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The Positive Psychology News Movie Award series is now in its 9th year of providing the best of the best positive psychology movies. I comb through popular, independent, and obscure films from the previous year in order to share with you these awards across positive psychology themes.

Dan Tomasulo is a master storyteller with a purpose. After reading this book, you’ll face the world a little bit differently.

On May 9, we will have a Positive Psychology News webinar featuring Pete Berridge and Jen Ostrich, co-inventors of Shift Positive 360®, a method for creating sustainable positive change by changing the way people give and receive feedback.

In sports and other major league efforts, positive psychology can help all of us deal with an inescapable reality: Bad situations happen. Those that can rise above bad situations are able to perform not by getting rid of bad feelings, but by doing what they do in the presence of negative thoughts and feelings without letting them get in the way.

When we have to deny parts of ourselves in order to be accepted in society, the effect is disorienting and energy draining. Imagine a world where men and women can embrace and exhibit all their qualities. It’s worth striving for.

To work on positive medicine, I had to decide where to start. The opportunities to make medicine a more positive discipline are vast. Finally I decided that the place to start was with the healers themselves. Principles of self-care and positive psychology could be embedded in medical training starting as early as Day 1 of medical school.

I developed a concise survey instrument to assess 6 qualities in managers from the perspective of their subordinates. Work by Steger, Rosso, and others associates these qualities with greater likelihood of employees finding their work meaningful. In a survey of 586 German employees, I found that those who found their managers high in CAARMA were more likely to experience flow, to find their work meaningful, and to

As an organizational development consultant and a leadership coach, I learned a lot from Brafford’s book about how professional organizations can directly apply the research of positive psychology to create better places to work for all employees. These businesses can do well financially by doing well at increasing well-being for their people.

Interested in positive psychology? Join us for the 9th European Conference on Positive Psychology (ECPP) and preconference meetings. The conference will take place in Budapest, Hungary, from June 26 through June 30. Luminaries in the field will explore the conference theme, “Positive psychology for a flourishing Europe in times of transition.”

What does it mean for people to matter?

Here’s the good news. When we practice self-compassion on a regular basis, we literally mold our brains for the better, thanks to the power of experience-dependent neuroplasticity. This changes our gene expression towards greater compassion, so that we not only build our relationships, we’re literally evolving our collective brain towards a higher consciousness.

In her book, The Strength Switch Dr. Lea Waters makes distinctions among different kinds of strengths, learned behaviors, and weaknesses. People can become very proficient at learned behaviors, but without the energy and enjoyment associated with strengths. To understand the differences, let’s look at three dimensions for evaluating possible strengths.

Reading the book, The Strengths Switch by Dr. Lea Waters, can help you see what is right about your children and then nurture their innate strengths and talents.

We can begin by stepping away from the self-improvement craze and understanding our place in the larger flow of life. What are we here to achieve? What needs can we address (aside from our own) and how can we make a real difference to other lives? Meaning is relational by its very nature. It grows out of bursting our self-reflective bubbles and belonging to something larger than ourselves.

A few years ago, I embarked on a 250-mile road trip to meet Mata Amritanandamayi, affectionately known as Amma, a Hindu spiritual leader who has amplified the simple, powerful, loving gesture of a hug to an astonishing level. Like many things that are authentic and true, when I had my chance, it was nothing like I had imagined, and it was wonderful.

Today I want to highlight two compelling concepts from Happy Together that can help you cultivate stronger and happier relationships.

As the calendar bends towards Valentine’s Day, Happy Together is a wonderful book for you and the important people in your life. It provides a dazzling array of easy-to-implement exercises to keep your relationships strong and energetic. The Pawelskis demonstrate that relationships can get better with age, like fine bottles of wine.

How do we act toward people who seem different? Those that act with kindness and respect create something wondrous.

Kegan’s 5th order of consciousness involves being able to hold onto multiple perspectives at the same time, bound together by common questions, not letting ourselves be not thrown apart in the search for common answers. Given the challenges we face in the world, the timing couldn’t be more right.

Our family’s last Thanksgiving celebration was the final holiday we shared with my beloved father nine days before he died. I never know when I will experience a pang or a sobbing bout or a joyful wave of hilarious memories. The only constant is that there are no rules. I appreciate Claire Ansberry’s helpful guidance for people wondering how to say and do helpful things gracefully for people who are grieving.