My Pocket Psych

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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, ...

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 ...

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...

After a few 'heavy' episodes, it's time to turn to the lighter side of the workplace. Richard is joined by Dr. Mike Rucker for a discussion all about how to have more fun, inside and outside of work. Mike discusses his book about fun, the relationship between run, wellbeing and performance, the downsides of putting too much emphasis on 'future happiness'. 

You can find the full show notes for this episode at worklifeposych.com/podc...

In this latest episode of our 'Thriving at Work' series, Richard takes a fresh look at the concept of self-care. While it may conjure up images of bubble baths and cups or tea, there's a lot more to it than that. Richard outlines some quality markers to bear in mind when selecting self-care activities and flags some common pitfalls to avoid. 

Full show notes for this episode can be found at worklifepsych.com/podcast/172 

Thanks for...

In this episode, which is part of our Thriving at Work series, Richard is joined by two experts in ostracism at work, to discuss what it is, how it impacts employees and what we can do about it.

Dr. Ian Tyndall and Dr. Daniel Waldeck discuss their research and why they got involved in this specific topic. Unlike the loneliness experience we discussed back in Ep 135 with Dr. Sarah Wright, where people aren't feeling enough connectio...