Events and seminars
Psychology For All
A British Psychological Society conference featuring comedian Ruby Wax on her "search for someone to blame" and Professor Richard Wiseman
on the psychology of luck.
The programming features more than 25 sessions, including "managing the dark side of your personality and developing the bright side" and "getting off the couch", an exercise in motivation strategies. There is even a chance to take part in some psychological research in the activity lab.
• 14 March, 10am-5pm; students £15, non-students £20. University of Westminster, London. bps.org.uk/p4a
The Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research
An institute promoting psychoanalytic practice and theory that holds seminars throughout the year. This season's public seminar programme includes an introduction to perversion (14 March), the "object" from Freud to Lacan (21 March) and an introductory lecture on mourning and melancholia
by Darian Leader (28 March).
• Birkbeck college, London. cfar.org.uk
Making Up the Mind
Neuropsychologist Chris Frith drops in at the Science Museum's Dana Centre to reveal how the brain creates the world we see around us. See the Science Museum website for monthly event listings.
• 18 March, 7pm-8.30pm. danacentre.org.uk/event
The 15th Annual BACP Research Conference
The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) hosts its annual conference for students or practitioners in the field of counselling. Workshops and presentations address a range
of topical issues.
• 15-16 May 2009 Marriott Hotel, Portsmouth. bacp.co.uk/research/conf2009/index.php.
Online discussion forums
Offers a wide array of forums, covering topics such as depression, spirituality and psychotherapy. The forums are open to everyone, including the 5,500 therapists from all fields that make up the site's membership.
A self-harm support community. As well as a range of moderated forums, the site offers one-to-one live assistance and a wide range of reading materials.
Users must register.
www.thecoupleconnection.net/posts
A forum designed to help couples talk about their relationship issues, whether it's money worries, affairs, jealousy or becoming a parent. Feedback is provided by a team of experts and fellow users.
A self-help support community covering issues as varied as
post-traumatic stress, anxiety, OCD and substance abuse.
Users must register.
A forum that provides a place in which to discuss mental health issues. Members include people suffering with mental health problems, national and local policy makers, service providers and purchasers,
relatives and carers.
rethink.org/applications/discussion
A forum run by Rethink, a national charity for people affected by severe mental illness. Users must register.
community.mentalhelp.net
The Mental Help Net forum aims to promote mental health education and covers a broad range of areas, including psychotherapy, anxiety, self-harm and grief.
Psychometric tests
psychtesting.org.uk
The British Psychological Society's Psychological Testing Centre is the leading national organisation for setting standards in psychological testing. Includes a directory of test publishers and web links to organisations which offer practice tests.
peoplemaps.com
Based on Jungian psychology, PeopleMaps offers users free personality reports.
jobtestprep.co.uk
Established in 1992, Job Test Prep offers preparation for psychometric tests, including aptitude and personality tests.
Offers full-length practice tests, including verbal and numerical reasoning tests, personality and motivation questionnaires and speed and accuracy tests.
morrisby.com
The Morrisby Organisation offers a series of practice tests that each last 15 minutes and are used in schools, colleges and HR departments nationwide.
keirsey.com
A free 70-question assessment that claims to be the most widely used personality testin the world.
psychologies.co.uk
The online home of Psychologies magazine has a range of psychometric tests to help you "make sense of your world".
Further support and guidance
• The British Psychology Society website (bps.org.uk) offers a range of downloadable advice leaflets covering, amongst other topics, trauma depression and phobias.
• The British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy (basrt.org.uk) offers online self-help support and advice.
• Self-help psychology website psywww.com lists links to a range of self-help websites, covering everything from eating disorders to sexual problems.
• Volunteers at the Samaritans answer the phones 24 hours a day, offering advice to people in need of emotional support (samaritans.org.uk).
• Anxiety UK (anxiety.org.uk) is a national charity run by former sufferers of anxiety disorders. The charity offers online support and also provides links to a range of related external websites.
