Bridget Grenville-Cleave

Some months ago, a colleague introduced me to the book ‘Building Happiness, Resilience and Motivation in Adolescents: A Positive Psychology Curriculum for Well-being’ by Ruth MacConville and Tina Rae, which focuses on applying the VIA strengths to adolescents rather than younger, primary age children.

During the recent London 2012 Olympic Games an unparalleled mood of optimism and hope swept across the United Kingdom. It was without doubt an extraordinary two weeks. The question is whether we can maintain and capitalize on that sense of  Olympic optimism now that the games are over, the athletes have all flown home, and …

Jeni Hooper’s new book, What Children Need to Be Happy, Confident and Successful fulfills the promise of its title, providing adults with information and tools to support development of happy, confident, and successful children.

Some new research from René Proyer and colleagues at the University of Zurich suggests that not all strengths are equal and that strengths-based interventions should focus on those strengths which are correlated highly with life satisfaction. But fortunately for those who do not have curiosity, zest, gratitude, hope and/or love in their signature strengths, all …

This is an imaginative, practical, and well-resourced manual which covers all the major areas of positive psychology and more. It follows six major themes: Positive Self, Positive Body, Positive Emotions, Positive Mindset, Positive Direction and Positive Relationships. It includes a wealth of activities to introduce positive psychology and more general personal development, business, and coaching …

This book is original, it’s a quick and easy read, it provides inside information but at the same time challenges your understanding of what positive psychology is, how to apply it, and how it’s developing. The concept is very straightforward – transcripts of thirteen personal interviews with an assortment of positive psychology experts on their …

In various models of well-being, positive emotions seem to have less gravitas than other factors. One reason may be that they are often equated with hedonic pleasure. So it was with great curiosity that I stumbled across a philosophical approach to pleasure that suggests that there is more to the hedonic life than initially meets …

Yesterday I wrote about secrets of goal setting. A survey conducted a few years ago by consultancy FranklinCovey found that 35% of respondents break their resolutions by the end of January. Actually, I was surprised the figure wasn’t higher. So goal commitment is also an important area to examine more closely in positive psychology coaching …

I sympathize if you’re one of the estimated 35% of people who have already fallen off the wagon and given up on your New Year’s Resolutions, but help is at hand. Positive psychology coaching offers some useful insights into setting goals and sticking with them that might help just help you see them through.

The holiday season and the New Year can be pretty stressful, but this time of year provides us with some ideal opportunities for savoring – noticing, appreciating, and enhancing the things which are already positive in our lives – and there is nothing easier to do. The rules of savoring are simple to follow, and …

Should positive psychologists be concerned that recent research based on expressing gratitude not only didn’t do the study participants any good, it actually lowered their self-esteem? What can we learn from this about fitness for purpose?

I was very excited to be asked to review Sue Roffey’s latest book. Previously a teacher, Roffey is now an educational psychologist, consultant, and writer. The book’s aim is to go beyond what teaching manuals usually do, which is to provide ways to manage poor pupil behavior so that it doesn’t disrupt other students’ learning. …

Kate Hefferon and Ilona Boniwell have written a book, Positive Psychology: Theory, Research and Applications, with the aim of providing a comprehensive introduction to the field of positive psychology for undergraduate and post-graduate students. It provides lecturers with a clear structure for teaching the subject. It’s both accessible and engaging, so it will also appeal …

A few months ago I wrote about the British government’s intention to measure national well-being. This project came about because of the obvious failing of GDP (gross domestic product) to capture all the nuances of social and economic progress (and lack of it). I promised to update you on this project’s progress, and at the …

James McNulty and Frank Fincham challenge a key assumption of positive psychology, that certain psychological traits and processes are inherently beneficial for well-being. They say that context, so often ignored in positive psychology research, is paramount. They suggest that well-being is determined jointly by the interplay between those characteristics and qualities of a person’s social …

For those interested in positive psychology, there are many unanswered questions about the link between subjective well-being and needs such as those in Maslow’s hierarchy. That’s why new research by Louis Tay and Ed Diener caught my eye today. Some of the questions tackled in the study include whether needs really are universal and if …

New research by psychologist Iris Mauss and colleagues suggests that valuing happiness itself could be self-defeating and actually lead to disappointment. They conducted two studies, one a correlational study and another that manipulated how much people valued happiness.