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Back in March, Dr. Attila Oláh invited people to attend the 9th European Conference on Positive Psychology in Budapest. The conference happened in late June. Here is a report on conference happenings.

ANNOUNCEMENT:  On August 15, we will have a Positive Psychology News webinar featuring Karen Warner, who will be speaking about The Sudden Caregiver’s Paradox: her discovery, first-hand, that caregiving for…

This summer, there were two major events focused on positive education. On August 8, there will be a panel to explore what people learned by participating. You are invited to register.

Continuing the report on the IPEN conference started on July 13, I invite you to learn about Angela Duckworth’s Character Lab Playbooks, about research on the behavior changes associated with meditation, and more.

So, whether you’re a therapist or a coach or a clinician, you maybe have been thinking about doing an online intervention to help your clients wherever they are. The question is, do they work?

Good news is that a recent research study published in the Clinical Journal of Pain shows that they do.

The world news has been pretty challenging lately. No matter what your political preference there’s a lot going on. Even I began to lose hope, and I teach happiness for a living. So the question is, is there anything we can do to regain hope?

The International Positive Education Network, known to friends as IPEN, held its second annual festival in Ft. Worth Texas from June 25 to June 28. The conference was jointly sponsored by the David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry, so you won’t be surprised that the conference title was .

It’s summer and I know I wanna go hit the beach and maybe you do too but did you know that between 80 and 90% of all women dislike their bodies? I mean, hate their bodies. The question is can positive psychology help?

Tal Ben-Shahar mesmerized a standing-room-only audience eager to learn about the science and practical steps necessary to experience greater well-being. I return to cover the remaining two parts of his talk, as well as interesting topics that arose in the Q&A session with Julie Rice.

ANNOUNCEMENT:  On July 18, we will have a Positive Psychology News webinar featuring George E. Vaillant, M.D. discussing the REAL difference between happiness and joy.

It’s beautiful out, and it’s no surprise that nature makes us feel good. But the question is how and why, and how do we get more out of it?

Tal Ben-Shahar is deeply humble, but he mesmerized a standing-room-only audience eager to learn about the science and practical steps necessary to experience greater well-being. Then Julie Rice interviewed Tal in a riveting discussion on happiness. I shall cover 3 of his 5 major points in this article and return on Thursday with the rest.

As much as we need to feel that we belong and that others want us, it is even more critical to know that we matter, that we have something to offer, and that our contribution is seen and appreciated. Here are some actions that can facilitate a culture of mattering.

We interviewed James and Suzie Pawelski on our most recent PPND Webinar on June 20th.  We discussed relationships and the ideas from their book,   Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love That Lasts. Here is the webinar in case you missed it or want to see it again!

It’s long been documented that relationships are a major predictor of life satisfaction. Also romantic relationships help people be happier and healthier and live longer. The question is, how do we have a better romantic relationship?

Part 1 ended with a question about whether human beings are capable of holistic growth throughout their adult years. In Part 2, I contend that the passing of youth does not leave us confined to learning only very specific grownup skills for which a capacity is already in place. We can go beyond skill training to growth. Kegan and Lahey give us existence proofs, three very different corporate cultures where continuous personal growth is the norm. They call these existence proofs deliberately developmental organizations (DDOs).

We’ve seen a lot in the news lately about depression with the very sad, tragic deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, both by suicide. And of course, there are 45,000 deaths by suicide in the U.S. every year and 800,000 around the world.

The question is, can positive psychology help, and a recent research study says yes.

Is there a connection between mothers working outside the home and adolescent depression? What emerged when I studied this question surprised me. It appeared that children of mothers with rewarding careers are actually doing quite well. However children with mothers who are depressed, working or not, are at a much greater risk for adolescent depression. In my quest to help working mothers find well-being, I have found numerous simple mechanisms that working mothers can use to improve their daily experience, thereby reducing the risk of depression in themselves and their children..

Researchers have long talked about the good of savoring. Recent research that came out in 2018 also shows that savoring the past can help with being optimistic about the future.