A Negative Beginning to Positive Psychology: Part 2

By Christopher L. Heffner, PsyD, PhD Continued From Part 1... But Wait, there is Good News Remember, Csikszentmihalyi found that teenagers can be unhappy and can see life through their suffering, but he also found an interesting exception. When teenagers ...
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/ Optimism, Well-Being

Grit Can be Developed

By Crystal Hall What do you think of when you hear the word “grit”? Without context, maybe we think of something that is dirty or perhaps course. The Oxford online dictionary has two definitions of grit. The second is more ...
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/ Accomplishment, Engagement, Grit

Savoring to Overcome and Grow

By Elle Harris Savoring is often associated with the infrequent double scoop of large chunk chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with thick, hot chocolate sauce in this diet-abundant, sugar-free era, or a beach vacation in a Seattle February. The ...
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/ Positive Emotions

Flow: A State of Full Engagement

By Elle Harris The tangy scent of an orange blossom tree. The flowing three-beat gallop aligns in pattern with my rhythmic, even-paced heart-beat. Measured, heavy breathing of the horse. Hooves slice through air and tickle the velvet sand, flying up ...
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/ Accomplishment, Engagement

Learning to be Optimistic

By Christopher L. Heffner, PsyD, PhD As a human species, do you think we are more naturally pessimistic or more naturally optimistic? Interestingly, Seligman and others in the field of positive psychology argue that we are naturally more pessimistic. From ...
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/ Optimism, Positive Emotions

A Negative Beginning to Positive Psychology: Part 1

By Christopher L. Heffner, PsyD, PhD It didn't Start Off Very Positive I could not think of a better or more ironic way to start a paper on the history of positive psychology than with a quote on the inevitability ...
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/ Accomplishment, Engagement, Meaning, Positive Emotions, Positive Relationships