The Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) was created by Emiliya Zhivotovskaya, MAPP, MCC and officially launched in 2012.

Over 1,500 Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) students and graduates in over 50 countries have gone through the program and have created careers for themselves in applying positive psychology. Pre-pandemic, the C.A.P.P. Program had been offered in person in New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Calgary, Saskatoon, and Vancouver, and is now available entirely online internationally while maintaining the same amount of live, face-to-face hours.

For a complete guide to the 5 types of change agents that we serve, and your own personalized map for accelerating your work as a positive psychology practitioner, please check out our 5i Change Agent Quiz.

We have three subsets of students:

1) Those who use the training for professional use within an organization.

These people are change agents within the companies they work for and want to enhance their skill set. This includes teachers, managers, directors, executives, salespeople, lawyers, assistants, nurses, physical therapists, social workers and many others who interact with, support and lead others.

2) Those who use the training for professional use as independent contractors or entrepreneurs.

These people are change agents who work for themselves and use the science to enhance the validity of what they are doing, expand their toolkit, grow their business, and offer their clients expertise in a broad range of topics within PP. This includes coaches, consultants, speakers, trainers, therapists, writers, veterinarians, clergy members, wellness practitioners, chiropractors, hypnotists, holistic healers, fitness professionals, music teachers, tutors, and more

3) Those who use the program for their own personal growth and development.

These people may not have a direct application for positive psychology in their professional lives but they are passionate about being change agents and know that the first place to start is within them. Many of our students identify their life purpose and calling through the journey they go on in the program. They apply their training to every aspect of their life. In particular, those who are parents, or expectant parents, find the training to be priceless in transforming the way they interact with and support their family. To request a consultation call to discuss how you can apply your certification please contact our Change-Agent Accelerator JJ@theflourishingcenter.com or book an appointment HERE.

To date, over 1,700 students have gone through the Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology Program around the world. Click here to see our directory of graduates.

Watch M.A.P.P. graduate and C.A.P.P. Program facilitator, Sid Efromovich describes the differences between the programs.

Both the M.A.P.P. and Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) programs attract thought leaders from diverse fields, change-agents that are dedicated to being the change they want to see in the world.  Both are executive education models that are taught via live sessions over the course of our 9- month program. Both M.A.P.P. and C.A.P.P. are grounded in rigorous science and both aim to be at the leading edge of research.

Some of the differences are that Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) puts a greater emphasis on the application of positive psychology than M.A.P.P. is able to.

Instead of doing assignments that are focused on reading peer-reviewed journal articles and writing papers (as is more typical in a psychology Master's degree) our students watch lecture videos and listen to a synthesis of the studies. There is one required reading textbook, the rest is optional reading.

We have digested hundreds of hours of positive psychology research so that our students could learn the tools and focus more on application. They can always go back to read the original studies if they want more details. Both programs adhere to the science, but M.A.P.P. is more academic.

The way that the courses are structured is also very different– Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) focuses on experiential learning and teaching our students a framework for flourishing (PERMA-V) whereas M.A.P.P. is structured as a series of masters-level psychology classes that are divided into themes such as a research class, a positive interventions class, positive individuals, institutions, etc.

The Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Program also draws research from various scientific fields not just positive psychology. We include cognitive neuroscience, mind-body medicine, contemplative practice, nonviolent communication and motivational interviewing.

We have had a number of M.A.P.P. graduates who have done our program because one of the perks of doing Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) is that you get all 2,900 PowerPoint slides to repurpose for your own personal and professional use.

Some of our M.A.P.P. grads do Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) for continuing education and to get access to the materials. Those who do both programs agree that Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) covers many topics that aren’t necessary covered in M.A.P.P.. For example, M.A.P.P. does not cover any neuroscience where it is a whole module in the C.A.P.P. program.

Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) has been designed for busy practitioners and caters to multiple learning styles. Students watch online lecture videos in preparation for weekly teleclasses where they get to talk to their classmates about how to put the research into practice and training and honing their positive psychology skills.

Instead of writing a Capstone or a Master’s Thesis, Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) students are required to complete a final project that can be anything that is personally or professionally useful to them.

One strength of M.A.P.P. is that your professors are the leading researchers in positive psychology today. However, students find that having a few dozen professors is more challenging than having the structure of one teacher. In the Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Program, we do bring in leading scientists in positive psychology on a regular basis.  We have featured researchers such as Sonja Lyubomirsky, Todd Kashdan, Robert Emmons, Andrew Newberg, Stephen Post and more.  We also focus heavily on how positive psychology is translated in different fields. Every month we bring in a different Positive Psychology Practitioner, which is frequently a M.A.P.P. Graduate or a C.A.P.P. (Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology) Graduate, and we look at how they uniquely translate positive psychology in their industry. Thus, our students get to learn about how Positive Psychology is being used in education, coaching, business, law, writing, with kids, with the elderly, and so on.

Students get to hear from and ask questions to people working in a myriad of settings to create their own unique approach to spreading positive psychology.

The M.A.P.P. program is a graduate degree and as such includes the monetary investment and amount of work commensurate with that level. M.A.P.P. is currently ~ $60,000 US not including travel and accommodations. The Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Program is a fraction of the cost. Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) is also significantly lower time investment as well.  Students can put in as little as 5 hours a week to meet the minimum requirements of both attendance and pre-recorded lecture watching, or as much as 40 hours a week if they have the time to do all the supplementary reading and watching.

Both Certificates in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) and M.A.P.P. programs have robust alumni communities that focus on continuing education to build the skills, knowledge, and camaraderie of change-agents working in the world. There is no application and acceptance process required for the Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) program, just a registration with the only prerequisite being a curiosity. (Although we also tend to find that people also come with a burning desire to make a difference in the world.)

Also, you get the advantage of starting right away. Not only do the Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Cohort programs run three times a year, we give our students that pay in full early access to the online platform so you could start going through your Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Material and get a head start.

We’re happy to connect with you via phone and get a sense of what would serve you best at this time in your life. Just let us know if you’d like to set up an appointment.

The Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) certificate can be applied professionally in any industry. Many of our graduates apply it to the work they are already doing by teaching, speaking, coaching, training, creating programs and products based on science. We support our students in identifying how they can best apply the research and tools in their field. We provide experts from fields such as business, coaching, education, tutoring, parenting, law, writing, health and wellness, yoga, and other fields. We interview Positive Psychology leaders who are applying positive psychology in various industries to learn from them about how this research is being translated.

Our students use their final project as an opportunity to create an application of positive psychology for themselves after they finish the program. Also, once you graduate from the program, you join our community of Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Alumni where you continue to receive monthly support on the application of positive psychology professionally.

Learn more about how our graduates are using their Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) certificates.

No, this program is open to anyone who is interested in learning the science of happiness and well-being, and applying it into their personal and/or professional life.

No prerequisite in psychology is required because we teach you everything that you need to know, and how to interpret the research in science to fit your needs. We guide you every step of the way.

Learn more about how our graduates are using their Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) certificates.

Please email us at info@theflourishingcenter.com to request a copy.

All registrations are final; however, in case of an emergency, a person can defer admission to the next scheduled Certificate Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) cohort the following season.

The Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) program is only available as a 9-month live-online program. The Flourishing Center moved all of its programmings online as of Fall 2020 and will no longer host any in-person location programs moving forward.

The time commitment and workload of the program consist of the required times that we are in class is twice a week. Outside of the classroom time students invest about 3-4 hours a week reading and watching the pre-recorded material in order to prepare for live sessions.

The program consists of a small amount of required reading and lots of optional reading. We have had some students spend as much as 40 hours a week working on the program and reading all of the optional reading. There is a lot of flexibility. Students can do the bare minimum during the course and do the optional readings after the program. Other students make it a full-time course load by doing all of the optional steps with the progression of the program throughout the nine months.

Students receive emails to register for our monthly continuing education webinar:

• Science Lecture Series, Researcher webinar or Positive Psychology Practitioner webinar.
• Third Monday of the month join the C.A.P.P. Book Club.
• Last Friday of every month is our C.A.P.P. Jam from 1:00-2:00pm EST where CAPPsters get together on Zoom to get to know each other and network.
• Every Friday is our Final Project Friday (FPF) from 12:00-1:00pm EST where graduates of C.A.P.P. share a 5-15 minute presentation of their C.A.P.P. final project.

In order to receive the Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Certification each student must meet the minimum attendance requirement of live sessions (50%) and makeup anything that they missed by watching the session recordings. The average attendance of C.A.P.P. students is 85%.

Students are also required to complete and pass a multiple-choice quiz at the end of each module (6 quizzes total) as well as complete and submit a final project approved by their faculty. The Final Project will be presented on graduation day for the class.

All of the sessions are recorded. Students who miss a live online session are required to watch the recording of the session.

While we encourage everyone to participate in all of the sessions in person whenever possible, we understand that emergencies do happen and make this available to all of our students.

Follow the registration buttons to select which cohort time works best for you and process to register for your class.

Each cohort has its own positive psychology expert as their faculty who are all MAPP graduates or hold a doctorate in Positive Psychology. In addition, our students get monthly access to a positive psychology luminary who is a researcher in the field of positive psychology, positive psychology practitioners, and Emiliya, the creator of the program. For our faculty list please click here.

The Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Program is in partnership with Saybrook University.  Students can use their Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Certification to receive up to 6 credits towards a Master’s Degree or PhD.  For more information contact anna@theflourishingcenter.com.

Additionally, students that are interested in pursuing a career in positive psychology, particularly in higher education or in research, will receive strong theoretical and scientific training in the field that will equip them to excel in their graduate studies. They will have a broad overview of the field and be able to hone their research more specifically.

Students who register for one of our advanced programs at the same time as C.A.P.P. receive -$100 discount for each program they register for.  Students who register for C.A.P.P. with a friend or family member receive -$300 for each person off of their C.A.P.P. program registration.

Yes, a scholarship is available for each cohort that is valued at 50% of the cost of the tuition. The scholarship is granted based on financial needs and community impact. The recipient is selected by the C.A.P.P.  Scholarship committee.

NOTE: No scholarships will be awarded for the Spring 2024 cohort as the whole program is already discounted to the scholarship rate.

The Early Bird registration gives a -$500 discount of the regular tuition both PIF and Payment plan. The deadline for EB rate is 90 days prior to cohort start. With a limited number of program spots, early-bird registration also increases your chance of securing a spot in your desired cohort.

Students who PIF (early bird or regular tuition) will have immediate access to our online course platform where they can access C.A.P.P. material and the manual if they want to start diving into the work early. The platform also gives access to 3000+ research articles which is added on to weekly (10 articles/week); recordings of all of our past research webinars, guest lectures, and live events; book recommendations and other PP related material and articles; sign up to our monthly book club and other live events; and to connect with other CAPPsters both current and alumni.

Upon registering for the program students are given access to our on-line course curriculum, which includes a listing of required and optional reading materials. Please note there is one required textbook.

The Certificate in Applied Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Program is not intended to be a coach certification program. While we cover many coaching tools throughout Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) and have an entire module on coaching psychology, it is not specifically a coach certification program.

Many of our students go into private practice through their training as positive psychology practitioners or positive psychology-based coaches, however that depends on the individual’s expertise and skill set.

All of our students learn the scientific underpinnings of many of the tools that they can use to coach their clients, so they feel much more empowered when they work with their clients because they understand the science behind flourishing and well-being.

Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) is an ICF-approved accredited program for existing coaches and offers 50 CCE hours upon graduation, which can be used when applying for ICF Coaching credential renewal.

We also offer a Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology Coaching (A.P.P.C.) Program for Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Alumni for students that want a deeper dive into coaching skills. This program is an ACTP with the ICF and qualifies students for 175-hours of coach training.

The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with more than 122,500 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students as its members.

APA’S 54 divisions are interest groups organized by members. Some represent sub-disciplines of psychology (e.g., experimental, social, or clinical) while others focus on topical areas such as aging, ethnic minorities, or trauma.

The Flourishing Centre (the Canadian sister company of the US Flourishing Center) is also partnered with The Canadian Positive Psychology Association (C.P.P.A.).

A number of students have had their organizations or schools reimburse them for Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) Certification training since it provides the student with comprehensive skills that can benefit the company or enhance the school curriculum.

Check with your organization to learn more about considerations for reimbursement.

No, this program does not qualify for traditional reimbursement methods through the government. However, in the past, students have found creative ways to fund their education including crowd funding such as Kickstarters and Indiegogo campaigns, as well as grant money from the government and more. Where there’s a will there’s a way.

While Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (C.A.P.P.) doesn’t qualify for the GI Bill, we do offer a $300 discount to all persons who have served in the army or navy. Contact us for details.

Graduates of the program can refer to themselves as certified applied positive psychology practitioners.

For Canadian residents and practitioners, please refer to the C.P.P.A. guidelines below in regards to the title.