Well-Being and the Five ‘Happy’ Lives

By Christopher L. Heffner, PsyD, PhD Well-Being and The PERMA Model Seligman (2011) argues that well-being is enhanced through thriving in one or more pillars of well-being. His model, often referred to as the PERMA Model, consists of Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment (or Achievement). The more we thrive in each of these,…

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The Fading Affect Bias: A Defense Mechanism in Pursuit of the Pleasant Life

By Christopher L. Heffner, PsyD, PhD Fading Affect Bias (FAB) The Fading Affect Bias, or FAB for short, refers to the cognitive phenomenon supported by research showing that memories associated with negative emotions tend to fade faster than memories associated with positive emotions (Skowronski, 2014). This means we tend to forget the bad times at…

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The Convergence of Positive Psychology and Neurodiversity

By Gwendolyn Barnhart, PhD Within my studies of psychology, there are often converging viewpoints between modalities. Indeed, the commonalities in thought, viewpoint, and practice are strikingly similar.  I will briefly discuss the basic underpinnings of positive psychology and neurodiversity and intertwine them together through a theory of convergence while using the lens of positive psychology’s…

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