In-the-News

When a child is ill, the whole family is in crisis. Often mothers are the ones who nurture and support the entire family. That’s why today and everyday we salute…

A year ago, Emilia Lahti launched a project called Sisu, not Silence, a movement for peace and compassion intended to empower people who have survived violence, especially those who have overcome domestic violence. Now, it is only a few days until Emilia starts a special campaign in which she plans to run 50 ultramarathons in 50 days, traversing the length of New Zealand. I invited her to tell us about this amazing initiative that will start on January 18, 2018.

The Positive Psychology Program has created a Positive Psychology Practitioner’s Toolkit, an online database that grants our members access to all kinds of positive psychology exercises, assessments, scales, questionnaires, and worksheets allowing any therapist, coach, or researcher to apply positive psychology tools effectively in practice.

When I facilitate workshops on character strengths, I find that many people immediately focus on the bottom of their lists where their weakest strengths are. We are hardwired with a negativity bias, after all, and it is not a bad thing to want to improve. I frequently get asked, “How can I develop my strengths?” I respond, “Pretend that you have them. Act ‘as if’ you are kind, or forgiving, or curious.“

Got 15 minutes a day to become a happier and more compassionate person?

There’s now a website for that.

Greater Good in Action, an exciting new online resource is now live, offering dozens of science-based exercises to boost personal well-being.

This Thursday, March 26, you are invited to a free webinar on Love & Purpose. Why put these two topics together? Read on.

March 20th is the third International Day of Happiness declared by the United Nations. We want you to know about two ways to recognize the day: the virtual conference on well-being hosted by the MAPP Alumni Association and the 24-hour Happiness Live Stream presented by LiveHappy Magazine.

For followers of positive psychology, two relevant Coursera courses started this week:

• Barbara Fredrickson’s course, Positive Psychology (February 9 – March 26)
• Stuart Friedman’s course, Better Leader, Richer Life (February 8 – April 23)

Read about these courses and click through to register.

This article tries to answer some of the most burning questions about positive education with the strongest evidence currently available to support our proposition. These are the questions we tend to experience when discussing positive education with an interested but skeptical audience.

Today I highlight experiences and perceptions of five MAPP alumni who also participated in the CAPP program with me. The CAPP program has prepared us to go teach similar programs elsewhere. We are starting several new CAPP programs at new locations in 2015. Sign up to be informed when a program near you comes available.

Although it has only been out for two weeks, The Upside of Your Dark Side has stirred some spirited discussion. I want to add a few comments, addressing four myths that have been raised about the book.

Have you ever wished you had a list of researchers in all corners of the positive psychology field with links to their websites where you could find papers and descriptions of research topics?

Bristol is preparing to green light a range of projects that combine sustainability with well-being. One of these is a free online lecture whose theme is Sustainable Happiness, a topic that I will explore alongside Chris Johnstone, co-author of Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in without Going Crazy. You are invited to this free event.

So what is sustainable happiness?

Wonder by R.J. Palacio is about the highs and lows of a boy with a severe facial disfigurement as he attends middle school for the first time. It’s a brilliant book, very thought provoking on the nature of resilience and friendship and courage and kindness. It has led me to think about kindness, from random acts such as the challenge to NekNominations from South Africa to all the non-randomly kind people who are thoughtful, and helpful to others simply because that’s who they are.

Today is #CharacterDay, the premiere of an 8-minute film that explores the social science and neuroscience behind character development and how we can shape who we are. Find out how to view the film and participate in the events going on today.

The United Nations declared that March 20, 2014 will be the second International Day of Happiness. In honor of this event, the graduates of the Masters of Applied Positive Psychology program at Penn are offering a free mini conference about various applications of positive psychology at work, at home, and in the community. Find out more about this free event.

The Flourishing Center, in partnership with the New York Open Center, is granting a Certification in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) through a 6-month program that has been approved by the New York Board of Education. The program covers all the topics that make positive psychology so fascinating, including gratitude, resilience, positive emotions, mindset, flow, strengths, and self-regulation. It also covers topics that are becoming mainstream in positive psychology, such as mindfulness, altruism, spirituality, neuroscience, and physical vitality.

December 5, 2013 will be remembered for news of the death of the first black president of South Africa, anti-apartheid icon and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nelson Mandela. I’m not normally drawn to writing about political leaders. But Mandela was different in every respect. His life was a life well-lived.

Learn about a free online conference sponsored by Dr. Heidi Halvorson and scheduled for September that brings together numerous experts to address the question, “There’s a lot of advice out there – but where’s the evidence that it actually works?”