
You studied long and hard to learn interventions that would relieve your clients’ symptoms of depression, anxiety, and trauma. Yet the absence of symptoms is not the same thing as a life filled with purpose and joy. There’s more.
Your clients, like everyone else, also long for a happier, more meaningful life.
Positive psychology, the science of happiness, provides evidence-based interventions that can help your clients return to baseline, and extend the possibilities into thriving.
“Positive Psychology studies the condition and processes that enable individuals, communities and institutions to flourish. It explores what works, what is right, and what can be nurtured.” —Rashid & Seligman, 2018
28 Continuing Education hours are available for Psychologists, Psychoanalysts, Social Workers, Counselors/Marriage and Family Therapists, Creative Arts Therapists, Chemical Dependency Counselors, Educators, Nurses, Dentists.
There is a $40 additional fee for credits. Students can register for these credits after registering for the course.
Positive psychology and PPT practices go beyond symptom management. They help clients to thrive by learning to recognize what is strong and good in their lives, learn new strategies that support well-being, and, as Rashid and Seligman describe, “deploy what is best about them in order to buffer against mental disorders.”
This 8-week course will introduce participants to the foundational concepts and practices of positive psychology, and explore how these positive interventions can be introduced when working in diverse clinical settings. Participants will build a toolkit that will help their clients exceed their previous baseline and thrive.
The primary goal of this course is to learn and apply a wide range of practical positive psychology interventions that are useful for clients with significant clinical conditions. Participants will also learn about the personal value of these practices for managing their own stressors and improving their personal happiness.
The course includes opportunities to practice interventions and experience their impact. The emphasis is on the importance of developing resilience, and the relevant research and techniques that can enhance a client’s ability to recover from stress and trauma. At the close of the course, participants will be better able to help their clients function well, with improved quality of life, in the face of significant psychological distress.
- Describe the history and foundations of positive psychology
- Describe the Whole-Person Well-Being concept (SPIRE elements) and how this systemic framework relates to bio-psycho-social models and developmental theories
- Identify, cultivate, and utilize character strengths in clinical work
- Describe the importance of general resilience and identify specific practices for building resilience
- Use narrative practices to help clients revise their personal stories and increase levels of hope, optimism, and persistence
- Describe applications of contemporary positive intervention structures that build resilience, including grit, Post-Traumatic Growth, and Growth Mindset, when working in both individual and group settings
- Identify ways to apply positive psychology interventions with clinical populations, including clients with depression and anxiety
- Learn strategies for supporting the formation of positive habits
- Learn ways to apply the material to their own lives to improve personal well-being and reduce the risk of burnout.
Week 2: SPIRE: A Universal Framework for Clinical Work
Week 3: Building Resilience: The Common Toolkit
Week 4: Positive Psychology and Post-Traumatic Growth
Week 5: Positive Psychology and Depression and Anxiety
Week 6: Positive Psychology and Substance Abuse
Week 7: Positive Psychology and Child and Family Work
Week 8: Developing the Habits of Positive Psychology
This course will require 2 hours of work each week, in addition to the 1.5-hour weekly webinar.

Anthony M. Zipple, ScD, MBA
Program Faculty

Phoebe Atkinson, LCSW-R, TEP
Program Faculty
Contact us for more information at [email protected].