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, ...
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/ Accomplished Life, Accomplishment, Engaged Life, Engagement, Happiness, Meaning, Meaningful Life, Pleasant Life, Positive Emotions, Positive Relationships, Relational Life

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 ...
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/ Fading Affect Bias, Happiness, Pleasant Life, Positive Emotions

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 ...
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/ Character Strengths, Happiness, Well-Being

Building Psychological Capital: Hope, Self-Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism

By Christopher L. Heffner, PsyD, PhD You Can Bank On it Psychological capital in many ways is like a savings account for our well-being. Just as it is good to save money for a rainy day, it is good to ...
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/ Hope, Optimism, Resilience, Self-Efficacy

The Real World Benefits of Expressing Gratitude

By Christopher L. Heffner, PsyD, PhD Gratitude: As Old as Animal Kind Gratitude may be an evolutionary component of human development, passed down for thousands of years according to sociologist Georg Simmel (Greater Good Magazine, n.d.). While we may think ...
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/ Gratitude, Positive Emotions, Positive Relationships

The Paradox of Flow and Happiness

By Christopher L. Heffner, PsyD, PhD What is Happiness? "...Aristotle concluded that, more than anything else, men and women seek happiness.  While happiness itself is sought for its own sake, every other goal . . . is valued only because ...
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/ Engagement, Positive Emotions