Positive Psychology
Timber Monteith and Katelyn Regan
Aims for the day
That you will leave with new ideas for improving
your own happiness.
That you will leave with new ideas about how to
help your children live meaningful, fulfilling, and
happy lives.
Origins of Positive Psychology
• Founder – Martin Seligman
• The following information comes from Seligman’s
TED talk in 2004
What is Positive Psychology
The study of healthy states such as
happiness, strength of character and
optimism
What Positive Psychology is
NOT!
• Does not follow the historical “Disease” model where doctors
asked “What’s wrong with you?” and try to make the miserable
less miserable.
3 problems with this model:
• Doctors were victimologists & pathologists
• Forgot about improving normal lives and capitalizing on
high talent
• No interventions to make people happier
3 Aims of Positive Psychology
1). As much concern with strengths as with weaknesses
2). As interested in building the best things in life as in repairing
the worst.
3). As concerned with making the normal lives of people fulfilling
and with nurturing high talent as with healing pathology.
Food for thought… Question
Dr. Seligman studied the difference between extremely
happy people and extremely miserable people. What
do you think is the biggest difference?
Answer…
Extremely happy people are very social.
Three Happy Lives
According to Seligman, there are three kinds of
happy lives:
1). The Pleasant Life
2). The Good Life
3). The Meaningful Life
The Pleasant Life
– Experience as much positive emotion as possible
– Raw feeling
– Mindfulness (being in the moment)
But...
– Heritable
– Habituates (becomes less over time as it becomes habit)
– Not very modifiable or maleable
The Good Life
Flow versus pleasure; When you are in the flow, you don’t feel
anything
You know your highest strengths and recraft your life to use
them
– Love
– Work
– Play
The Meaningful Life
Knowing your highest strengths and using
them to belong to and provide service for
something larger than you are
So What?
• The pursuit of your pleasure life has almost no impact on your
overall happiness
• In order to to live a full and happy life
– Attending to your “Good Life” and “Meaningful Life” will
have a positive impact on your “Pleasure Life”
Positive Intervention #1
Design a beautiful day
• Plan it
• Savor it
• Be mindful (be present) – If you live in the past,
you run the risk of becoming depressed. If you
live in the future, you run the risk of becoming
anxious.
Positive Intervention #2
Gratitude Visit
– Remember someone who did something
enormously important for you
– Write a 300 word testimonial
– Visit this person and read the testimonial
Positive Intervention #3
Strength Date
– Find out your partner’s or children’s strength, and
design a date around it.
Lasting Impacts
Seligman argues these 3 interventions have lasting
impacts!!!
VIA Character Strengths
Dr. Seligman and colleagues recognized these as
definitions of “positive individual traits” that are
directly related to authentic happiness.
What do you think are the 24 Character Strengths?
24 Character Strengths
• Creativity
• Curiosity
• Judgment & OpenMindedness
• Love of Learning
• Perspective
• Bravery
• Perseverance
• Honesty
• Zest/Energy
• Capacity to Love and
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Be Loved
Kindness
Social Intelligence
Teamwork
Fairness
Leadership
Forgiveness & Mercy
Modesty & Humility
Prudence
Self-Regulation
• Appreciation of
Beauty and Excellence
• Gratitude
• Hope
• Humor
• Religiousness &
Spirituality
Sort your Strength Cards
Sort your cards into 3 sections
– Almost Always
– Sometimes
– Rarely or Never
Using the strengths in your “Almost Always” pile, put them in
order.
Record top 3 strengths on an index card.
Find one or two other people in the room that
share one of your top three strengths.
Share a time when you had to draw on this
strength.
Find someone who has a character strength
that you do NOT have in your top 3.
Share a time when you drew on that strength.
Look at your pile of “Rarely or Never Used”
strengths
Share about a time that you had to use this
strength.
VIA Strengths
Take the survey:
https://www.viame.org/survey/Account/Register?__utma=61228211.17
13278055.1347802256.1347943319.1348099681.6&__utmb=612282
11.1.10.1348099681&__utmc=61228211&__utmx=&__utmz=61228211.1347887550.4.2.utmcsr=google|utmccn=%28org
anic%29|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=what%20is%20via%20strengths&__
utmv=-&__utmk=259059277
There is both an adult and Children's version.
Character Strengths
as Red Hot Buttons
Sometimes your character strengths can be the
reason why you get upset about something.
How can you use these at Home?
• Have your child do the same activity and talk about his/her strengths.
• Choose the top five strengths for your child and see what are the
similarities and differences.
• Have your child choose your top five strengths.
• At the end of each week, have everyone in the family choose a
strength that someone else in the family exhibited.
• Use these strengths as conversation points when you child is
struggling.
How do we use these at School?
• Similar conversations with students at school when
meeting in small groups or one-on-one.
• Part of our “Response to Intervention” model.
– Often times our interventions are based on a
student’s strengths.
Living Your Best Life
Understanding and developing your strengths is
part of thriving in life and being happy.
6 Thrive Centers
• They are the physical, social and
psychological areas of our lives that have
the greatest influence on our well-being
http://bluezones.com
Community
“More than income, education level, or religion, the place where you live
determines your level of happiness”
Find Community Space – a place were you can interact comfortably with
others
Be comfortable with things in walking distance – get to know your
neighborhood
Find a sense of safety – you want the outdoors to draw you out not keep you
inside
http://bluezones.com
Work Place
The Right Job – find a job that challenges you at the right level
Avoid Long Commutes - “People who commute an hour to work each way
would need a 40% increase in their monthly wage to be as satisfied with their
life as people who walk to the office.”
Don’t skip vacations!
http://bluezones.com
Social Life
• Determine positive friends – make sure you are spending time with your
positive friends (even though it seems like your more negative friends
need you)
• Create a group of mutually committed friends – ones that will stick with
you through time and distance (*hint: look to your past)
• Marry the Right Person – And keep your marriage alive with positive
energy
http://bluezones.com
Financial Life
• Lets be real– money buys a lot
Focus on long-term investments verses instant gratification – teach your
children to work for money and save
Avoid debt
http://bluezones.com
Your Home
Hang up the pictures
Grow a Garden - “Several studies show that gardening lowers stress
hormones. Hoeing, planting, weeding, fertilizing and harvesting all include
regular, low-intensity, range-of-motion- exercise.”
Allow space to engage in your hobbies
Optimize Your Bedroom for Sleep – get rid of the other stuff
http://bluezones.com
Self
Recognize and acknowledge your gifts and talents
Personal Mission Statement - what drives you and what are your goals
Develop people skills – how to be a friend and how to handle tricky situations
Volunteer
http://bluezones.com
Conclusion
What are you going to do in the next week to
ensure you are thriving in each of these 6 areas?
How are you going to use the strength cards?
Something to take away
“Attitude, not aptitude, determines your altitude”
Thank you!
Please write down any future Counselor Coffee
topics you would like to learn about.
Welcome Maraika!