The Psychology of Choice

The text below comes from an article written by Pr. Ilona Boniwell which originally appeared on her Positran consultancy website. Pr. Boniwell is an expert and leading figure in Positive Psychology and we regularly collaborate on wellbeing education projects. It’s a commonly held belief that choice means freedom, freedom leads to well-being and that asContinue reading “The Psychology of Choice”

Strengths Based Parenting

Building up self-awareness, confidence and resilience is a key part of positive child development. One way to do this is to make children aware of their personal strengths and how they can regularly use them. A previous post about developing children’s strengths explores how you can foster this awareness in more detail. As children becomeContinue reading “Strengths Based Parenting”

Hope

Hope and optimism go hand in hand. Having an optimistic or hopeful attitude means you have confidence that things will go well. You often have a positive approach to or take away from a situation. People who are hopeful or optimistic often experience better moods and have higher well-being than those who are not. WhileContinue reading “Hope”

Your Best Possible Self

What is It? This is a positive psychology intervention which encourages you to think about your future in a positive and optimistic way. In this future you will be your best possible self, living your best possible life – whatever that may look like to you. How to do it This exercise could be engagedContinue reading “Your Best Possible Self”

PERMA

Martin Seligman’s well-being framework is one of the most well-known and commonly referred to in positive psychology. In the PERMA model (2011), he identifies five key areas of our lives which impact on our happiness and well-being and suggests that regular participation in activities to enhance these five areas will effectively enhance our overall well-being,Continue reading “PERMA”

Creativity

Creativity can come in many forms. From the creative expression displayed in e.g. music, art and writing to the creative thinking shown by those that are open to change, who seek out new ideas and can see more than one solution to a challenge. Creativity takes confidence to try things out, a certain level ofContinue reading “Creativity”

Emotion Scrapbook

This activity is suitable for both children and adults. It has been designed to encourage you to spend more time acknowledging and savouring the positive emotions you experience.  As well as inspiring you to pay more attention to what creates your emotions, it offers the opportunity to build a personal resource that can be revisited.Continue reading “Emotion Scrapbook”

Emotions

Emotions are part of being human. Feelings, thoughts and behaviours are all intertwined with the emotions we have – triggered by a specific event or person in the past, present or future. The same event or person can affect you in a different way than it would someone else – although we may share commonContinue reading “Emotions”