(Article is reposted with permission from www.highperformanceinstitute.com blog appearing February 13, 2020)
When I was 10 years old, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime. I began attending an elite, private school in Los Angeles on a full scholarship. I was one of two black students in my entire class, and one of only a few to wear second-hand uniforms and receive free lunch.
Read MoreSuzie Pileggi Pawelski began contributing to the field of positive psychology while she was still a MAPP student in 2007. That year, she was invited to write a daily interview column for the newly launched IPPA (International Positive Psychology Association), and she continued to write this column for over a decade. Today, she’s become a sought-out expert on positive relationships, which she believes are fundamental to thriving during COVID-19.
Read MoreWhen I think about the “B’s” in positive psychology, I immediately think of the A – B – C’s of resilience, Barb Fredrickson and Biswas-Diener, and the unfortunate grade on my last theory paper. I recently learned that there is a new and exciting “B” buzzing around positive psychology these days: the honey bee!
Read MoreIn a historic session on April 18, 2020, Martin E. P. Seligman, PhD and Aaron T. Beck, MD welcomed 260 Zoom guests to join their monthly lunch and discuss the evolution of their respective practices and how psychology practitioners can help people cope during COVID-19.
Read MoreGraduates of UPenn’s MAPP program know well that social connection is a powerful and necessary ingredient for well-being. At the MAPP Summit last October, students were treated to a visit from the 19th Surgeon General of the United States, Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has made it his mission to spread the message that lack of human connection poses a significant public health risk to our nation. In fact, lack of connection, experienced as loneliness, can affect our health in profoundly negative ways.
Read MoreIt was a spark of an idea in the first days of the “lockdown” into physical distancing instigated by the COVID-19 crisis: share positive psychology with the public to counteract what was beginning to feel like a collective emotional tailspin. Penn MAPP alumni Sharon Danzger (C’18), Lisa Sansom (C’10), Senia Maymin (C’06) and Sean Doyle (C’07) got busy and organized Strategies to Thrive, a forum for Penn MAPP alums to present a series of webinars, available free to the public. Now drawing to the end of a 42-day outpouring of information and know-how, the positivity inherent in the 70 presentations has been viewed 5,869 times and counting.
Read MoreOn Saturday, April 4th, the Penn MAPP community held an unprecedented video call with founder Dr. Martin Seligman, affectionately known to MAPPsters as Marty. This “Massive Meet-Up with Marty” brought together more than 180 MAPP alumni and current students to offer one another support, to learn about alumni efforts to address the COVID19 crisis and to find ways to collaborate and build on these efforts.
Read MoreWe are in the middle of a world-wide crisis as humans face the threat of COVID-19. Is this the right time to write? I answer this question for myself by thinking about two audiences.
The people whose anxiety and uncertainty might be eased by what I have to say.
Our children, grandchildren, and others in the future who may wonder, “What was it like in the middle of a global pandemic? What did you do? What worked? How did you feel? What helped you get through it?”
Over the past three weeks, as our world underwent a dramatic, unprecedented transformation to “social distancing” in the face of the COVID19 pandemic, The University of Pennsylvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology alumni community, affectionately known to one another as MAPPsters, were mobilizing.
Read MoreFor graduates of Penn’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology program, the annual MAPP Summit is an invigorating opportunity to see old friends and discover the latest research and applied practices from the field of positive psychology.
Read MoreIn the fall 2019 issue of our Magazine, we heard from Andrew Soren, C’13 and Jennifer Cory, C’15 about the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) 6th World Congress that took place in Melbourne over four days in July 2019.
Read MoreAbout a month or so after Summit 2019, I connected by phone with a recent MAPP graduate as part of the MAPP Greeter program. This new imitative connects seasoned alumni with recent graduates to help them navigate their post-MAPP journeys.
Read MoreCoronavirus has reshaped our world and daily existence, as almost all of us now live under some form of quarantine. Resilience has taken on a new meaning. As MAPPsters, we share a common bond and desire to want to spread good in the world, more so now than ever.
Read MoreIn mid-February at a small, independent bookstore in Chapel Hill, N.C., Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D. interviewed Diana Whitney, Ph.D. about the book, Thriving Women, Thriving World, which she co-authored with several MAPP alumnae.
Read MoreWhere do you find inspiration? I often find mine in nature, music, dance, travel, and in the life-giving power of positive relationships, the true realization and embodiment of “Other People Mattering.” My life-changing MAPP year was filled with profound connections, and gratifying inspiration.
Read MoreOne person, one proposal, one phone call, and 15 grant recipients later. It was a new proposal at a 2016 the MAPP Alumni Board meeting. Kathryn Britton gave her Treasurer’s report, the organization had a bit of money, some reserves. “The Board should consider doing something useful with this money…”
Read MoreHave you heard the good news? Or perhaps I should say, have you heard the positive voices? If not, get ready for something big and exciting! Donna Hemmert, Danny Southwick, Shannon Thompson, and Katy Sine recently launched a new business venture called Positive Voices to spread positive psychology to general audiences.
Read MoreIt was a busy day in the Salmon Creek emergency department (ER), and I was weary wanting the long shift to end. As I documented one of the many patients’ visit that day, my head rested alongside the cold block wall separating me from the marbled atrium where patients and families waited for care.
Read More"Are you going to IPPA?" my colleague asked. She was referring to the Sixth World Congress on Positive Psychology held in Melbourne last July. This popular, biennial conference of the International Positive Psychology Association has, over the years, become synonymous with the organization itself.
Read MoreFor four days in July, 2019, more than 1700 delegates from 60 countries around the world came together in Melbourne, Australia, for the 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology (WCPP). Academics, researchers, educators, practitioners, change agents, students, and positive psychology experts gathered at the Melbourne Convention Center to exchange ideas, learn from one another, and to advance the field.
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