What is Positive Psychology?
Founded in the late 1990s by esteemed psychologist Martin Seligman, positive psychology uses scientific research to study what is right, rather than what is wrong, with people. Unlike the self-help movement, positive psychology is concerned with testing, evidence and measurement with the expectation that the research will lead to the application of practical interventions to help individuals and organizations thrive.
What do people who are happy, healthy and successful do differently that can be helpful to the rest of us? How do some people grow through adversity? What attitudes and feelings lead to greater success? How can we design our perfect day using systems and habits? Positive psychology, also called the science of happiness, offers us answers to these questions.
Many physicians have worked hard to reach the next stage in their careers only to find the final destination somewhat unfulfilling. They often have the mindset that “I’ll be happy when…I finish medical school or match in my top residency or complete my fellowship or make a lot of money.” Unfortunately for many, all of these milestones offer only temporary spikes in happiness and leaves us feeling empty and searching for something more; more meaning, more joy, and more satisfaction.
While what we do for a living is important, what we do with our lives is the ultimate measure of a satisfying and meaningful life. How do we approach setbacks? What are the best ways to identify and pursue new rewarding goals? What behaviors can we choose each day to become more calm, thankful, and happy? How do we stop floating through life getting what we want and start wanting what we have? If you have asked yourself any of these questions then the Positive Psychology Program for Physicians may be the answer for you.
Physicians are Masters in Delayed Gratification
What Can the Positive Psychology Program for Physicians do for you?
Program Outline
The concepts taught in this program will be explored through personalized sessions, interactive exercises and take-home strategies that have been proven to increase lasting well-being. Physicians will leave each session prepared for meaningful change. They will receive a scientific understanding of flourishing, and a toolkit of evidence-based positive psychology interventions that will enhance their professional and personal lives. This program measures improvement in various domains of well-being including scientifically validated personal assessments, physiologic markers such as heart rate variability (HRV), and inflammatory measures of stress.
- The absence of burnout does not equal wellness
- We want to flourish not just function
- What does it mean to flourish?
- Physicians need positive psychology: the scientific study of what makes life worth living
- 3 main goals of traditional psychology
- Model of happiness that explains the discontent that many of us feel
- Myths of positive psychology
- Measuring our well-being: the most important metric of our life
- Physicians are masters in delayed gratification: cultivation of the “I’ll be happy when” mindset
- We adapt to all positive and constant things in our lives: we are wired to take our jobs, our house, and even our family for granted.
- What we pay attention to becomes our reality
- Learn how to pay attention to the good, and the good will appreciate
- Scientific study of gratitude is perhaps positive psychology’s greatest contribution: explore the research
- Money can buy happiness: experiences not possessions
- Set up a gratitude practice in less than 2 minutes per day
- Negative visualization and the drive home from work
- Attention is the new currency
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV): independent prognostic indicator of all-cause mortality
- Brain MRI changes and the emerging field of Health Neuroscience
- Deep work and cultivation of attention capital
- Physiologic measures of mindfulness practice
- Workflow, Quality and Fatigue: Stay in the Physician Zone!
- How to meditate
Session 4: Character Strengths and Flow: How to Cultivate Peak Experiences on Demand
- Virtue and the road to happiness
- Signature strengths and why they matter?
- How do we measure them?
- How do we use them at work and at home?
- Savoring and enhancing positive experiences
- What is Flow?
- Can we really experience flow at work?
Session 5: Plan to Flourish: Putting it all together!
- What makes up a great day?
- Proactive design rather than reactive frustration
- Essentialism and the 80/20 rule
- Priorities, core habits and constraints to create lasting change
- The most effective positive psychology interventions for busy physicians
- Develop and implement a customized plan to flourish in 15 minutes per day!
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