Become a Positive Psychology Coach

How to Become a Positive Psychology Professional and Help Your Clients Flourish

By Julia Stewart, MMC, CiPP Founder of the Certified Positive Psychology Coach® Program

Forward In the mid-to-late 1990s, just as positive psychology was officially becoming a focus of psychological research, coaching took its first steps as an infant profession. These two fields came from completely different spheres of human development. Positive psychology was born from academia and scientific research. Coaching was influenced by many fields including sports coaching, consulting, financial planning, integral philosophy, and even spirituality. What do positive psychology and coaching have in common besides similar birthdates? Put simply, positive psychology and coaching were made for each other. Although there are many theories that influence modern coaching, some evidence-based, some not, positive psychology is the scientific study of what helps people flourish and be happier, healthier, and more successful. Generally speaking, these are the goals clients bring to their coaches, so the findings of positive psychology research enable positive psychology coaches to help their clients get what they really want. As coaching steps more fully into its role as a professional catalyst for positive change, the findings of positive psychology and related fields, such as neuroscience, spiral dynamics integral, appreciative inquiry, and emotional intelligence; help positive psychology coaches deliver transformative interventions that help their clients grow and enjoy greater success and fulfillment. Today, Martin Seligman is considered the Father of Positive Psychology, while Thomas Leonard has been dubbed the Father of Professional Coaching. These two brilliant, but very different men have each fostered a revolution in human growth and development. Now, the movements they inspired are converging into the profession of positive psychology coaching, which helps people reach their full potential and have the lives and careers they want. Positive psychology coaching is effective, fun, and credible. Dive into this how-to book and craft your own personal revolution with the tools of positive psychology coaching.

Table of Contents

PART 1 4. Is this eBook for you? 5. What Makes Positive Psychology Coaching So Revolutionary? 7. How to Become a Positive Psychology Coach 8. Where Can You Study Positive Psychology? 9. Coaching and Positive Psychology Membership Organizations 10. A Better Way to Become a Professional Positive Psychology Coach? PART 2 12. Articles about Positive Psychology Coaching

 What is Life Coaching?  Life Coaching vs. Psychotherapy: What's the Real Difference?  Positive Psychology Coaching: How Do You Define Happiness?  5 Positive Psychology Findings that Blow Holes in the Law of Attraction  Positive Psychology Coaching: Strengths and Flow  Positive Psychology Coaching: Three Good Things  Positive Psychology Coaching: How Flow Appears In Coaching Sessions  Future of Coaching: Evidence-based or Intuitive?  Why Life Coaches Should Never Get Botox  Positive Psychology: 25 Fun Facts about Love 2.0  How to Apply to Be a Certified Positive Psychology Coach®

PART 3 14. How to Become a Certified Positive Psychology Coach® 15. How to Join the Certified Positive Psychology Coach® Program 16. About the Author 17. References

PART 1

“I coach people who are accomplished in many areas of their lives, however they still feel dissatisfied or unfulfilled in other areas. Often they are not exactly sure what is missing. The coaching I do, supports them find their way to a life of balance, fulfilment, purpose, meaning, well-being and happiness. One of my favorite positive psychology tools is 3 Good Things. It has recently helped me to transition with a relocation abroad. If it was not for 3 Good Things, I may have been tempted to focus on the negative and lose sight of the positive things in my new country. Some days I used the tool up to 10 times! It is a great support to keep a healthy and positive perspective during tough times.” - Paula Facci, CPPC, CCC

Is this eBook for You? If you’ve downloaded this eBook, you probably love helping others be their best and, very likely, you fall into one of two groups: 1. You’re fascinated by positive psychology and you want to integrate it with an appropriate profession with which you can reasonably expect to earn a good living, while doing work you love. 2. You’re drawn to become a professional coach and you want to provide coaching services that are effective, credible and based on solid evidence. What you’ll learn… We’ll show you what makes positive psychology coaching so fascinating, plus some pathways to becoming a positive psychology coach and what to expect when you do become one. You’ll also find coaches from the Certified Positive Psychology Coach® program, who are already coaching with positive psychology, and how they are succeeding with it. Here are three of those coaches, now…

“I coach late teens and graduate students (some professionals as well). What surprised me about positive psychology coaching is that little things can make a big difference.”

- Sai Bhupalam, SCM-CCC

“I coach women of all ages to help them make a change in their lives, and to accomplish their goals. What I love most about positive psychology coaching is the positivity itself. So many times in life people only tell us what we are doing wrong. With positive psychology coaching- we get to celebrate all the things the person is doing right, and it has very powerful results!”

- Krista Harris, MA, CPPC, NCC

“I coach entrepreneurs, business professionals and coaches to elevate the language that they use to represent themselves and their work so they may lead with their true, best selves or authentic brands. One of my favorite positive psychology tools is values exploration which allows clients to leverage the natural fulfillment they derive from being in sync with what matters most to them and to reach their goals with greater ease.” - Kelley A. Russell-DuVarney, MA, SCM-CCC

What Makes Positive Psychology Coaching So Revolutionary? Positive psychology represents a new area of psychological research that focuses on the attributes or behaviors of people who are doing well, i.e. people who are flourishing, succeeding at their goals, who possess virtues, strengths and/or mastery, and who enjoy relatively high levels of wellbeing. Positive psychologists extrapolate from those research results what other people, who want greater wellbeing etc., can do to increase their own wellbeing (Seligman, 2011). Late Twentieth Century psychological research often focused on what was wrong with humans. Some believed the absence of mental illness would equal happiness and well-being. It turns out, wellbeing is a separate thing (Ben-Shahar, 2014). This dramatic shift from what’s wrong with people and how to fix them, to what’s right with people and how to increase that, represents a dramatic shift in focus that has far-reaching implications for people and civilization. Positive psychology research intentionally focuses on what is right with people and what can be increased. Positive psychology interventions can help more people experience happiness, wellbeing, and success. And it turns out, in many ways, happy people are good people (Seligman, 2011). People who enjoy wellbeing tend to engage in many pro-social activities, such as engaging in harmonious relationships, volunteering, giving to charity, and in general, devoting themselves to the welfare of others (Keltner, 2014). Positive psychology points to valuable opportunities for both individuals and society to enjoy greater wellbeing. The most powerful tools can be possessed by anyone, regardless their geographic or economic circumstances. Coaching is also a relatively new profession that has grown exponentially over the past 20 years. It helps people succeed at reaching their goals and developing their potential. Previously, many of the techniques of coaching have been loosely based on tools gleaned from ancient wisdom traditions, spirituality, self-help, New Age, sports coaching, plus a few evidence-based techniques; but as coaching becomes more a profession than an entrepreneurial service, ineffective tools are being dropped in favor of more effective ones.

What Makes Positive Psychology Coaching so Revolutionary? Continued… By comparison, early medical physicians sometimes used practices that today are considered unhelpful, or even harmful, such as applying leaches for bloodletting. Today the art and science of medicine is generally far more effective. Every successful young profession becomes more effective as it matures and that is the case for coaching, as well. Because positive psychology researchers are curious about many of the same issues coaches are, namely what helps people flourish and enjoy greater success, positive psychology research and interventions are ideal for coaching. Additional disciplines, such as neuroscience and neuroplasticity, as well as emotional intelligence, can further inform effective coaching. This is nothing short of a revolution. The shift from what is wrong with people to what is right, along with the focus of turning good to great, opens up the real possibility of greater wellbeing for many, perhaps even all people. Coaching is the ideal delivery system for the tools of positive psychology, because it already focuses on turning good to great, rather than healing or fixing what is wrong. In addition, creating a solid scientific basis for coaching develops credibility with potential coaching clients, as well as better outcomes. Coaching is not a substitute for psychotherapy. However, there are many people who want better lives and careers who aren’t mentally ill. Coaching is designed to take good to great, rather than heal illness.

“I coach individuals who feel like they have gone through life doing the "right" things, to find that they have lost themselves; we work together to empower them to achieve a balance between obligation to their lives and flourishing as their authentic self. What I love most about positive psychology coaching is the belief that within every person there is something that works well and by remembering where we have succeeded we can build more success into our lives.” - Adele Miller, CiPP

How to Become a Positive Psychology

Coach It’s clear that evidence-based coaching, in general, and positive psychology coaching, specifically, represent the next step in professional coaching, so this is a new field with an exciting future! How do you become a positive psychology coach? Most professions have clearly defined requirements for education and credentials as a quality measure. They don’t always guarantee excellence, but they do weed out people who are unqualified. As a new profession, so far positive psychology coaching, has less clearly defined requirements. That’s why this eBook exists: to help you determine what training and certification you may need to practice your profession with excellence. There are hundreds of coaching schools worldwide (Peer, 2015), as well as many university programs for coaching, and a growing number of certificate and degree programs in positive psychology. They vary widely in cost, time commitment, and quality. Some coach training programs offer a little positive psychology and some positive psychology programs offer some beginning coaching skills. There are even a couple of MOOCs (massive open online courses) run by leading researchers in the field of positive psychology, so you can learn quite a bit about positive psychology for free (read on for where to find appropriate MOOCs). At School of Coaching Mastery, we observed this piecemeal approach to positive psychology coaching and did something about it. The Certified Positive Psychology Coach® program, approved for 125 ICF credit hours, is the only one of its kind worldwide to offer advanced coach training fully integrated with positive psychology and other evidence-based fields, as well as business-building tools. It’s a streamlined training program that helps new and experienced coaches, from around the world, successfully step into the profession of positive psychology coaching in a relatively short time. However, this distance-learning program isn’t for everyone and this eBook provides you with additional resources. Read on for where you can learn more about positive psychology…

Where Can You Study Positive Psychology? Quite a few positive psychology programs have launched in the past two decades. Perhaps the best known is the Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program, at the University of Pennsylvania, started by the Father of Positive Psychology, Martin E. P. Seligman. It’s a one-year master’s degree ending with a capstone project. The program’s format is similar to many executive-training programs, meeting for one week on site and then ten additional on-site weekends over the course of a year. Tuition and fees were listed at $58,617 in January, 2016. No doubt, it’s well worth it, but keep in mind the cost and time involved traveling to the program each month, if you’re not a resident of Philadelphia. Monthly travel was out of the question for me. I opted instead for an extensive independent-study program at my graduate school that included, among other things, the Certificate in Positive Psychology (CiPP) from Tal Ben-Shahar, who previously taught positive psychology at Harvard. This program is also one-year long and has a live on-site requirement of one week at the start and another on- site week at the end, followed by ten online modules, plus a final project. The location is Kripalu, the largest yoga center in North America, located in western Massachusetts. Kripalu is a great place to go on retreat, but if you don’t live within driving distance, it’s fairly challenging to get there, especially in winter. It’s also somewhat pricey unless you stay in a dorm (not recommended) and although there are wonderful yoga classes and outdoor activities, the CiPP program is so rich, you may not have time for them. Prices weren’t available in January 2016, but had previously run about $4,500, plus between $1,700 – 4,000 for room and board. Travel is additional. You might be interested to know that there are some excellent options for studying positive psychology for free via MOOCs (massive open online courses). One is the Science of Happiness from the University of California at Berkeley, with Dacher Keltner and Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, among others, via EdX. Another is Positive Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with Barbara L. Fredrickson, via Coursera. The above programs are primarily about positive psychology and include little or no information about coaching.

Coaching and Positive Psychology Membership Organizations There are also a number of membership organizations that promote knowledge in positive psychology and coaching, though not actual training. Of these, the Institute of Coaching (IOC), affiliated with Harvard, is the only one that promotes research into both positive psychology and coaching. It offers a conference and master classes for its members, among other benefits. Certified Positive Psychology Coach® students can join the IOC at a discount. The International Coach Federation (ICF), is the oldest, largest, and most recognized professional membership organization for coaches, as well as a not- for-profit coach certifier. It has an annual Science of Coaching conference and a research portal for members. The Certified Positive Psychology Coach® Program is approved for 125 hours by the ICF, so our graduates receive a discount on ICF certification. The International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) fosters learning and research into positive psychology and has an annual conference. They offer a generous discount on membership to students. The International Association of Coaching (IAC) is another respected membership and not-for-profit certifier of coaches. “I coach executive leaders to become meaningful and transformational leaders and working teams to become teams that thrive, flourish and function together in discovering their optimal performance level.

What I love most about positive psychology coaching is that it translates into profound results that can be measured or clearly noticed by the naked eye.” - Kerstin Jatho, MAPP, ACC, CPPC “I coach managers and executives to be their greatest at interpersonal skills and achieve organization and personal goals. What surprised me about positive psychology coaching is how relevant it is when we have been trained to see what it wrong and focus on that. Seeing what is right and using that awareness can achieve great results.” - Jess Dods, MBA, CPPC

A Better Way to Become a Professional Positive Psychology Coach? I became a coach in 2001 and was fortunate to study with the Father of Professional Coaching, Thomas Leonard, before he passed away. Like many other coaches, I read everything I could about human potential and how to elicit the best from my clients. That included quite a few books by positive psychologists. After about a decade, as the founder of School of Coaching Mastery, I designed a short course called, Introduction to Positive Psychology for Coaches, because it was clear that coaching and positive psychology needed to go together. It’s a fun class that introduces the ideas of Martin E. P. Seligman, Barbara L. Fredrickson, and others and specifically how to apply those ideas in coaching. This module was/is very popular and coaches soon began asking for more advanced training in positive psychology coaching. I checked the web to see what else was available and was shocked that only a few of the hundreds of coach training programs worldwide even mention positive psychology! Meanwhile, some positive psychology professors and researchers offered some bare-bones training in coaching along with positive psychology, but not enough to develop professional skills. There was an obvious need for professional coach training that fully integrates positive psychology with advanced coaching skills, so I took on the job of creating it. The Certified Positive Psychology Coach® program was launched in 2014. Here are some of the benefits of learning positive psychology coaching this way:  It takes about half as long to master positive psychology coaching, because it is fully integrated throughout your classes, from start to finish.  This program was designed by a coach for coaches. Your intuitive, even spiritual, side is fully encouraged, because it leads to effective coaching.  The program is small, so you have direct access to instructors.  You’ll make friends with like-minded coaches from around the world.  We give you tools to launch your coaching business successfully.  There’s no need for expensive travel or long-distance charges. Our conversational webinars can be accessed by any internet-connected device.  This is the only program that awards the Certified Positive Psychology Coach® credential and qualifies for 125 ICF hours. Copyright, Julia Stewart, 2016 All Rights Reserved. CertifiedPositivePsychologyCoach.com 11 PART 2

“I coach leaders/managers/professionals who want to focus on and leverage their strengths and those of their team to create vibrant, healthy and engaged organizations. What I love most about positive psychology coaching is its generative quality – positive psychology coaching accelerates the client’s capacity to tap into her best self and in turn leverage the positive emotions that are generated to create a successful life and/or realize audacious goals.” - Maura Da Cruz, MA, MMC, PCC

Articles about Positive Psychology Coaching

What is Life Coaching?

Life Coaching vs. Psychotherapy: What's the Real Difference?

Positive Psychology Coaching: How Do You Define Happiness?

5 Positive Psychology Findings that Blow Holes in the Law of Attraction

Positive Psychology Coaching: Strengths and Flow

Positive Psychology Coaching: Three Good Things

Positive Psychology Coaching: How Flow Appears In Coaching Sessions

Future of Coaching: Evidence-based or Intuitive?

Why Life Coaches Should Never Get Botox (and Other Surprises)

Positive Psychology: 25 Fun Facts about Love 2.0

How to Apply to Be a Certified Positive Psychology Coach®

“I coach Public speakers to achieve the self-confidence and mastery when delivering unique and persuasive speeches in public. I concentrate on speech production, body language, general demeanor and overall enthusiasm. What surprised me about positive psychology coaching is that it makes perfect sense, is in front of our eyes every day and yet is totally underestimated.” - Valeria Pittaluga, CPPC

How to Become a Certified Positive Psychology Coach® The Certified Positive Psychology Coach® credential is the mark of excellence in positive psychology coaching. It indicates the coach is a professional with substantial training in effective coaching skills, coaching ethics, best practices, and a wealth of tools that have been researched by scientists in the fields of positive psychology, neuroscience, emotional intelligence, appreciative inquiry, and more. Additionally, the coach has demonstrated proficient positive psychology coaching skills and knowledge of positive psychology and its appropriate application in the coach’s niche or specialty. To receive the Certified Positive Psychology Coach® credential, you must complete the program of that name at School of Coaching Mastery. Some modules may be waived for ICF certified coaches. Here are the required modules:  Introduction to Positive Psychology for Coaches - 8 hours  Coaching Groundwork Advanced - 16 hours  Best Practices for Professional Coaches - 4 hours  Coaching Values, Needs, and Strengths - 8 hours  Evolutionary Psychology of Values - 8 hours  Introduction to Coaching with Neuroscience - 8 hours  Master Coach Training - 32 hours  Advanced Positive Psychology for Coaches - 8 hours  Certified Positive Psychology Coach Practicum - 8 hours  Additional recorded videos are optional TOTAL NUMBER OF LIVE CLASS HOURS = 100 Approved for 125 ICF credits.

How to Join the Certified Positive Psychology Coach® Program First, thanks for your interest! Coaches like you and those in this eBook are the pioneers of positive psychology coaching. Below are steps for joining. But if you’re ready now, it can be as simple as a phone call.  Learn more about the program here. You may qualify for advanced placement!  If you have questions about the program, browse the FAQ here.  Download additional information here.  If you have more questions and need to talk to me, Julia Stewart, about joining the program, book an appointment here.  When you’re sure you want to join, fill out the quick application form here.  We’ll email you when your application is accepted and will provide guidance for getting registered.  We often invite applicants to attend one of our Q&A classes, so they can get a taste of what it’s like to study positive psychology coaching at School of Coaching Mastery. Watch for an invitation.  Also, once you’ve applied, we’ll let you know if tuition will be going up soon, so you can register before it does.  Once you’ve joined the program, a world of positive psychology coaching resources will open up to you, as well as friendly, like-minded coaches who are also studying positive psychology, neuroscience, and related topics. This is a very supportive environment for professional coaches!  You’ll be on your way to a career as a professional positive psychology coach. In fact, you’ll have clients before you even graduate!

About the Author

Julia Stewart, MMC, CiPP, is a coach, coach trainer, and seminar leader, who uses her creativity and humor to expand people’s thinking and inspire them to work brilliantly. Her signature strengths, from the Values in Action Survey of Character Strengths, are Love of Learning, Gratitude, Humor, Perspective/Wisdom, and Capacity to Love and Be Loved. She feels blessed to have the opportunity to express all of them daily in her work at School of Coaching Mastery.

Julia is a former “Visionary Coach” for the world's largest coach training company, the Lead Certifier for the Thomas Leonard Coaching School, an Expert Life Coach for Fitness Magazine and a guest instructor for the University of Houston’s Executive Coaching Institute.

Julia is passionate about the power of coaching to transform the world and is committed to helping coaches forge positive change with the help of powerful coaching skills. She has a BA from Washington University in St. Louis, an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and is a graduate of Coach U. She’s a founding member of the International Association of coaching (IAC), a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF), a Founding Fellow of the Harvard-affiliated Institute of Coaching (IOC), and a member of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). She holds several coach certifications, including the IAC Certified Master Masteries Coach and the Center for Credentialing and Education (CCE) Board Certified Coach. She also holds multiple positive psychology certificates, including the Certificate in Positive Psychology from the Wholebeing Institute via Kripalu School of Professional Studies.

Currently, Julia is working on her PhD in the science and philosophy of coaching, at Ubiquity University, where she studies positive psychology, neuroscience, integral philosophy, and more.

Julia founded School of Coaching Mastery in 2007. SCM’s flagship program, the Certified Positive Psychology Coach® program, approved for 125 ICF credit hours, has been graduating the pioneers of positive psychology coaching since 2014.

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