Articles by Dave Shearon
Dave Shearon, MAPP, applies positive psychology to both law and education. Dave writes articles about applications of Positive Psychology to law and education at his site
Suppose you were the superintendent of a large urban school system. Or the commanding general of the most powerful army in the world? What if you were me, with the chance to influence …
Positive psychology is a science, and scientists count and measure. In thinking about how to improve personal well-being or the well-being of a relationship or group, it helps to ask what you can count and how counting might help. Here are some areas to consider.
“Nobody ever changes anyway.” I suspect that many of us had at least a flicker of agreement with these words. And yet we are all changing all the time. Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey present a model that shows why people have resistance to change in their book, Immunity to Change. hey also offer ways to melt the resistance in yourself and in groups.
How does happiness “work?” Here are three quick stories from my own life that have given me a hint about how happiness might create good things in life.
A leader who wants to incorporate the findings of positive psychology into his or her enterprise must “fly high cover” for that process to give it time to happen. Last week, when I taught …
Martial Virtues by Charles Hackney, PhD, is an obvious gift for anyone who practices the martial arts. Anyone in a high-conflict profession can relate to it – lawyers, for example. For all of us, however, the …
Detecting Icebergs
Recently, I was teaching “Detecting Icebergs”, one of the resilience skills described in The Resilience Factor. The participants had practiced the skills themselves, and we were talking about how to teach them. I mentioned …
When I speak to lawyers at continuing legal education (CLE) events, I often mention that we do not accredit topics such as resilience, optimism, energy, strengths, etc., because we want lawyers to feel better. Mandatory …
Chris Peterson has written that the study of positive institutions is “the acknowledged weak link of positive psychology.” Law is certainly a key institution that could use some reshaping based on positive psychology research …
Cruised any politics related web sites recently? Seen any angry, sarcastic, personal attacks wrapped in "humor"? I suspect that for many participants, there are very real consequences. What to do? I have two suggestions, one from my political experience and one from that great political philosopher, Walt Disney.
