Transcript HAPPINESS: How Positive Psychology Changes Our Lives

Angela Linger, MS, LPC
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
 Recognize
setting goals leads to happier
people.
 Our thoughts and words effect our happiness.
 The importance of staying focused on the
goal of happiness.
 Happy people are smarter and more creative.
 Happy people have more stable and happy
marriages.
 Happy people make more money.
 Happy people are healthier and live longer.
“A MAN WHO WANTS SOMETHING WILL FIND A WAY; A MAN WHO DOESN’T
WILL FIND AN EXCUSE.”
 Suggested
goal: 3 – 5 things you can try.
 Use these tools yourself before you share
them with clients.
 Actively share and learn with others.


Talks to professional and lay groups.
See out newspaper interviews & articles related
to happiness—stay focused on happiness.
 Your
hopes and dreams are within your
reach.
 If you dream it you can do it!
 Invest in Good social relationships
 Optimism. Self-Confidence.
 Wait long enough, and people will surprise
you and impress you.
 Write
a Life Lists
 Randy Pausch, “The Last Lecture”
 What were your childhood dreams/goals?
 Rent and watch the “Bucket List” and “Last
Holiday”
 Pick up Caroline Adams Miller book “Creating
Your Best Life”
 Read or listen to biographies of people who
are famous goal setters
The Last Lecture-Randy Pausch



Pausch then proceeded to the first part of his Pausch first explained his childhood, as well as his family
life in the 1960s. Pausch stated that he had a "really good childhood", and, when going back through his
family archive of photographs, had never found a picture of him not smiling.35 Some of these pictures
were shown on the projection as slides, including one of him dreaming. He explained how he was inspired
by the Apollo 11 lunar landing in 1969.36 Pausch then transitioned to a slide which contained a list of his
childhood dreams, and explained them. His dreams were being in zero gravity, playing in the National
Football League, being the author of a World Book Encyclopedia article, meeting and being Captain Kirk,
being "one of the guys who won the big stuffed animals in the amusement park", and becoming a Disney
Imagineer.37
First off, Pausch explained his dream of being in zero gravity. As a child, this had been a dream inspired by
Apollo 11, and had stayed with him as an adult. When he was the computer science professor at Carnegie
Mellon, he learned of a program that NASA has that allows college students to go up into the air in NASA's
Vomit Comet, which uses parabolic arcs to simulate the feeling of weightlessness. Faculty members were
not allowed to go (Pausch called this a "brick wall" he faced), so he had to present himself as a web
journalist, because local media was allowed on.38 Pausch proceeded to begin talking about his second
childhood dream, playing in the National Football League.39 Although Pausch was never a player in the
National Football League, he spoke about his childhood experiences with Pop Warner Football and how
they had affected his life and taught him lessons.40 Pausch then moved on to his dream of publishing an
article in the World Book Encyclopedia. As a child, Pausch always kept and read a World Book Encyclopedia
in his home. As he progressed into a career, he became one of the leading professors in the field of virtual
reality. World Book then called Pausch, interested in him writing for the encyclopedia. Currently, the
article "virtual reality" in the World Book Encyclopedia is the one authored by Pausch.41
Next, Pausch explained his dream of being like Captain Kirk from the Star Trek series, with the slide
showing "Being like Meeting Captain Kirk".42 Pausch explained that he realized that there were some things
he just could not do, and that was one of them. He eventually changed the goal into meeting William
Shatner, the actor who played Captain Kirk.43 Shatner had written a book on the science of Star Trek, and
had gone to Pausch for help with the virtual reality section of the book. Pausch met and worked with
Shatner for this purpose.44 Pausch concluded the section with the story of his becoming an Imagineer at
Disney,45 as well as his achieving the goal of "being one of those guys who wins stuffed animals", which
was at a carnival with his wife and children.46
The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch was a professor of Computer Science,
Human Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie
Mellon University. From 1988 to 1997, he taught at the
University of Virginia. He was an award-winning teacher
and researcher, and worked with Adobe, Google,
Electronic Arts (EA), and Walt Disney Imagineering, and
pioneered the non-profit Alice project. (Alice is an
innovative 3-D environment that teaches programming
to young people via storytelling and interactive gameplaying.) He also co-founded The Entertainment
Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon with Don
Marinelli. (ETC is the premier professional graduate
program for interactive entertainment as it is applies
across a variety of fields.) Randy lost his battle with
pancreatic cancer on July 25th, 2008.
Important Advice from Randy Pausch
 Be
good at something; it makes you valuable
 Work hard… “what’s your secret?”
 Find the best in everybody; no matter how
long you have to wait for them to show it
 Be prepared: “luck” is where preparation
meets opportunity
 “Appropriate
goal pursuit is also one of the
chief hallmarks of a happy person, so it is
important for anyone who is making or
pursuing life list goals to understand some of
the research on wellbeing and why learning
how to become even a little bit happier can
have such a massive impact on your success.
 Money
spent on visits to the doctor’s office
 Chronic Pain Syndrome
 Job accidents and low worker productivity
 Heart problems
 Fewer and worse social relationships
 Materialistically,
we are twice as rich as
those in the 1960s.
 BUT:
If you had fallen asleep in 1960 and
awakened today, what would you find?
• Doubled divorce rate.
Dr. David Myers
• Tripled teen suicide rate.
Hope College
• Quadrupled rate of reported violent crime.
• Quintupled prison population.
• Sextupled (no pun intended) percent of babies born to unmarried
parents.
• Sevenfold increase in cohabitation (a predictor of future divorce).
• Soaring rate of depression—to ten times the pre-World War II
level by one estimate.
Myers, David G. (April 24, 2000) Wanting More in an Age of Plenty. Christianity Today
 Lifetime
prevalence: 17% - 25%
 8 million new cases of depression / year
 Antidepressants among most commonly
prescribed drugs
 Depression rapidly increasing worldwide (Cohort
born 1925 had 4% lifetime prevalence)
Bent & Masters, www.medscape.org (registration required)
 Each
generation since 1900 has seen a higher
incidence of depression.

1 /25 approximately 1900; 1/5 or greater
approximately 2000.
 Seen

in all industrialized countries
Exceptions?: Maybe tightly knit non-industrial groups
 Reason




is unknown:
Possibly change in social values?
Change in diet
Depression as an inflammatory disease?
Unknown stressors?
Klerman, G.L. & Weissman, M.M. (1989) Increasing rates of depression. Journal of
the American Medical Association, 261, 2229-35.

60.00%
50.00%

40.00%
Mental Health
and Personal
Performance
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Flourishing


Depressed
17.2% are flourishing. As
employees, spouses, and
neighbors, they are the
best.
56.6% are moderate; they
are well but not great.
12.1% are languishing; they
are not happy and not very
productive.
14.1% are clearly
depressed; they underperform, are quite unhappy,
over-use medical services,
etc.
Keyes, Corey L. M. (2002) Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 43(2), 207-222.
Psychological Abstracts (1967-2000)
• Joy: 415
• Anger: 5,584
• Happiness: 1,710
• Anxiety: 41,416
• Depression: 54,040 • Life satisfaction: 2,582
Ratio: 21/1
Since 1998, an explosion of research.
Thanks to Tal Ben Shahar, Harvard U., for these numbers.
 Psychotherapy
makes miserable people less
miserable, but not happy.
 Positive
psychology makes ordinary people
much happier.
Nearly all people are capable of much more
happiness than they have.
See their potential, help them see it.
Create opportunities for them to invest in their
own highest and best self.


“God started my life off well be bestowing upon me grace
of inestimable value. The past year which I spent as a
cadndate studying at Notre Dame has been a very happy
one. Now I look forward with eager joy to receiving the
Holy Habit of Our Lady and to a life of union with Love
Divine” Celia O’Payne
“I was born on September 26, 19-9, the eldest of seven
children, five girls and two boys. My candidate year was
spent on the mother house, teaching chemistry and second
year Latin at Notre Dame Institute. With God’s Grace I
intend to do my best for our order, for the spread of
religion and for my personal sanctification.” Marguerine
Donnelly
The Nun Study (Danner et al., 2001)
• Only positive feelings predicted longevity
Age 85: 90% of most cheerful quartile alive;
34% of least cheerful quartile alive.
Age 94: 54% of most cheerful quartile alive;
11% of least cheerful quartile alive
 Use
of Pronouns, adjectives, Exclamation
Points
 What




we focus upon
Optimism—Belief in happy outcomes and
resolutions.
Self-Confidence—High self regard and like
themselves.
Extroversion—Thrive on energy of interacting
with others
Self-Efficacy – My life is in my hands and I’m in
control.
 Take
Seligman’s Optimism test for free
www.authentichappiness.org
 Praise
others.
 Give out compliments freely.
 Recognize and talk about the good things
around you.
 Give someone a thank you.
 Do something nice for someone and don’t tell
them.
 Erik
Giltay in Holland
followed 999 older
men and women for
ten years
 The upper third in
optimism had half
the heart attacks of
the bottom third!
100
Heart
attacks
80
60
40
20
0
Pessim
Optim
Giltay, E.J., Geleijnse, J.M., Aitman, F.G., Hoekstra, T., & Schouten, E.,G. (2004). Dispositional optimism and allcause and cardiovascular mortality in an elderly cohort of Dutch men and women. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61,
1126-1135.
I
expect much from life.
 I do not look forward to what lies ahead for
me in the years to come.
 My days seem to be passing slowly.
 I am full of plans.

Statement No. 1: Give yourself two points if you fully agree,
one point if you partially agree or don't know, and no points if
you disagree.

Statement No. 2: Give yourself no points if you fully agree,
one point if you partially agree or don't know, and two points
if you disagree.

Statement No. 3: Give yourself no points if you fully agree,
one point if you partially agree or don't know, and two points
if you disagree.

Statement No. 4: Give yourself two points if you fully agree,
one point if you partially agree or don't know, and no points if
you disagree.
Seven or eight means you are optimistic.
Professor Anders Ekbom, from the Karolinska
Institute, Sweden reported that men high in worry
were 2.2 times more likely to develop type II
diabetes when followed over ten years.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7524096.stm
 Optimism
in women reduced the risk of breast
cancer by 25%




622 women, between 25 and 45 years.
Optimists were 25% less likely
2 or more traumatic events raised risk of breast
cancer by 62%.
"The mechanism in which the central nervous,
hormonal and immune systems interact and how
behaviour and external events modulate these three
systems is not fully understood," Peled states.
Peled, R. (2008) Breast Cancer, Psychological Distress and Life Events among
Young Women. BMC Cancer (8:245)
Happy people have significantly better health.
Invest in health by investing in happiness
Your brain grows like a muscle
 Journaling
 Expressing
Gratitude
 Exercise
 Volunteering
 Savoring
Happy Memories
 Surround yourself with 3 “P’s” Photos,
Plants, and Pets
 Forgiveness
 Meditation
 Happier




people cause happy marriages.
More likely to have a large circle of friends.
More attractive, independent of physical beauty.
More likely to marry & stay married.
Easier to feel passionately committed.
Lynbomirsky, S. (2008) The How of Happiness. New York: Penguin, pp 138-146.
Invest in success by investing in happiness.
Marriage success
Work success
Creativity and intelligence
Next we will talk about the role of
pleasure in the good life.
Does “having stuff” make us
happier? (Materialism)
Does having pleasure make us
happier? (Hedonism)
Does expanding our abilities and
capacities make us happier?
(Eudaimonia)
HOW DO WE ACHIEVE HAPPINESS?
 Pleasure:

Small contribution to happiness.
 Meaning:


The pleasant life.
A life of significance
Social connection, service to others.
Very Large contribution to happiness.
 Engagement:


a life of involvement.
Expanding one’s gifts, doing interesting work.
Large contribution.
Seligman, M. (2003) Authentic Happiness. New York: Nicholas Brealey
 Moderate
pleasure.
 Savoring (antidote to habituation)
 Social skills - be involved w/ people:

Wide range of acquaintances; Appreciate & enjoy others;
Deep connection with spouse.
 Optimism

A

Expect good to multiply & bad to pass quickly.
sense of mission (VIA assessment)
Do more of what you are good at.
 Gratitude

& Zest:
(the gratitude diary) & service
Reframing bad toward good.
 Negative



Anger: fight, hurt, defeat, kill.
Fear: run, avoid, prevent harm.
Despair: freeze, play dead, survive by passivity.
 Positive



emotions are behaviorally predictive:
emotions are not predictive:
Interest and Curiosity?
Joy?
Contentment?
 Negative
emotions (fear, anger, despair) are
for SURVIVAL
 Positive
emotions (curiosity, delight, interest,
joy, etc) are for GROWTH
ED DIENER’S SUBJECTIVE WELL BEING SCALE:
On the next slide are five statements that you may agree or
disagree with. Using the 1 - 7 scale below indicate your
agreement with each item by placing the appropriate number on
the line preceding that item. Please be open and honest in your
responding.
* 7 - Strongly agree
* 6 - Agree
* 5 - Slightly agree
* 4 - Neither agree nor disagree
* 3 - Slightly disagree
* 2 - Disagree
* 1 - Strongly disagree
Pavot and Diener, 1993, Psychological Assessment.
Dr. Ed Diener
____ In most ways my life is close to my ideal.
____ The conditions of my life are excellent.
____ I am satisfied with my life.
____ So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.
____ If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
- 31 - 35 Extremely satisfied
- 26 - 30 Satisfied (most common response range)
- 21 - 25 Slightly satisfied
- 20
Neutral
- 15 - 19 Slightly dissatisfied
- 10 - 14 Dissatisfied
- 5 - 9 Extremely dissatisfied
Michael B. Frisch (Baylor U):
Quality of Life Therapy
Concept: Assess QOL in 16 areas, including Health, Self
esteem, Spiritual goals & values, Money/standard of living, etc
(Quality of Life Inventory: order from
http://www.pearsonassessments.com/tests/qoli.htm
Interventions: Change one of these:
C: Circumstances; A: Attitudes; S:
Standards; I: Importance or values; O:
Other areas.
Brainstorm ways to improve the most
important of the 16 areas
 Seligman

Twelve week school based course, at-risk 5th & 6th
grade children:




et al.: The Optimistic Child (1995)
Bad things are temporary/ good permanent
Bad things are not my fault / good my “fault”
Social skills training
Results: at 6 months & 2 years, reduced depression
by half (100% lower at 2 years; 22% vs. 44%
depressed) fewer behavior problems; treatment
group gained in resiliency (optimistic
explanations).
Under own control ~ 40%
Genetics ~ 50%
Circumstances ~ 10%
Lynbomirsky, S. (2008) The How of Happiness. New York: Penguin.
 Several
PP interventions are equal to or better
than:



Treatment as usual (CBT)
Medication
Combined medication and TAU
 Gratitude
diary; gratitude visit, Using personal
strengths.
Seligman, M.E.P., Steen, T.A., Park, N., Peterson, C. (2005) Positive Psychology
Progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist 60, 410-421
Seligman, M.E.P., Rashid, T., & Parks, A.C. (2006) Positive Psychotherapy.
American Psychologist, 61, 774-788.
Relaxation Techniques
SAMPLE phrases: My right arm is heavy. . . My left arm is
heavy . . . My arms are heavy . . . My right leg is heavy . . .
My left leg is heavy . . My legs are heavy. My arms and legs
are heavy and relaxed.
My right hand is warm . . . My left hand is warm . . . Warmth
flows into my hands. My hands are warm . . . My right foot is
warm . . . (and so on)
My breathing is calm and regular . . . My heartbeat is calm and
regular . . .
I am at peace . . . There is nothing to bother or disturb . . .
 Mindfulness
has been shown to increase
happiness.
 Autogenic

training is helpful for 90%.
My preferred method
 Contemplation
happiness.
of compassion has raised
 In
Richard Davidson’s lab at the U. Wisconsin
Madison:



Students who contemplated “compassion”
significantly raise the energy level in the left
frontal lobe (happiness center).
Depressed people taught Autogenic Training
prevented relapse over the next year.
Buddhist meditators are the happiest people that
Davidson has studied in his lab.
Krampen, G (1999) Long-term evaluation of the effectiveness of additional autogenic
training in the psychotherapy of depressive disorders. European Psychologist. 4(1), 11-18.
Metyrapone (inhibits cortisol production) apparently helps
pharmacotherapy of depression:
70%
60%
50%
40%
Placebo
Act tx
30%
20%
10%
0%
3 wks
30% reduction/ HAM
5 wks
50% reduction/ HAM (response, not recovery)
Schick, et al., 2004. Metyrapone as Additive Treatment in Major Depression: A Double-Blind and PlaceboControlled Trial. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61 (12) : 1235-1244; see also
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/495388?rss (registration required)
A proven method of raising personal
resiliency and happiness
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
Albert Einstein
 Permanent:
bad doesn’t last, good does.
 Pervasive: good affects everything; bad is localized and
doesn’t affect other parts of life.
 Personal: Good = my fault; bad = random
 We can teach ourselves and our children to think
optimistically.
Seligman, M. E. P. (1992) Learned Optimism. New York: Pocket.
 Cognitive-behavioral:
Diary of automatic
thoughts

About events:




Permanent? Personally caused? Pervasive?
Good: Permanent, personally caused, pervasive.
Bad: Temporary, random, local.
ABCD homework

Adverse event, Belief, Consequence of that belief, and
Disputation.
Lyubomirsky, S (2008) The How of Happiness. New York: Penguin.
 Writing:
Describe in detail the answer to the
Miracle Question.


How would things be if your problems were
miraculously transformed into solutions?
What would you do? What would others see you
doing? How would others know the miracle had
occurred, without you telling them.
 Keep
that as part of your diary, once a week
or so.
A validated intervention for depression
Learning to be Grateful
“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace
before the concert and the opera, and grace before the
play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book,
and grace before sketching, painting, swimming,
fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing, and grace
before I dip the pen in the ink.”
“Gratitude produced the most purely joyful moments
that have been known to man.”
G. K. Chesterton
 Each


What happened to me?
What did I do right?
 Then


day, write 3 – 5 things that you liked.
write one thing that you didn’t like
Ask yourself: “And how is it also good, a blessing
in disguise?”
Find two or three ways it helps you.
 Who
has helped you? Write a letter of
appreciation
 Laminate
 Take
it.
it to that person, read the letter, and
leave it.
Emmons, R.A. & Sheldon, C.M. (2002) Gratitude and the
science of positive psychology. In Snyder, C.R. & Lopez
S.J. (eds.) Handbook of Positive Psychology (pp 459-71)
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Emmons, R.A. (2007) THANKS! How the New Science of
Gratitude Can Make You Happier. New York: Houghton
Mifflin.
Key to Engagement and Meaning
 Created
by Chris Peterson & Marty Seligman
to “diagnose” strengths.
 Cross cultural
 Six major areas
 Twenty-four specific areas
 Several studies show emphasizing strengths
increases happiness.
 Wisdom
&
Knowledge
 Justice
/ fairness
 Temperance
 Courage,
firmness
 Transcendence
 Love,
warmth
KNOWLEDGE & WISDOM
1. Creativity
2. Curiosity
3. Love of learning
4. Wisdom / perspective
5. Open-mindedness
COURAGE & FIRMNESS
6. Bravery
7. Persistence
8. Integrity
9. Vitality
HUMANITY & LOVE
10. Give & receive love
11. Kindness
12. Social intelligence
JUSTICE & FAIRNESS
13. Citizenship
14. Fairness
15. Leadership
TEMPERANCE
16. Forgiveness / mercy
17. Modesty / humility
18. Prudence
19. Self-regulation
TRANSCENDENCE / SPIRITUAL
20. Appreciation of excellence and
beauty
21. Gratitude
22. Hope
23. Humor
24 Spirituality
Assignment: Consciously increase the
amount of time and energy you give to
your top strengths.
 Process:




Focus intently on the region of your own heart.
Now recall a positive experience and relive that
experience for a minute.
Ask yourself for insight and wisdom.
Write down 5 goals that you have accomplished
in your life.
 Helpful


Detachment from own thoughts.
Judge thoughts based on the emotion they
produce:



& unhelpful thoughts
Good thoughts produce peace, energy, happiness.
Unhelpful thoughts produce anger, fear, despair.
Drop the unhelpful thoughts.
 Handout:
Helpful & Unhelpful Thoughts

Emotions can be “red light,” “yellow light” or
“green light.”

Red light: fear or anger:



Yellow light: think of what is best!




“What is the smartest thing to do now?”
Green light: Do your plan!


“Stop and calm. We don’t think clearly when angry / fearful.”
Take a long, slow breath and let it out slowly.
Take turns talking and listening.
Find a way for all to win.
Feelings are all OK, no wrong feelings, but some
help us think more clearly.
Children exposed to excessive levles of stress
before age 12, are shown to have a 30% higher
chance of developing cancer in adulthood. *
*Dr. Caroline Leaf, Who Switched Off My Brain.
Marital status and happiness (In spite of the
high rate of divorce, traditional marriage is
protective).
Myers, David: The Pursuit of Happiness
 Sonja
Lyubomirsky investigated very happy
and not happy people:

Whom did they compare themselves with?



Unhappy people compared themselves with more
successful people.
Very happy people didn’t compare themselves at all.
They were puzzled by the concept.
Happy people are glad for others when they
succeed, not envious, concerned for others when
things go badly.
Lyubomirsky, S (2008) The How of Happiness. New York: Penguin.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/301/are-we-happy-yet
Appreciative Inquiry
vs
Critical Analysis
 An
automatic response, but a dangerous one.
 Balance criticism about 5:1 with gratitude &
appreciation.
 Try to reframe your complaints before you voice them
(how is it a blessing in disguise?).
Gottman, J. M. & Silver, N. (2004) The Seven Principles for Making A Marriage Work
 What
do you like and appreciate?
 Based
on that, what would life be like if you
were able to have more?
 What
can you do to increase the good things
that you appreciate?
 As
a goal, try to secretly serve someone each
day.



Write an anonymous thank you note to someone
you admire.
Pick up trash along a trail or road.
Look for a chance to serve in a group.
 Write
about your service in your diary.
 Many
studies demonstrate that people who smile more
are better liked.
 Practice giving sincere compliments as you smile.
 Put a pencil in your teeth and keep your lips from
touching it, then watch a “comedy” that isn’t really
funny ( e.g., Friends).

It will seem much funnier to you.
 Focus
on the sensory impressions in a
moment-to-moment fashion.





Food
Activity (walking, running, sports)
Conversations
Friends
Recall & nostalgia
Bryant, F.B. & Veroff, J. (2007) Savoring: A New Model of
Positive Experiencing. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates .
New book with a comprehensive review of research and
practice.
 REACH





Recall the hurt
Empathize with the perpetrator
Altruistic gift of forgiveness
Certify you forgive
Hold on to the forgiveness
 Use

(Everett Worthington)
wisdom and discretion:
Typically you do NOT tell the perpetrator that you have
forgiven him/her.
*Movie: Diary of a Mad Black Woman, written & directed by Tyler Perry.
Luskin, F. (2003) Forgive for Good. New York:
Harper Collins.
McCullough, M.E., Thoresen, C.E. & Pargament,
K.I. (2000). Forgiveness, Theory, Research and
Practice. New York: Guilford.
 “Enjoy
Life, Healing With Happiness: How to
Harness Positive Moods to Raise Your Energy,
Effectiveness, and Joy”, Lynn D. Johnson,
Ph.D.
 “Creating Your Best Life, The Ultimate Life
List Guide”, Caroline Adams Miller
 “Who Switched Off My Brain, Controlling
toxic thoughts and Emotions”, Dr. Caroline
Leaf
 MAPP—Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology
at the University of Pennsylvania
www.pennpositivepsych.org One semester study.