Positive Psychology Spring 2020

Week 3      Thursday, January 29, 2020 Activity #1   Journal Prompt:  When in your life were you unsure you would succeed? Why did you feel this way?  What did you do to push yourself? Were you successful in the end? Hand in picture of your top five strengths. Activity #2 The Guest House Poem Goal: To emphasize  that emotions are fleeting, and even unpleasant emotions have value. Emotion suppression has been associated with both psychological and physiological health detriment.  Attempts to control uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, and emotions by deliberate avoidance are at the core of many psychological problems. When you mask your emotional experiences or try to push unpleasant emotions away, they can return amplified.  However, by welcoming them as visitors, the intensity and impact of those emotions can be reduced.  In the poem, being human is like being a guest house, and emotions are personified as temporary v...

Activity #1 Journal: We all handle stress differently. What does it feel like to be  overwhel med? What are some things you like to do to manage stress or calm stress? Activity #2 Discuss top five strengths and which categories they fall into -- Virtue of wisdom, courage, humanity, justice temperance, and transcendence. You can highlight where your strengths fall on one of the handouts I gave you last Thursday. Top two reasons why it's important to know your strengths -- 1) it can amplify and grow the positive, and 2) it helps you learn from and reframe the negative. Put post-it notes with your names and the number your strength is ranked under the strength on the wall.  For instance, I will put my name, Kirsten Holmstedt #1 under fairness.  Do this for your top five strengths. Look for any patterns?  Reflect: would you say that your top five strengths are energizing, natural, and widely expressed in  your life?  Summary of ...

Thursday, January 23 Day 2 Activity #1:  Journal: Write about a positive change you want to make in your life.  Why is this change important to you? What are the first steps you can take to make it happen? (15 minutes) Activity #2   Values in Action (VIA):   The VIA Institute on Character helps people change their lives by tapping into the power of their own greatest strengths.  Established as non-profit organization in 2001, they set out - and continue to - advance both the science and practice of character, and empower those on their strengths-building journey.  Vocabulary  to discuss and define: What is a character trait? What is a virtue? Character  strengths are qualities that come naturally to you. There are 24 character strengths that I will share with you and every individual possesses all 24 of those strengths in varying degrees.  Your character strength gives you your own unique profile.  When you ...

Welcome to Positive Psychology! Day 1 Spring 2020 Bingham Hall 107 Mondays and Thursdays, 10:10-12:10 Instructor: Kirsten Holmstedt (see the syllabus for contact information). Blog Address:  This class is outlined using a blog. The blog will house important lesson information and live links to class handouts. Address: pospsychspring2020.blogspot.com Binder set-up: Place syllabus in binder. Then, make three tabs: Class Hand-outs, Assignments, and Journal. Please keep a small amount of white lined paper under the journal tab in your binder. Come to the next class (next Thursday) with your binder set up. Syllabus:  Click here for our class  Syllabus  if you should lose yours.  Class Daily Schedule:  Daily Schedule  We will follow this schedule every day. We request that you adhere to the times noted as we will try our hardest to do the same. Activity #1: (20 minutes) Daily Journal Writing:  This is not a priv...