Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology

Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology and the Science of Happiness

New York Open Center Positive Psychology Training Program Overview Positive psychology (PP) is a new and rapidly growing field that demonstrates what individuals, organizations, and communities need in order to flourish. Where traditional psychology focused on alleviating mental illness and emotional suffering, positive psychology aims to create more well-being, happiness and life satisfaction. While philosophers have long investigated the nature of happiness, it was not until 1998 that scientists coalesced to explore well-being through systematic and multi-faceted research. Since then, thousands of studies have been conducted and papers published, and we have learned a tremendous amount about the factors that cultivate greater well-being, happiness, life satisfaction, and human flourishing. However, there are few organizations training individuals in this fresh knowledge and innovative set of practices.

The Open Center is delighted to partner with one of the first organizations focused on the Science of Happiness, Pursuit-of-happiness.org to offer one of the first certificate programs in the country on both the theory and application of Positive Psychology and the Science of Happiness.

Recommended For: The certificate is open to all but will be of special interest to educators, coaches, managers, consultants, human resource personnel, executives, leaders, facilitators, yoga teachers, nutritionists, body workers, doctors, psychologists and other mental health/wellness practitioners.

What You’ll Learn:

• MODULE 1: Positive Mindset & Mindfulness 
  History of happiness studies & measures of life satisfaction worldwide Evidence-based interventions for measuring and boosting positivity, optimism, gratitude and resilience The benefits of mindfulness & savoring Begin measuring your own happiness and well-being 
• MODULE 2: Engagement & Strengths 
  Identify, utilize and enhance character strengths Seek and cultivate activities that provide flow and use our strengths Learn the psychological underpinnings of engagement, flow and peak performance and how to create these experiences for others 
• MODULE 3: Relationships & Caring 
  Build authentic and high-quality connections, and navigate turbulent ones Learn how to work with and promote altruism, volunteering, kindness and forgiveness Learn about emotional intelligence & how emotional self-awareness cultivates positive relationships with others 
• MODULE 4: Meaning & Purpose 
  Understanding the lack of meaning and the depression/anxiety epidemic Helping others uncover life purpose, passion and meaning Understand awe, transcendence and spiritual practices from the perspective of psychology 
• MODULE 5: Achievement & Goal Setting 
  Learn a practical model for setting meaningful commitments and having powerful conversations to support them Learn practices for helping build on life purpose, passion, and meaning and extending them into personal and professional goals Increase hope, self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation and grit
• MODULE 6: Vitality & Physical Health 
  Understand how sunlight, nutrition, sleep, and physical activity impact happiness and well-being. Explore the mind-body connection: how alternating physical states affects the mind and vice versa 
• MODULE 7: Application in Life, Community and Organizations 
  Participants present the results of their individual tracking of happiness and well-being over the course, discussing successes and challenges 

Each module includes:

• 2 days of experiential learning led by experienced instructors in the field 
• A webinar with a leading academic expert from Yale, Stanford, University of California, George Mason University, or the Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley 
• A small group meeting to discuss webinar and course content. 
• A peer-pair meeting to discuss topical reflections and assignments. 
• Participation in an online academy to post reflections and discuss assignments