Guest Speakers
Positive psychology is the science of optimal human functioning. Within the field, there are researchers that go out and use the scientific method to observe, measure and test positive interventions (exercises and activities for boosting wellbeing). There are also practitioners, they are the ones that go out an translate the research and put the science into action.
Our faculty member, Sid Efromovich, put it best when he said, “The positive psychology researchers are the botanists of our field. They study the genus, what it means to be plant, how the plants come to be and where they flourish best.
The practitioners are the florists. They understand plants. They know what works, what doesn’t work and why. And their job is to assemble the plants and flowers into bouquets that people use and know when one type of arrangement is better than another.”
To support our Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) students in becoming the best practitioners of the science, we bring in two guest speakers every month that offer them the opportunity to learn from a researcher and a practitioner.
The Researchers share their findings and what’s “hot” in positive psychology science. The Practitioners come from diverse backgrounds and share how they translate positive psychology. Some use positive psychology with children, others in technology, some as coaches, others in business. This gives our students the opportunity to get ideas for how they can apply positive psychology with the populations they serve and hear about the journeys other practitioners have taken.
Connecting our students with Guest Researchers and Practitioners is one of the many ways that we uniquely serve our students in getting the most comprehensive training in positive psychology, teaching them to apply the science, and identifying how to enhance their careers.
Below is a list of our distinguished researchers:
Andrew Newberg
PhD, Neuontheologist
Barbara Fredrickson
PHD, Leading scholar within social psychology, affective science, and positive psychology
Bob Vallerand
PhD, Professor of Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal
Gayatri Devi
MD, FACP, FAAN, Director, Clinical Associate Professor at New York University School of Medicine
Giacomo Bono
PhD, Researcher and Professor at California State University
Kelly McGonigal
PhD, Health Psychologist
Lea Waters
PhD, Psychologist, Researcher & Speaker
Robert Emmons
PhD, Author, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis and the founding editor-in-chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology
Ryan Niemiec
PhD, Author, Researcher
Scott Barry Kaufman
PhD, M.Phil, Researcher, Author
Sonja Lyubormirsky
PhD, Researcher, Psychologist at University of California
Stephen Post
PhD, Author
Tim Pychyl
PhD, Professor, Researcher
Todd Kashdan
PhD, Professor, Psychologist, Public Speaker, Family Man
Below is a list of our distinguished practitioners:
Aaron Jarden
MAPP, PHD
Bright Dickson
MAPP, Business Consultant and Leadership Coach
Eleanor Chin
MAPP, Experienced coach, presenter and trainer
Elaine O'Brien
PhD, MAPP, Creative Director and CEO of Lifestyle Medicine Coaching and Training, LLC, a consultancy, and FitDance: Move2Love
Emilia Lhati
MAPP, Sisu Researcher, Public Speaker and Entrepreneur
Kurt Schuster
MBA, MAPP, Coach, Co-founder ad CEO of Noomii
Lisa Sansom
MBA, MAPP, Organizational Development Specialist, teacher, coach, speaker, advisor and consultant helping others to flourish
Lucy Hone
MAPP, Researcher in resilience/well-being
Kathryn Britton
MAPP
Marie-Josee Salvas-Shaar
Nico Rose
MAPP, Head of Employer Branding & Recruiting Programs at Bertelsmann
Renee Jain
MAPP, Childhood happiness and resilience expert
Stella Griznot
MAPP, Business Entrepreneur, Speaker, Consultant
Seph Fontaine
Entrepreneur
Christine Duvivier
MBA, MAPP
Aren Cohen
MBA, MAPP
Sherri Fisher
MAPP, MEd
Allison Webster
MAPP, MEd, JD
Sean Doyle
MAPP
Margaret Greenberg
MAPP
Jeremy McCarthy
MAPP
Karen Garman
EdD, MAPP
Shannon Waffen
MAPP, CAPP
Noémie Le Pertel
DACM, MS, MPH, MAPP
Sandy Lewis
MAPP, ACC
David J. Pollay
MAPP
Jan Stanley
MAPP
Sherif Arafa
MAPP, MBA
Jaime Jenkins
BSW, MAPP
