Coming Up: Canadian Positive Psychology Conference

Curtains up! Light the lights! July 20-21 and the Canadian Positive Psychology Conference will soon be upon us!

When you attend a conference, you expect it to be full of learning and inspiration, especially when it’s a conference about positive psychology. When you plan a conference, you also hope to meet fabulous people along the way, and this has occurred for the board members of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association (CPPA) who have been pouring their volunteer hearts and souls into making the upcoming inaugural Canadian Positive Psychology Association conference a stellar event.

The Canadian Positive Psychology Association (CPPA) is bringing together over 45 expert speakers in positive psychology including researchers, practitioners, and coaches from fields ranging from education and clinical practice to applying positive psychology in business. The conference will feature highlights of current research in the field, but we will also be hearing from practitioners who have successfully applied positive psychology in their practices. We are anticipating a rich dialogue between research and practice. Weaving components of Appreciative Inquiry into the design of the conference, the event is gearing up to be a positive experience for all in attendance.

With only two months left to go in the planning, work is continuing at a fast and furious pace. Are we hitting all of the pillars of well-being? Let’s see how we stack up.

Positive Emotions

Our opening Keynote speaker, Dr. Robert Vallerand, will be discussing the role of passion in positive psychology. Dr. Vallerand is the President of the International Positive Psychology Association and is a Full Professor of Social Psychology and Director of the Laboratoire de Recherchesur le Comportement Social in the Department of Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Dr. Vallerand has also been a tremendous supporter to the fledgling CPPA, and so we would like to express our gratitude (another very positive emotion!) to him and IPPA for their assistance.

Dr. Adam Anderson will also be a guest speaker. Dr. Anderson is the Canada Research Chair in Affective Neuroscience and recipient of a Templeton Positive Neuroscience award spearheaded by the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center for his research on the neural and genetic bases of positivity and resilience. His research findings are sure to fascinate.

Engagement and Flow

We also have speakers who will be addressing this topic in a variety of contexts. For example, MAPP graduate Louis Alloro will be presenting his SOMO Leadership Labs taking place in Cleveland – a real-life experiment in bringing the science of well-being to groups and individuals for the benefit of an entire community.

We look forward to hearing from Dr. Charles Walker from St. Bonaventure University who will share his research into student well-being, including social forms of flow and engagement with learning.

Relationships

It has been said that if you want to test your marriage, you should either go camping or cooking with your spouse. We might add “plan a conference” to that list. The CPPA Board continues to work well together, and we are definitely increasing our well-being through the power of relationships. The CPPA is also creating new positive relationships with other aligned organizations within Canada to promote the science and application of positive psychology for the benefit of all Canadians.

Naturally, relationships are foundational to strong coaching, and so Dr. Marie-Helene Budworth (and her graduate student from York University) will be sharing the linkages of two powerful components of positive psychology: coaching and Appreciative Inquiry.

Ruth Farber looks at the well-being of mothers with multiple sclerosis.

Gina Ko will examine the impact of forgiveness on relationships.

Meaning

At this point, creating the CPPA and the conference is definitely driven by meaning – the vision of the CPPA is to improve the psychological health of all Canadians through the research and application of positive psychology across Canada. Our conference is a milestone on this path.

Meaning can be found and created in many aspects of life, including work, and we’re fortunate to have Dr. Marsha Huber present her findings on meaning at work, specifically in the accounting field. You thought that linking well-being and lawyers was a stretch! (Well, actually, we have that talk too…)

Meaning will also be discussed as an element in the counseling field, as a facet of self-determination theory, as a possible outcome of positive emotions and as an important part of relationship with nature.

Accomplishment

We are thrilled to have Dr. Gary Latham speak to the entire conference delegation on his work on goal setting (yes, he’s “the” Latham of Locke & Latham) as well as his work on evidence-based management and making work meaningful. Dr. Latham is always an entertaining speaker, and we look forward to hearing more from him.

Jacqueline Synard will also share her review on accomplishments in the field of positive psychology.

Hsiang-Yi Wu comes from Taiwan to share insights from work done in collaboration with UPENN’s Dr. Angela Duckworth on the effect of self-control on academic achievement.

You are invited!

Of course, our biggest and most powerful accomplishment will be the achievement of the conference itself, and we invite all PPND readers to join us. We will also incorporate physical well-being as you walk (dance walk?) from room to room, as the conference venue is strikingly beautiful and inspiring. Please join us July 20-21 in Toronto. We’ve got nothing to hit but the heights!

Author’s note: My thanks to Louisa Jewell who helped me pull together this conference announcement.

We have a twitter hashtag #CPPA2012 in case anyone wants to learn more before, during, or after the conference.

 

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Images
The Truth Shall Make You Free, Victoria College, Toronto courtesy of Loozrboy
Toronto arches in the St Lawrence Market courtesy of Paul Bica