The questions are self developed, and can be items such as

Bill Cooper, MSW, LICSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870855081640247727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8660035144308127640.post-71202878149729930412010-05-29T16:23:00.000-07:002010-05-29T16:39:03.255-07:00

A favorite expression of mine is, "What gets in the way of the work, is the work." This is a helpful reminder to work with the immediate difficulty--the lesson within the present situation--instead of looking beyond it to an idealized place of serenity. Too often we want the obstacles in our life to go away, presumably so we can get on to something more important. The problem is then we miss much

Bill Cooper, MSW, LICSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870855081640247727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8660035144308127640.post-59610687636238253092009-03-29T10:49:00.001-07:002009-03-29T11:08:03.375-07:00

I recall a training with Kelly Wilson a few years ago. Several of my fellow therapists we expressing frustration about the amount of suffering our clients were experiencing. Kelly was passionate in his response. “Look, what your clients are experiencing is the human condition. You won’t be able to help people escape it.”The moment has stayed with me. I agree, we can’t escape the human condition,

Bill Cooper, MSW, LICSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870855081640247727noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8660035144308127640.post-13838872066369282452009-02-08T14:20:00.000-08:002009-04-02T14:41:17.684-07:00

When I was in high school, I had a wonderful psychology teacher who introduced us to a wealth of contemporary thinkers: Sartre, Camus, Rollo May, Carl Rogers, Erich Fromm, and Martin Buber. My thinking is still influenced in some ways by them.I’m thinking especially of Martin Buber, and his influence on dialogic psychotherapy. Buber wrote about the genuine encounter, which he called I-Thou. This

Bill Cooper, MSW, LICSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870855081640247727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8660035144308127640.post-14053879766541713602006-12-03T11:10:00.000-08:002009-02-08T13:47:14.842-08:00

There is probably no other behavior that is as important to maintaining a healthy weight as continued monitoring of food intake. Why is this so? Before I discuss why monitoring of food is important, we need to understand how we came to our current condition of being an obese society.I believe the normal tendency of our body is to gain weight. For most of human evolution the food on our planet has

Bill Cooper, MSW, LICSWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06870855081640247727noreply@blogger.com0