My Pocket Psych

My Pocket Psych

My Pocket Psych is all about the psychology of the workplace. Each episode, we'll examine the world of work and explore a topic through the lens of psychology. Wellbeing, productivity, careers, relationship management. We'll aim to give listeners tips to help improve their experience of work - moving from surviving to thriving! My Pocket Psych is brought to you by WorkLifePsych Ltd and hosted by Dr. Richard MacKinnon, a Chartered Psychologist and coach.

Episodes

August 20, 2025 8 mins

After quite a few weeks focusing on self-care and coping - as topics for leaders - I realised I was at risk of neglecting my own self-care and planned holiday. So this short episode constitutes a bit of a reflection of sorts, as I consider how I can best disconnect from work while in Japan. 

Resources for this episode

To find out more about 'Sustainable Leadership', you can visit the resources page at worklifepsych.com/sustainablel...

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In this episode, I take a look at some of the ways leaders' wellbeing is challenged. Stressors from the role of leadership, the culture of the organisation and from within the leader him/herself can combine to make the job much more difficult than it needs to be. 

I look at some of the sources of these difficulties and explore one in particular: the various ways that business travel can erode leaders' wellbeing. 

This is part of ou...

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This is the second part of Richard's two-part interview with Dr. Richard Duggins, all about his work in treating burnout. You can find the first part of this interview here

In this episode, Dr. Richard Duggins explains the role of the workplace and workplace culture in employees' experiene of burnout. Why 'keeping calm and carrying on' is precisely what not to do in the face of overwhelming demands. And busts some common myths ab...

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In this episode of our 'Sustainable Leadership' series, we explore the antithesis of sustainable work: professional burnout. 

Richard is joined by Dr. Richard Duggins, consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist, who is known as the 'Doctor's Doctor' due to his work with physicians experiencing burnout in the NHS. His recent book 'Burnout-free working' explores the topic in detail, demystifying burnout and explaining how recovery i...

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This episode of the podcast is based on a webinar we recently ran on the topic of emotional literacy.

In this session, Dr. Richard MacKinnon and Ross McIntosh explain what sustainable leadership is, the role of emotional literacy in leadership, the risks of neglecting it and some simple ways to develop it. 

This is part of our 'Sustainable Leadership' series and you can find out more and access our free white paper on the topic, by...

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June 4, 2025 37 mins

Welcome to another episode of My Pocket Psych, which is part of our ongoing 'Sustainable Leadership' series.

In this episode, Richard is joined by clinical and coaching psychologist Dr. Petra Gwilliam, to discuss the importance of mental health when it comes to leadership.

We've previously looked at some of the challenges leaders can face at work, and the benefits of cultivating psychological flexibility (Episode 186). In this epis...

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Continuing our theme of the importance of Sustainable Leadership, this episode is a little bit different. 

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This episode is the first in a new series where we'll unpack all aspects of leadership, leadership development and the wellbeing and performance of leaders. 

In this episode, Richard is joined by Dr. Wayne Mullen, an experienced leadership development expert, to set the scene, outline our rationale for focusing on leadership, and explore some of the ways leadership can go wrong. 

In the coming episodes, we're going to look at topic...

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In this episode, we wrap up our 'Thriving at Work' focus on wellbeing by asking a simple question: when it comes to improving your health and wellbeing, have you considered actually doing less? 

So much of the advice we get about our wellbeing implies the need to do more of something: new foods, new diets, new exercises, new methods and approaches. But if we look at the root causes of so much of our pain and ill health, it stems fr...

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In episode 181, I explained how getting clear on what matters - our values - can be a great place to start when we want to improve our wellbeing. 

This time round, I look at the benefits of putting these values into action and being more intentional about our actions. Instead of framing our attempts at change as 'pass' or 'fail', we can frame our options as either moving towards what matters to us, or away from some form of psychol...

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I recently spoke at the Health and Wellbeing at Work conference in Birmingham on supporting employees to overcome challenges and setbacks. On the back of lots of positive feedback, I decided to record an episode outlining the main points I shared with delegates on the day, to share with a wider audience. And hopefully improve on my delivery!

In this episode, I explain what Psychological Flexibility is, how psychological rigidity sh...

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In this episode, we look at why it's so important to be clear on our values when making changes to improve our wellbeing. 

Values help us make authentic changes, help us persist when we don't feel like it, and give us an opportunity to take values-based action on a daily basis. Values remind us of the person we want to be, an incredibly useful touchstone as we progress on our change journey. 

Don't forget you can get in touch with ...

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February 19, 2025 17 mins

Change is at the very heart of the work that I do with my clients. Changing behaviour, changing attitudes. Changing in response to changes in the environment.

In this episode, I take a look at some of the different levels at which change can take place - from daily habits all the way through to identity. This enables us to get nice and specific about what it is we actually want to change, and do so in an authentic and realistic way...

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February 5, 2025 52 mins

And now for something completely different! Richard is joined by coach and actor, Lena Kaur for a discussion about coaching actors. 

We try to keep our definition of work and the workplace as broad as possible and in this episode, Richard and Lena explore the particular challenges faced by actors and how increasing their psychological flexibility can make all the difference. 

Lena explains how being can actor can help when coaching...

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In another of our 'Thriving at Work' episodes, Richard is joined by fellow workplace psychologist  Jane Stewart. They look at some of the challenges with addressing workplace wellbeing and the common traps organisations can fall into. 

While it's so easy to get caught up with new wellbeing fads and fashions, these are often disruptive and fail to deliver results. Simiarly, even evidence-based approaches may not be right for your or...

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January 10, 2025 37 mins

In this episode in our 'Thriving at Work' series, Richard is joined by Hazel Anderson-Turner for a discussion all about burnout.

Hazel describes what prompted her to write a book on the topic, as well as her significant experience coaching and training professionals on how to avoid burnout in the UK's National Health Service (NHS).

Richard and Hazel discuss the benefits of using Acceptance and Commitment Coaching methods, ...

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What does it mean to be evidence-based when it comes to wellbeing at work? How do we know what works when it comes to wellbeing interventions? And does doing 'something' always beat doing nothing?

In this episode, Richard is joined by James Carrier for a chat about the benefits of being more evidence-based when it comes to wellbeing and the importance of asking difficult questions. 

Full show notes for this episode can be found at ...

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December 4, 2024 35 mins

We continue our 'Thriving at Work' series with a look at leadership and leaders. Richard is joined by Leadership Development expert and executive coach, Dr. Wayne Mullen.

They have a look at what it means to be a leader, why it's beneficial to challenge leadership stereotypes and explore some of the many challenges contemporary organisational leaders face.

You can find full show notes for this episode at https://www.worklifepsych.c...

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November 27, 2024 35 mins

In this episode, another in the Thriving at Work series, we take a look at how sleep contibutes to our wellbeing and performance at work and ask: can you really thrive when you haven't had enough sleep? 

Full show notes for this episode can be found at https://www.worklifepsych.com/podcast/174 

Thanks for listening!

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