Interviews

Christopher Peterson, Ph.D. (February 18, 1950-October 9, 2012) was one of the founders and leading figures in positive psychology and had taught at the University of Michigan since 1986, where he was Professor of Psychology and Organizational Studies and former Director of Clinical Training. He also held an appointment as an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, in recognition of his contributions to teaching. Chris was among the 100 most widely cited psychologists in the world. He was a member of the Positive Psychology Steering Committee, a consulting editor to the Journal of Positive Psychology, Perspectives on Psychological Science, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and the Positive Psychology Book Series Editor for Oxford University Press. He was co-author with Marty Seligman of the landmark volume, Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification and the author of the bestselling A Primer in Positive Psychology and Pursuing the Good Life: 100 Reflections on Positive Psychology (2013), each published by Oxford University Press. Check out his Psychology Today blog, “The Good Life.” Chris taught five Master Classes for MentorCoach, gave us numerous public and private interviews, and, with his colleague, Nansook Park, Ph.D., keynoted our Annual Conference in 2007. In 2012, 150 professionals from 10 nations took Chris’ two-month “Positive Psychology and Well-Being Master Class.” Chris’ most recent Interview is here.

Jamie Pennebaker, PhD, is the Regents Centennial Liberal Arts Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and is widely considered to be the world’s leading expert on Expressive Writing, the focus of our exceptional 2020 interview with him.  He and his students are now exploring natural language use, group dynamics, and personality in both laboratory and real world settings. His earlier work on expressive writing found that physical health and work performance can improve by simple writing and/or talking exercises. His cross-disciplinary research is related to linguistics, clinical and cognitive psychology, communications, medicine, and computer science. He is author or editor of 12 books and over 300 articles, including with Joshua Smyth, Opening Up by Writing It Down: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain. 

The late Walter Mischel, PhD (2/22/30 – 9/12/18) was born in Vienna, Austria. He escaped with his family after the Nazi occupation in 1938. and went on to become one of the most famous and revered psychologists of the last 100 years. He was David Niven Professor of Humane Letters and Professor of Psychology, Columbia University, internationally known for his groundbreaking research on delayed gratification, whose last book was The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self Control. Recorded live in 2015 and rebroadcast in 2020, this was a riveting interview, one of the most popular we’ve held, covering everything from life in occupied Austria, to the lessons from his research on delaying gratification, to his plans for making contributions with his work over the next five years (age 85 to 90). He died in 2018 at age 88. You can listen to Walter’s interview and find out more information about his work, here.

Donna Hicks, PhD is an associate at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.  As a conflict resolution specialist, she has worked extensively on the Israeili/Palestinian conflict, founded and co-directed a ten-year project in Sri Lanka.  She has also worked on the conflicts in Northern Ireland and Colombia and conducted several US/Cuba dialogues.  She is the Vice President of Ara Pacis, an Italian non-governmental organization based in Rome, currently involved in dignity restoration projects in Syria and Libya.  She is a leading expert in the study of dignity. She is the author of the book, Dignity: It’s Essential Role in Resolving Conflict.   Her latest book is Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People.  To learn more about Donna’s work and to hear her interview, click here.

Dolly Chugh, PhD, is an award-winning, tenured professor at the New York University Stern School of Business.  She holds a PhD in social psychology from Harvard University and studies implicit bias and unintentional unethical behavior.  Dolly teaches MBA courses in leadership, management, and negotiations.  She studies socially charged issues like race and gender, and brings these normally undiscussed issues into the classroom. Her goal is to engage students in important societal issues and to equip them to do the same with others. Dolly writes a monthly column about race, gender, diversity, inclusion, and bias for Forbes.com. She is author of The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias (HarperCollins 9/4/18.) To learn more about Dolly’s work and to hear her interview, click here.

Itai Ivtzan, PhD is one of the world’s leading experts in positive psychology, mindfulness and spirituality.  He is Associate Professor at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado and has served as the program leader of MAPP (Masters in Applied Positive Psychology Program) at the University of East London (UEL). He is the author of Second Wave Positive Psychology: Embracing the Dark Side of Life, Applied Positive Psychology: Integrated Positive Practice, Mindfulness in Positive Psychology, and Awareness is Freedom: The Adventure of Psychology and Spirituality.  To learn more about Itai’s work and to hear his interview, click here.

Kate Hays, PhD, C.Psych, CMPC.  Kate, a renowned performance coach and psychologist, has been practicing psychology since 1971, first in New Hampshire and currently in Toronto. With a background in clinical psychology (Ph.D. from Boston University), for the past 35 years she has developed expertise in Sport Psychology and in the emerging field of Performance Psychology. Kate has lectured widely throughout North America, England, and Australia. She authored Performance Psychology in Action which complements her co-authored You’re On! Consulting for Peak Performance.  Read her Psychology Today blog, The Edge: Peak Performance Psychology.  To hear Kate’s 2009 interview, click here.  To hear Kate’s 2018 interview, click here.

George E. Vaillant, M.D., the legendary Director of the Harvard’s Study of Adult Development for almost thirty-five years, is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the author of 10 books, including Heaven on My Mind, and Triumphs of Experience: the Men of the Harvard Grant Study. One of the pioneers in the study of adult development, George’s early focus on adaptation and coping strategies, growth, and well-being has made him a godfather of sorts to the field of Positive Psychology as well. Now 84 and half-way through writing his 11th book, George acknowledges how he has changed positively over a lifetime of studying the unfolding lives of men in the Grant study. You can listen to his absolutely wonderful 2015 interview about Triumphs of Experience here.  And his fascinating 2018 interview about Heaven on My Mind here.

Alan R Graham, PhD, is a therapist, coach, educator, author, presenter and one of the world’s leading experts in ADHD Coaching. Alan has 20+ years of experience helping thousands of ADHD children, adolescents, adults, and their families navigate life’s challenges, and gain the tools they need to manage emotional issues. He is Dean of the MentorCoach ADHD Certification Program and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Attention Disorders. Alan serves as a member of the national organization of CHADD and served on the Professional Advisory Board for the Chicago CHADD chapter. He is editor and co-author of the new book, The Guide to ADHD Coaching.  To learn more about Alan’s work and to hear his interview, click here.

Hear David DeSteno. PhD, talk about his new book, Emotional Success: The Power of Gratitude, Compassion, and Pride.  In this book, he argues that three emotions—gratitude, compassion, and pride—can provide the surest, quickest route to success in any realm.  David is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University where he directs the Social Emotions Group.  He is author of The Truth About Trust and co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Out of Character.  At the broadest level, David’s work examines the mechanisms of the mind that shape vice and virtue. Studying hypocrisy and compassion, pride and punishment, cheating and trust, his work continually reveals that human moral behavior is much more variable than most would predict.  You can hear David’s interview and his Ted Talk and learn more about his work here.

In this interview, Suzie Pileggi, MAPP, and James Pawelski, PhD, talk about their new book, Happy Together: Using the Science of Positive Psychology to Build Love that Lasts. Suzie is a freelance writer and wellbeing consultant. James co-founded the Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program with Marty Seligman and is now Director of Education and a Senior Scholar in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Eagerly anticipated, Happy Together is the first book on using the principles of positive psychology to create thriving romantic relationships. Combining extensive scientific research and real-life examples, this book includes easy-to-follow methods and exercises to help readers learn to strengthen their partnerships, whether they’re looking to start a relationship off on the right foot, weather difficult times, reignite passion, or transform a good marriage into a great one.  You can hear Suzie and James’ interview and learn more about their work here.

Sean Young, Ph.D. is a Medical School Professor in the UCLA Department of Family Medicine and the Executive Director of the University of California Institute for Prediction Technology (UCIPT). He is also founder of the UCLA Center for Digital Behavior. Sean received his PhD in Psychology and a Masters in Health Services Research from Stanford University. He has worked in technology and user behavior/human factors at the NASA Ames Research Center and at Cisco Systems. He has taught at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and advised a number of companies and start-ups. He is known for his pioneering work with social media and for integrating concepts from the fields of psychology, medicine, and technology. His latest book is the #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller, Stick With It—A Scientifically Proven Process for Changing Your Life—for Good. You can hear Sean’s interview and learn more about his work here.

Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D. is Education Director of the VIA Institute on Character, a non-profit organization in Cincinnati, Ohio, that is viewed as the global leader in advancing the science and practice of character strengths. Ryan is author of seven books including Mindfulness and Character Strengths, Positive Psychology at the Movies and his newest book, Character Strengths Interventions: A Field Guide for Practitioners. He’s an award-winning psychologist and international workshop leader. He’s also adjunct professor at Xavier University and an annual instructor at the University of Pennsylvania Masters in Applied Positive Psychology program (MAPP). He has published over 60 peer-reviewed/invited articles on character strengths, mindfulness, and related topics. Ryan is especially interested in the intersection of character strengths with mindfulness, savoring, resilience, flourishing, spirituality, religion, intellectual/developmental disability, and health promotion/prevention. You can hear Ryan’s interview and learn more about his work here.

Lea Waters, PhD, is a psychologist, researcher, speaker and author who specializes in positive education, positive parenting, and positive organizations. She holds the Gerry Higgins Chair in Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne and is President of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). Lea is Professor and Founding Director of the Positive Psychology Centre at the University of Melbourne and author of The Strength Switch: How The New Science of Strength-Based Parenting Can Help Your Child and Your Teen to Flourish. Her Positive Education program, called Positive Detective, is being used in schools in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Mexico, Finland, Ghana, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. Her Visible Wellbeing initiative is being run in schools across Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and Victoria in both the State and Independent Education systems. You can hear Lea’s interview and learn more about her work here.

Monica Worline, Ph.D.is an organizational psychologist and CEO of EnlivenWork, an innovation organization that teaches businesses and others how to tap into courageous thinking, compassionate leadership, and the curiosity to bring their best work to life. Monica holds a lectureship at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and is a faculty affiliate at the Center for Positive Organizations as well as being a research scientist at Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and Executive Director of CompassionLab. With Michigan’s Jane Dutton, Monica has authored the new book, Awakening Compassion at Work: The Quiet Power That Elevates People and Organizations. You can listen to Monica’s interview and learn much more about her work here.

Michael Cavanagh, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, executive coach, and academic who serves as Deputy Director of the Coaching Psychology Unit at the University of Sydney. As an Australia-based executive coach, he works with senior leaders in a range of multinational and national organizations. Michael was twice elected National Convenor of the Australian Psychological Society Interest Group in Coaching Psychology–a body of the APS with over 650 members. He also holds the position of Coordinating Editor of the International Coaching Psychology Review – an international journal jointly published by the Australian and British Psychological Societies. He is author of the Handbook: Coaching in Organizations and co-editor of Evidence-Based Coaching: Theory, Research and Practice from the Behavioral Sciences. You can listen to Michael’s interview and learn much more about his work here.

Shelly Gable, PhD is Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences at the University of California at Santa Barbara. She earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of Rochester in 2000. She began her career in 2000 as an Assistant Professor at UCLA where she earned tenure and co-founded the Interdisciplinary Relationship Science Program before joining the faculty at UCSB in January 2007. Shelly’s current research focuses on motivation in social interaction and close relationships. She is particularly interested in how approach and avoidance social motives contribute to the course and quality of social interactions and close relationships. Her research also examines the positive aspects of close relationships and their role in physical and emotional health. She is also well known for her work on the impact of how we respond to good news from others (active constructive responding, etc.) For her 2017 interview, click here.

Ellen J. Langer, Ph.D., is a world renowned professor of psychology at Harvard University. Our first interview with her in 2010 focused on Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility. Ellen has also written the bestselling books, Mindfulness: The Power of Mindful Learning and On Becoming An Artist. She has described her work on the illusion of control, aging, decision-making, and mindfulness theory in over 200 research articles and six academic books. For extensive information about Ellen and for the recording of her 2010 interview, click here. Her 2017 interview focused on her more recent work and on her book, The Art of Noticing, an experiential and visual culmination of 35 years of research on mindlessness and mindfulness. For her 2017 interview, click here.

Terry Gingras, PhD., is a clinical neuropsychologist and ADHD coach.  His practice involves neuropsychological evaluation, including evaluation and treatment of ADHD in children and adults.  He is also cofounder with his wife, Shari, of Gingras Coaching and Consulting, devoted to coaching ADHD families and especially ADHD entrepreneurs.  They are also actively involved in using social media, particularly Facebook Live, to market and develop their national practice.  Terry is author of ADHD: Strategic Parenting and the forthcoming, High Performance Entrepreneur: How to Turn ADHD into your Superpower.  You can hear Terry’s interview here.

Everett L. Worthington, Ph.D. is Commonwealth Professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and the world’s leading authority on the scientific study of forgiveness. He has published 400 scholarly articles and 35 books including Forgiving and Reconciling: Bridges to Wholeness and Hope and Moving Forward: Six Steps to Forgiving Yourself and Breaking Free from the Past. After the senseless murder of his widowed mother in 1996, Ev’s commitment to the study and practice of forgiveness was significantly increased. Through his work with the Templeton Foundation Campaign for Forgiveness Research, his training as a clinical psychologist and personal experience with emotional trauma, Dr. Worthington created the REACH method for emotional forgiveness. You can listen to his interview and learn his latest ideas here.

Elliot Aronson, PhD has now done two of the best interviews we have ever hosted. Elliot is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has published over 130 research articles and 22 books, including the award-winning The Social Animal, now in its 11th edition, and Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me). His latest book is Not by Chance Alone: My Life as a Social Psychologist. On his interview page you’ll find the recording links and a transcript to his classic 2010 interview. In this follow-up interview, “Elliot Aronson Revisited”, he covers the issues that we did not get to on the first interview. This call is wise, funny, authentic and thoroughly worth listening to. You can listen to both interviews and find much fascinating information about Elliot here.

Fred B. Bryant, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Loyola University–Chicago, the world’s leading expert on the psychological experience of savoring, and co-author of Savoring: A New Model of Positive Experience. Savoring is the capacity to attend to the joys, pleasures, and other positive feelings that we experience in our lives. In this wonderful, unpretentious interview, Fred talks about how his interest in savoring grew, how his research was denied publication for years by editors more attuned to pathology, and many specific ways to enhance our ability to savor. An avid mountain climber who has scaled more than 140 peaks higher than 14,000 feet, Fred talks about how savoring flourishes at high altitudes as well! You can listen to Fred’s interview and learn much more about his work here.

Barry Schwartz, Ph.D., is the Dorwin Cartwright Professor of Social Theory and Social Action in the Psychology Department at Swarthmore College, where he has taught for more than 40 years. He is the author of Why We Work, The Paradox of Choice, and Practical Wisdom. His articles have been published in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, the Chronicle of Higher Education, etc. and his four TED Talks have received an astonishing 20,000,000+ views. In this absolutely enjoyable call Barry talks about everything from narcissistic leaders, to Donald Trump, to whether tenured psychology professors actually flourish, to how he and Marty Seligman are outliers, to Angela Duckworth’s unique route to tenure, to the dozens of powerful ideas in Why We Work. You can listen to this delightful interview and learn his latest ideas here.

Bernard “Bernie” Roth, Ph.D.is Rodney H. Adams Professor of Engineering at Stanford University, co-founder of Stanford’s d.school (The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design), and author of The Achievement Habit. As an engineer, Bernie has published widely in the areas of design, kinematics, robotics, creativity and education. However, early in his career at Stanford, he met many Silicon Valley engineers who had dreams of starting their own companies. He noticed they just talked about their dreams. Nothing happened. As a result, he developed and still teaches a wildly popular class focused on helping students move into action on important projects they care about. He has distilled the essence of his 45 years teaching this class in his new book, The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing and Take Command of Your Life. This book was the focus of our interview. You can find extensive information about Bernie’s work and listen to his interview here.

Tom Rath is a Gallup Senior Scientist and Advisor. Not yet 40, he is the author of six New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers including How Full Is Your Bucket, Strengths Finder 2.0, Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes, and his newest book, a synthesis of over a decade of writing and years of research, Are You Fully Charged?: The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life. Coming in the fall, 2015, will be Tom’s first feature-length documentary, Fully Charged, an exceptional film featuring the world’s leading experts on behavioral health, social networks, the psychology of spending, decision-making and behavioral economics, willpower, and the role of meaning in work. You can see the trailer for this film near the top of this page. You can listen to Tom’s exceptional interview and find out more information about his work here.

Michelle Segar, PhD, MPH, is a scientist, coach, Director of the Sport, Health, and Activity Research and Policy Center at the University of Michigan and Chair of the U.S. National Physical Activity Plan’s Communications Committee. A leading expert in health and well-being coaching and in the science of sustainable motivation, Michelle is author No Sweat: How the Simple Science of Motivation Can Bring You a Lifetime of Fitness. Pioneering new approaches to sustainable behavior change in the fitness, health care, and wellness arenas, Michelle’s evidence-based ideas about what motivates people to choose and maintain healthy behaviors is changing the conversation across fields. Frequently quoted in the media, her corporate clients include organizations like Adidas, Walmart, PepsiCo, and Zingerman’s. Michelle’s interview is here.

Edward “Ned” Hallowell, M.D., a child and adult psychiatrist, is a New York Times bestselling author, would-renowned speaker and leading authority in the field of ADHD. He is the founder of The Hallowell Centers for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Sudbury, MA and New York City. He is best known for the ground-breaking books he co-authored with Dr. J

ohn Ratey, Driven to Distraction and Delivered from Distraction. His August 2012 interview about his book, Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People, is here. His May 2015 interview about his latest book, Driven to Distraction at Work: How to focus and be more productive, is here.

Karl A. Pillemer, Ph.D. is the Hazel E. Reed Professor in the Department of Human Development and Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. He directs the Cornell Legacy Project which is systematically collecting data from older Americans regarding practical advice for living. Click here for his April 2012 interview on his book, 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans. For his February 2015 interview on his latest book, 30 Lessons for Loving: Advice from the Wisest Americans on Love, Relationships, and Marriage, click here.

Gabriele Oettingen, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology at New York University and the University of Hamburg. She is the author of over 100 articles and chapters on goal setting, goal engagement and commitment, self-regulatory processes that affect commitment and disengagement, thinking about the future, and the control of cognition, emotion, and behavior. She was educated in Germany and received her PhD from the Ludwig Maximilian Universitat in Munich and the Max-Planck-Institute for Behavioral Physiology in Seewiesen, Germany. Gabriele’s latest book, provides a new, highly effective, evidence-based, approach to goal attainment. It’s called WOOP for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan and can be applied to goal setting, planning, and attainment within educational, institutional, and business settings as well as personal life. People really liked this interview (January, 2015). You can find more information about Gabriele’s work and listen to her interview here.

David J. Rogers is author of the internationally acclaimed best sellers, Waging Business Warfare and Fighting to Win: Samurai Techniques for Your Work and Life. Most of our guests rely, in part, on the evidence of peer-reviewed psychological research. David anchors his work, instead, in the ancient wisdom tradition of the Samurai. Inspired by the untimely death of his brave sister, Sharon, David argues we can learn much by applying Samurai principles to our perennial inner blocks. Her death clarified for him “the difference between small-l “living” and capital –L, gut-level “Living,” and the importance of committing to a life purpose and making it part of every action. He writes a wildly popular blog—davidjrogersftw—read in 139 nations and exploring the issues in Fighting to Win and in the writing process. You can listen to his inspiring interview and learn his latest ideas here.

Susan Pinker is a developmental psychologist whose latest book, The Village Effect: How Face-to-Face Contact Can Make Us Healthier, Happier, and Smarter, shows how face-to-face contact is crucial for learning, happiness, resilience and longevity. A Canadian, she writes about social science for the daily press. She was educated at McGill University and the University of Waterloo, after which she spent 25 years in clinical practice and teaching psychology, first at Dawson College, then at McGill University. Her newspaper columns appeared weekly in Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail from 2002-2012, and her radio columns currently air monthly on the CBC. Her first book about the roots of sex differences in the classroom and the workplace, The Sexual Paradox: Men, Women and the Real Gender Gap, was awarded the most prestigious literary prize offered by the American Psychological Association, The William James Book Award. She lives in Montreal, Canada. You can find more information about Susan’s work and listen to her interview here.

Dan Ariely, PhD is James B. Duke Professor of Psychology & Behavioral Economics, Duke University, with appointments at the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, the Department of Economics, and the School of Medicine. He is a Senior Fellow of the Kenan Institute for Ethics, a founding member of Duke’s Center for Advanced Hindsight, a world-renowned behavioral economist, presenter of four TED talks with a combined 9 million views, and author of the New York Times bestsellers Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty. Check out more information about Dan and listen to his interview here.

Steven Pinker, Ph.D. is an experimental psychologist and one of the world’s foremost writers on language, mind, and human nature. Currently Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, Pinker has also taught at Stanford and MIT. His research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has won prizes from the National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Institution of Great Britain, the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, and the American Psychological Association. He has also received eight honorary doctorates, several teaching awards at MIT and Harvard, and numerous prizes for his ten books, which include The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Stuff of Thought, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and most recently, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. He is Chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, and often writes for The New York Times, Time, and The New Republic. He has been named Humanist of the Year, Prospect magazine’s “The World’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals,” Foreign Policy’s “100 Global Thinkers,” and Time magazine’s “The 100 Most Influential People in the World Today.” Check out more information about Steve and listen to his exceptional interview here.

David G. Myers, PhD is Professor of Psychology at Michigan’s Hope College. A social psychologist, he authored The Pursuit of Happiness: Discovering the Pathway to Fulfillment, Well-Being, and Enduring Personal Joy, the first of the modern trade books which integrated scientific findings on happiness and their application to daily life well before positive psychology was christened and later actively supported Marty Seligman in the early development of the field. An uber-successful author with millions of books in print, he has written 17 books and textbooks. He is also an ardent and award-winning advocate for those with hearing loss. Unafraid of controversy, he has addressed faith in books such as A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God is Good and Faith Isn’t Evil and gay rights in What God Has Joined Together: The Christian Case for Gay Marriage. Known for his seamless, lucid writing style, he also shares in this interview the strategies he used to empower his writing early in his career. For more information about Dave and to listen to his interview, submit your email adress here.

Patricia Wheeler, PhD is a global executive coach, clinical psychologist turned managing partner of the Levin Group, and internationally-recognized expert on senior executive transitions and global team coaching. Patricia is a nationally recognized expert in leadership development and executive coaching, and with more than 20 years of experience focused on helping smart, technically talented executives become more effective leaders, creating high performing teams and developing organizational talent and “bench strength.” Through executive assessment and feedback, talent engagement and executive coaching, Patricia works with leaders around the world helping them hone their skills and executive presence. For more information about Patricia and to listen to her interview, submit your email adress here.

Robert Middleton is a marketing consultant, coach, trainer, writer and designer. For 30 years, as the owner of Action Plan Marketing, Robert has helped thousands of coaches and other independent professionals improve their ability to market without hype, using simple and effective systems for attracting more clients. He is the author of the online bestseller, the InfoGuru Marketing Manual and the WebSite Toolkit. He’s been publishing the More Clients e-zine (an email newsletter) since 1997. His key principles? Communicating with prospective clients using authenticity and sincerity—both important qualities in building trust. You can listen to his interview and learn his latest ideas here.

Kennon M. Sheldon, PhD is Professor of Psychological Science at the University of Missouri-Columbia and an internationally recognized expert on psychological well-being, happiness, and goal setting. A prolific writer and dedicated researcher, Ken has written or edited six books and authored over 150 peer-reviewed empirical research articles. Ken was present at the “birth” of positive psychology–the founding conference in Akumal, Mexico, held in January, 1999, and won the John Templeton Positive Psychology Prize” in 2002 for his contributions to this emerging field of positive psychology. Ken is a leader in research on the science of self-concordance, or pursuing and achieving goals in line with what we individually desire at deeper levels. Failure to set appropriate goals can derail our efforts at goal attainment. Ken’s research has focused on methods of measuring goals and concordance and has identified multiple factors leading to more concordant goal setting. For more information about Ken and to listen to his interview, submit your email adress here.

The Jeff Froh and Giacomo Bono Interview. If there were a wonder drug on the market that got kids to behave better, improve their grades, feel happier, and avoid risky behaviors, parents around the world would be willing to empty their bank accounts to acquire it. Such a miraculous cure already exists. It’s not regulated by the FDA, it has no ill side-effects, it’s absolutely free, and it’s available to anyone at any time. It’s called Gratitude. And it’s the focus of Jeff and Giacomo’s new book, Making Grateful Kids: The Science of Building Character. Dr. Jeffrey J. Froh holds a PsyD degree in School Psychology from St. John’s University. He is currently Associate Professor of Psychology at Hofstra University. Dr. Giacomo Bono holds a Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology from Claremont Graduate University and is Assistant Professor of Psychology at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Along with Robert Emmons, Jeff and Giacomo have received a 3-year $1 million grant from The John Templeton Foundation to study the measurement, development, and enhancement of gratitude in children and adolescents. For extensive resources and links and to hear their interview, submit your email adress here.

Timothy A. Pychyl, PhD an international authority on the study of procrastination, is Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Centre for Initiatives in Education at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and author of Solving the Procrastination Puzzle. Tim’s research is focused on the breakdown in volitional action that we commonly call procrastination–the gap between intention and action towards successful goal completion. Over the past 19 years, Tim and his students have conducted research to better understand how we become our own worst enemies with needless delay. This self-regulation failure has come to be understood as an avoidant coping strategy that provides short-term mood repair to the present self at the expense of the future self. Tim’s current research is exploring the strange dichotomy between our present and future selves and how we can bridge this gap to reduce self-defeating delay and failure in goal achievement. For Tim’s interview transcript and recording submit your email adress here.

Michael F. Steger, PhD, an international authority on the study of meaning and quality of life, is Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology and Applied Social Psychology and Director of Clinical Training at Colorado State University. He received his PhD, with a dual specialization in counseling and personality psychology, from the University of Minnesota in 2005. Mike is the Director for Colorado State University’s Laboratory for the Study of Meaning and Quality of Life, and has spent more than a decade researching the factors that promote human flourishing and ameliorate psychological suffering. He has authored 90+ peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and scholarly publications and co-edited two books: Designing Positive Psychology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward and Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace. Mike lives with his wife and two children near Colorado State University. For more about Mike’s work and for the interview transcript and recording, submit your email adress here.

Robert A. Emmons, PhD is Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Davis and the founding editor and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology. Widely regarded as the world’s foremost expert in the study of gratitude, Bob was has been a key leader in the positive psychology movement from the beginning. He has published 150+ articles for academic and popular media, has had and continues roles as editor, editorial board member and reviewer for 18 other professional journals, and is author or editor of six books including Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier; The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns: Motivation and Spirituality in Personality; Words of Gratitude for Body, Mind and Soul; The Psychology of Gratitude, Studying Persons and Lives; and Gratitude Works!: A 21-Day Program for Creating Emotional Prosperity. For Bob’s 2014 interview, click here. For Bob’s December, 2016 interview on his latest book, The Little Book of Gratitude: Create a Life of Happiness and Wellbeing by Giving Thanks, click here.

Daniel Goleman holds a PhD in psychology from Harvard where his doctoral research was on meditation as an intervention in stress arousal. He always thought he’d be a college professor like both of his parents but after a stint at Psychology Today, he was recruited in 1984 by The New York Times to cover psychology and related science news. He reported on the brain and behavioral sciences at The New York Times for 12 years. His 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence was an outgrowth of his journalistic research on emotions and the brain. It was on The New York Times bestseller list for a year-and-a-half, with more than 5,000,000 copies in print worldwide. He’s written many other books over the years. His latest is Focus: the Hidden Driver of Excellence. This interview includes an excellent transcript with embedded links and photographs. For many resources about Dan’s work and the interview transcript and audio recording, submit your email adress here.

G. Richard Shell, JD is Thomas Gerrity Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics and Management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and author of the new book, Springboard: Launching Your Personal Search For Success. Springboard and Richard’s interview specifically focus on “success”–how to define it and how to attain it. His work is based both on research and on years of teaching the wildly popular, university-wide Wharton success class. He serves as the Chair of the Legal Studies and Business Ethics Department and led the Wharton’s most recent innovation process to completely redesign its MBA program. He is the author of two earlier books Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People and (with Mario Moussa) The Art of Woo: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas. For more information about Richard and to listen to his exceptional interview, submit your email adress here.

Mahzarin Banaji, PhD is Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and co-author of the new book, Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People. The eminent Harvard psychologist, Dan Gilbert, describes Mahzarin as “one of the most celebrated, most cited, and most influential social psychologists of her generation for good reason–her work on unconscious bias has revolutionized how we think about the topic.” She is also an award-winning teacher devoted to undergraduate and graduate education, serving as Director of Undergraduate Studies at Yale and as Head Tutor at Harvard. Her interview was superb—engaging, eloquent, self-revealing, entertaining; some listeners said it was the best interview we’ve ever had. For more information about Mahzarin and to listen to her interview, submit your email adress here.

Laura King, PhD is Professor of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Laura is one of the world’s leading experts on the study of meaning in life. A 2001 recipient of the Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, Laura has published over 90 articles and chapters and two user-friendly college textbooks, The Science of Psychology (currently in its 3rd edition) and Experience Psychology (now in its 2nd edition) both of which have an appreciative focus, looking at “what works” before examining what doesn’t, exploring function before dysfunction. She currently serves as editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Personality Processes and Individual Differences. This was a great interview. People loved it. For more information about Laura and to listen to her interview, submit your email adress here.

William R. “Bill” Miller is a founder of Motivational Interviewing and Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico. He has published 50 books and over 400 articles and book chapters. Perhaps his most influential book is Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change, just published in its third edition. Fundamentally interested in the psychology of change, Bill’s work has focused on behavioral treatments for addiction. However, the skills and principles of motivational interviewing are also extraordinarily useful to coaches and all other change agents. Bill maintains an active interest in pastoral counseling and the integration of spirituality and psychology. The Institute for Scientific Information lists him as one of the world’s most cited scientists. To hear Bill’s interview, submit your email adress here.

Todd Kashdan, PhD and Joseph Ciarrochi, PhD field questions on their new book, Mindfulness, Acceptance & Positive Psychology: The Seven Foundations of Well-Being. Todd is Professor of Psychology at George Mason, author of 120+ peer reviewed journal articles and Curious? Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life and co-editor of Designing Positive Psychology.

Joseph Ciarrochi is Professor of Psychology at the University of Western Sydney. He is a leading figure in research on ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and his books and papers on emotional intelligence are among the most highly cited in the EI area. Joe recently taught Mindfulness, Acceptance & Positive Psychology—The Master Class (available by recording). He has published six books and is the president of the global Association for Behavioral Science. To hear their bi-continental interview, submit your email adress here.

Adam Grant, PhD, is the youngest tenured professor at The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania, and a leading expert on success, work motivation, and helping and giving behaviors. He has been recognized as Wharton’s single-highest-rated teacher, one of the world’s 40 best business professors under 40, and one of Business Week’s favorite professors. He teaches management to aspiring business leaders, but his primary concern is for the success and well-being of people in organizations. He is the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success (2013). To hear Adam’s exceptional interview, submit your email adress here.

Steven C. Hayes, PhD. is the Nevada Foundation Professor of Psychology at the University of Nevada. An author of 36 books and over 500 scientific articles, his career has focused on an analysis of the nature of human language and cognition and the application of this to the understanding and alleviation of human suffering. As part of this effort, Steve developed “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy”–a powerful therapeutic approach that can not only be applied to disorders such as depression, anxiety, and weight control but is also eminently useful in coaching. Steve’s popular book Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life was featured in Time Magazine, and for a time was the number one bestselling book in the United States, with ratings even above Harry Potter. For more information about Steve and to listen to his interview, submit your email adress here.

Barbara L. Fredrickson, Ph.D. is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Principal Investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She is an internationally acclaimed scholar within social psychology, affective science, and positive psychology. In 2000 she received the $100,000 Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology for her work on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. She is the author of the bestselling book, Positivity (2009). Her latest book is Love 2.0: How our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Think, Do, Feel, and Become (2013). You can find much information about Barb’s work and read the first chapter of Love 2.0 here. Her interview received rave reviews, among the most positive we’ve seen. To listen to it, submit your email adress here.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, where she teaches courses in social psychology and positive psychology. Her teaching and mentoring of students have been recognized with the Faculty of the Year and Faculty Mentor of the Year Awards. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Positive Psychology and author of the best-selling The How of Happiness (2008). Her latest book is The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn’t, What Shouldn’t Make You Happy, but Does (2013), For more information about Sonja and to listen to her interview, submit your email address here.

Richard J. “Richie” Davidson, Ph.D. is the William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, Director of the Waisman Laboratory for Brain Imaging and Behavior and the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience, and Founder and Chair of the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the Waisman Center, a research center within the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison which is dedicated to the study of positive qualities (such as kindness and compassion), how they develop, and how they might be nurtured. The Dalai Lama attended the Center’s grand opening, and in May 2010 made an unsolicited grant from his personal trust of $50,000 to further the Center’s research mission. Richie has published more than 275 articles, many chapters and reviews and edited 13 books. He is the author (with Sharon Begley) of The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live–and How You Can Change Them. To hear Richie’s interview, you can submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording here.

Jonathan Haidt, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Social Psychology area of the Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville. For the 2011-2012 academic year–during this interview–he is serving as the Henry Kaufman Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at the NYU-Stern School of Business in New York City. In 2001, Jon received the $100K Grand Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology. In 2002 with Corey Keyes, he co-edited Flourishing: Positive Psychology and the Life Well Lived. In 2005, he published the highly-acclaimed book, The Happiness Hypothesis.

In this interview, Jon discusses his newest book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (2012). Given the current US political climate of demonizing, polarization, and conflict evident in the Presidential primary process, the debates, and the ongoing Congressional logjams, it is, unsurprisingly, a fascinating call. To hear Jon’s interview, you can submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording here.

Roy F. Baumeister, Ph.D. is internationally known for his research in social psychology that spans topics ranging from the human need to belong and the effects of rejection to how people seek to make their lives meaningful to the essence of the relationship between the individual and society. In his latest book, Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strengths, Dr. Baumeister collaborates with New York Times science writer John Tierney to revolutionize our understanding of the most coveted human virtue: self-control. For additional information about Roy and to listen to his intriguing interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Margaret Greenberg, MAPP & Senia Maymin, PhD, MAPP are co-authors of Profit from the Positive. Margaret, an executive coach, worked for 15 years in Human Resources for a large food retailer and two financial organizations. For the last 16 years, she has coached individuals, partnerships, and teams using a strengths-based approach. She writes a column for Positive Psychology News Daily.

Senia, an executive coach, has worked in finance on Wall Street and in technology. She is the author of Resilience: How to Navigate Life’s Curves, and Gratitude: How to Appreciate Life’s Gifts and is editor of the Positive Psychology News. For their interview, submit your email address here.

Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized motivational psychologist and writer, a social psychologist and Associate Director of the Motivation Science Center at the Columbia University Business School. She blogs for Fast Company, The Huffington Post, and Psychology Today and is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review. Her books Succeed: How We Can All Reach Our Goals and Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, and her latest book, Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence have consistently received terrific reviews. (1) For more information about Heidi and to listen to her May, 2011 interview, click here. (2) For her March, 2012 interview, click here. (3) And for her June 2013 interview, click here.

John R. Trimble, Ph.D. is an internationally acclaimed writing teacher and author. He is currently University of Texas Distinguished Teaching Professor of English Emeritus. John is the author of the exceptional book Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing, which has gone through 40 printings, over half a million copies, and is now in its third edition. This interview received extraordinarily high ratings. If you care about writing, if you want to write better, you should consider listening. For additional information about John and to listen to his interview, you can submit your email address here and instantly receive the links to his recording.

Dr. Amy Wrzesniewski (rez-NESS-key) is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior in the School of Management at Yale University. For almost two decades, Amy’s research has focused on how people make meaning of their work in challenging work contexts or conditions. How can they reframe their work in a more positive and meaningful way if they are employed in stigmatized or low-level occupations, if they are isolated from coworkers and communicating only virtually, or if they are out of work altogether? She has documented differences in the experience of work depending on whether work is regarded as a job, a career, or a calling and, based on this research, creates practical tools to help people become more active participants in the design of their work lives. For additional information about Amy and to listen to her interview, you can submit your email address here and instantly receive the links to her recording.

Phil Zimbardo, Ph.D., is perhaps the most distinguished psychologist alive today, having served as President of the American Psychological Association, designed and narrated the award winning PBS series, Discovering Psychology, and published several hundred professional articles and fifty books. His latest book is The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life (Free Press, 2009). A professor emeritus at Stanford University, Zimbardo has spent nearly 50 years teaching and studying psychology. His areas of focus include time perspective, shyness, evil and madness.

Daniel Gilbert, Ph.D., is the Harvard College Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and Director of Harvard’s Hedonic Psychology Laboratory. He has published numerous scientific articles and chapters, several short works of fiction, and is the editor of The Handbook of Social Psychology. He has been been awarded the Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology by the American Psychological Association, fellowships from both the Guggenheim Foundation and the American Philosophical Society, and has been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Research in the Behavioral Sciences. He is author of the bestselling book, Stumbling on Happiness (Vintage, 2007). For much more information and to listen to his interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, and one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of motivation. Her research has highlighted the critical role of mindsets for success in business, sports, and education, and for self-regulation and persistence on difficult tasks in general. Her recent book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Ballantine, 2007) has been widely acclaimed and is being translated into 17 languages. She has also co-developed Brainology (www.brainology.us), an award winning online program that helps middle school and high school students gain confidence and motivation to learn by teaching them about the brain, how to strengthen it, and how to apply brain-friendly study skills. For much more information and to listen to his her interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording

Ellen Langer, Ph.D., is a world renowned professor of psychology at Harvard University. Her most recent book, Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility (Ballantine, 2009), is currently being adapted for a movie with Jennifer Aniston. Dr. Langer has also written the bestselling books, Mindfulness: The Power of Mindful Learning (De Capo, 1990), and On Becoming An Artist (Ballantine, 2006). She has described her work on the illusion of control, aging, decision-making, and mindfulness theory in over 200 research articles and six academic books. For extensive information about Ellen and to listen to her wonderful interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Gary P. Latham, PhD is the Secretary of State Professor of Organizational Effectiveness at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. He is widely viewed as one of the world’s leading experts in the field of organizational behavior and goal setting theory. His contributions to organizational behavior have changed the field, both theoretically and empirically. His work on goal-setting has made fundamental contributions to both the area of motivation and self-regulation and makes him a household name to students and scholars in organizational behavior. Gary’s latest books are New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance with Ed Locke, Becoming The Evidenced Based Manager; and Work Motivation. For additional information about Gary and to listen to his interview, submit your email address here.

Gabriele Oettingen, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at New York University in New York City. She is the author of 100 articles and chapters on goal setting, goal engagement and commitment, and self-regulatory processes that affect commitment and disengagement. She was educated in Germany and received her Ph.D. from the Ludwig-Maximillans-Universitat in Munich and Max-Planck-Institute for Behavioral Physiology, in Seewiesen. Gabriele has done significant research on Mental Contrasting, a process that couples imagining future goals with realistic assessment of perceived present obstacles to reaching them. Gabriele’s research suggests that Mental Contrasting can be very effective when chances of success are perceived to be high and can also help people disengage from their goals and replace them if they have little confidence that they can achieve them. To hear Gabriele’s interview, you can submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording here.

Peter Bregman is the CEO of Bregman Partners, Inc., a global management consulting firm which advises CEOs and their leadership teams. Peter is the author of five books including 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done, winner of the Gold Medal from the Axiom Business Book awards, named the best business book of the year on NPR, and selected by Publisher’s Weekly and the New York Post as a top 10 business book of the year. Peter received his BA from Princeton and his MBA from Columbia University. He began his career teaching leadership on wilderness and mountaineering expeditions. He then moved into the consulting field with the Hay Group and Accenture, before starting Bregman Partners in 1998. Peter has advised CEO and senior leaders in many of the world’s premier organizations, including Allianz, American Express, Brunswick Group, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan Chase, FEI, GE Capital, Merck, Clear Channel, Nike, UNICEF, and many others. To hear Peter’s interview, you can submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording here.

Angela Lee Duckworth, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. Angela studies non-IQ competencies, including grit and self-control, that predict success both academically and professionally. Her research populations have included West Point cadets, National Spelling Bee finalists, novice teachers, salespeople, and students.
Angela’s research centers on self-control (the ability to regulate emotions, thoughts, and feelings in the service of valued goals) and grit (perseverance and sustained interest in long-term goals. For more than 40 links to Angela’s work and to hear her interview, you can submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording, here.

Timothy Wilson, Ph.D. is the Sherrell J. Aston Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia and a researcher of positive psychology and affective forecasting. His latest book is Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change. Of Redirect, Harvard’s Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, says, “This glorious book shimmers with insights–an instant classic that will be discussed and quoted for generations.”
To hear Tim’s interview, you can submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording here.

Peter Gollwitzer, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology at New York University and Professor of Social Psychology and Motivation at the University of Konstanz. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on goal attainment and motivation. He is currently studying the psychology of action, self and identity, specifically the question of how goals and plans affect cognition and behavior. He is the co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Human Action and of The Psychology of Action. To hear Peter’s interview, you can submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording here.

Gretchen Rubin is the author of The Happiness Project, an instant and #1 New York Times bestseller. Filled with practical advice, sharp insight, charm, and humor, The Happiness Project is both illuminating and entertaining. Gretchen also writes a popular blog, The Happiness Project in which she reports on her daily adventures in the pursuit of happiness. Gretchen has a wide, enthusiastic following. Happiness Project groups have sprung up from Los Angeles to Enid, Oklahoma to Boston, where people meet to discuss their own happiness projects. More than a dozen blogs have been launched by people who are following Gretchen’s example. For further information about Gretchen and to listen to her exciting interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Derek Sivers is best known as the founder of CD Baby. A professional musician (and circus clown) since 1987, Derek started CD Baby by accident in 1998 when he was selling his own CD on his website, and friends asked if he could sell theirs, too. CD Baby was the largest seller of independent music on the web, with over $100M in sales for over 150,000 musician clients. In 2008 in his 30’s, Derek sold CD Baby for $22 Million, which he largely gave away. Now his focus is on his new ventures to benefit musicians, including his new company MuckWork where teams of efficient assistants help musicians do their “uncreative dirty work”. For extensive information about Derek and to listen to his inspiring interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Karl A. Pillemer, Ph.D. is the Hazel E. Reed Professor in the Department of Human Development and Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. He directs the Cornell Legacy Project which is systematically collecting data from older Americans regarding practical advice for living. His latest book is 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans, which has received significant national and international attention. For more information about Karl and to listen to his April, 2012 interview, click here.

Alex Linley, Ph.D., is recognized internationally as a leading expert on positive psychology and its applications. As founding director of the Centre of Applied Positive Psychology, Alex works as an organizational consultant bringing to bear his expertise and practical insight in the applications of strengths psychology to organizational development and people practices. Alex has written, co-written, or edited more than 130 research papers and book chapters, and six books, including Positive Psychology in Practice (Wiley, 2004) and The Strengths Book (CAPP Press, 2010). He has served as Associate Editor of the Encyclopaedia of Positive Psychology and the Journal of Positive Psychology, and is currently Co-Editor of the International Coaching Psychology Review. For much more information and to listen to his interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., , currently a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, is widely regarded as the world’s foremost expert in the study of gratitude. He serves as the founding editor and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Positive Psychology. He is co-editor of The Psychology of Gratitude (Oxford University Press, 2004), and author of The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns (Guilford Press, 2003), and THANKS!: How The New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier (Houghton-Mifflin, 2007). For more about Bob’s work and for his 2014 interview, click here.

Todd Kashdan, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at George Mason University. He has been active in the positive psychology movement since 2000, when he taught one of the first college courses on the science of happiness. Todd is a central figure in positive psychology research, co-editor of the book Designing the Future of Positive Psychology (Oxford University Press, 2011), and associate editor of the Journal of Positive Psychology. He is the author of Curious? Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling Life (William Morrow, 2009). For much more information and to listen to his interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Dacher Keltner , Ph.D., is an extraordinary, renowned professor of psychology at UC Berkeley whose research focuses on two time-honored questions. A first is the biological and evolutionary origins of human emotion, with a special concentration on compassion, awe, love, and beauty, and how emotions shape all kinds of judgments. A second is the study of power, status and social class, and the nature of moral intuitions. Dacher [pronounced “dakker”] is the co-author of two best-selling textbooks, one on human emotion, the other on social psychology, as well as Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life, published in 2009 by WW Norton Publishers, and The Compassionate Instinct, published by WW Norton in 2010. For much more information and to listen to his interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Mike Frisch, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology and former Director of Clinical Training at Baylor University. For twenty years, Mike has been a professor, researcher, therapist, and positive psychology coach. He founded the The Oral History and Education Project of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies to preserve the legacies of preeminent well-being researchers. He is the author of the award winning Quality of Life Therapy: Applying a Life Satisfaction Approach to Positive Psychology and Cognitive Therapy (Wiley, 2005) and co-author of Creating Your Best Life (Sterling, 2009).

Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D., is currently Professor of Psychology at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzilya, Israel. A leading proponent of positive psychology, he is an international management consultant, a veteran of the Israeli army, and the author of five books including Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment (McGraw-Hill, 2007). Tal graduated from Harvard College, studied at Cambridge University in England, and received his Ph.D. from Harvard in Organizational Behavior. Tal shot to national prominence in 2006 when his course, “Positive Psychology,” had exploded in size to an enrollment of 855 students, the largest class in Harvard’s history. For much more information and to listen to his interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Kate Hays, Ph.D.  The 2009 interview.  Kate has been practicing psychology since 1971, first in New Hampshire and currently in Toronto. With a background in clinical psychology (Ph.D. from Boston University), for the past 25 years she has developed expertise in Sport Psychology, and more recently, the emerging field of Performance Psychology. Dr. Hays has lectured widely throughout North America, England, and Australia. Her latest book, Performance Psychology in Action (APA, 2009), complements the co-authored You’re On! Consulting for Peak Performance (APA, 2004). Read her Psychology Today blog, The Edge: Peak Performance Psychology, here.  To hear Kate’s 2009 interview, click here.

Shelly Gable, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Gable’s research focuses on motivation, close relationships, and positive emotions. Her work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Positive Psychology Network. She is currently funded by a National Science Foundation CAREER grant for newer investigators. She serves on the editorial board of several journals and received a distinguished teaching award from the Psychology Department at UCLA. In 2005 she received the Early Career Award from the Close Relationships Group of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology; and in 2006 she received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Stephen Joseph, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology, Health & Social Care at the University of Nottingham, where he is co-director of the Centre for Trauma, Resilience, and Growth, and an Honorary Consultant Psychologist in Psychotherapy in Nottinghamshire HealthCare NHS Trust. Stephen’s research interests are in the study of traumatic stress, resilience and growth following adversity, and in positive psychological applications to therapy. Stephen is co-editor with Alex Linley of Positive Psychology in Practice (Wiley, 2004), and co-author with Linley of Positive Therapy: A Meta-Theory for Positive Psychological Practice (Routledge, 2006).

Daniel H. Pink, J.D., is the author of four provocative books about the changing world of work, including the New York Times bestsellers, A Whole New Mind (Riverhead, 2006) and Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (Riverhead, 2009), which together have been translated into 28 languages. His articles on business and technology appear in many publications, including the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Wired, where he is a contributing editor. Dan has provided analysis of business trends on CNN, CNBC, ABC, NPR, and other networks in the U.S. and abroad. He also lectures to corporations, associations, and universities around the world on economic transformation and the new workplace. For much more information and to listen to his interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Carol Tavris, Ph.D., is an acclaimed social psychologist, writer, and lecturer who has sought to educate the public about the important contributions of psychological science and to explain how pseudoscience can lead us astray at best and, at worst, cause enormous personal and social harm. Her latest book, with Elliot Aronson, is Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts (Mariner, 2008), which has been translated into 11 languages. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science, and on the editorial board of Psychological Science in the Public Interest. For much more information and to listen to her interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Anthony Grant, Ph.D., is a coaching psychologist. In January 2000, Anthony established the world’s first Coaching Psychology Unit at the School of Psychology at Sydney University where he currently serves as Director. The unit offers certificates and masters degrees in Coaching Psychology, Organizational Coaching, and Applied Positive Psychology. He served as consultant to ABC’s hit TV series, “Making Australia Happy”, and his coaching research and practice have frequently been reported in international media. He has co-written and co-edited seven books on evidence-based coaching and has many coaching related publications in the peer reviewed and professional press. His books on coaching have been translated into eight languages, and he is widely recognized as a key pioneer of coaching psychology. For much more information and to listen to his interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Tayyab Rashid, Ph.D. is the Director of Applied Research for the Values in Action Institute, a position he balances with his post as psychologist with the Toronto District School Board. Tayyab is a trainer in positive interventions with the Positive Psychology Centre at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, where he completed his pre-and post-doctoral clinical training with Marty Seligman. During this training, Tayyab devised and empirically tested a new treatment for depression called Positive Psychotherapy (PPT) which treats depression by building positive emotions, character strengths, and meaning. His research has won several awards and has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has also been featured in Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, Globe & Mail and Toronto Star. For much more information and to listen to his interview, click here. You’ll be able to submit your email address and instantly receive the links to the recording.

Suzann (“Suzie”) Pileggi Pawelski, MAPP, has a Master of Applied Positive Psychology degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a freelance writer and well-being consultant specializing in the science of happiness and its effects on relationships and health. Her 2010 Scientific American Mind cover story, “The Happy Couple,” was the catalyst for this book. Suzie writes the “Science of Well-being” column for Live Happy, where she is also a contributing editor. She has given “Romance and Research” (TM) workshops around the world with her husband James. Previously, she directed award-winning media relations campaigns for Fortune 500 clients, worked in publicity at Radio City Music Hall and was an associate producer for HBO Downtown Productions and The Joan Rivers Show.

James Pawelski, Ph.D., is Professor of Practice and Director of Education in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania where he co-founded the Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program with Martin Seligman. The Founding Executive Director of IPPA, he is currently leading a three-year, multi-million-dollar grant investigating connections between the science of well-being and the arts and humanities. An international keynote speaker, he has presented in more than 20 countries on 6 continents, including “Romance and Research” (TM) workshops with his wife Suzie. He is frequently featured in the media, including the New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Today Show.

Bryan Dik, PhD, an international authority on the study of work as a calling, is Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University. Bryan has spent more than a decade studying perceptions of work as a calling, the role of faith in career decision-making and planning, career counseling interventions, and measurement of vocational interests. He is co-author of Make Your Job a Calling: How the Psychology of Vocation can Change Your Life at Work and co-editor of Psychology of Religion and Workplace Spirituality; and Purpose and Meaning in the Workplace. His latest book is Redeeming Work: A Guide to Discovering God’s Calling For Your Career (Templeton, 2020). He is a winner of the 2010 Early Career Professional Award from the Society for Vocational Psychology. Bryan is also a co-founder and Chief Science Officer at jobZology, a company based in Fort Collins, CO.