Positive Psychology

Caroline Miller is proud to be one of a handful of men and women from around the world who were admitted into the only Masters program in the world offered in this exciting area. In 2005, the University of Pennsylvania admitted its inaugural class for this prestigious degree, and Ms. Miller is one of a handful of coaches who are now trained by Dr. Seligman and other prominent professors to apply positive psychology in coaching.

In recent years, there has been an increasing emphasis on identifying what’s “right” with people instead of diagnosing what’s “wrong,” and assigning a medical diagnosis to be addressed through therapy. Dr. Martin Seligman, past president of the American Psychological Association and the acknowledged father of the Positive Psychology movement, has been credited with spearheading this important change, which has allowed practitioners in various professions to help clients change their lives by focusing on more on values, strengths and dreams instead of deficit-based solutions that focus on fixing what’s “wrong.”


	Caroline Miller and Marty Seligman, past President of the American Psychology Association and the acknowledged father of the Positive Psychology Movement, at the Positive Psychology Conference in Washington, D.C. in October 2005.

The field of coaching is ideally situated to take advantage of this shift, because the research that is now being assembled offers this profession an opportunity to base its future work upon robust scientific findings. Coaches who are trained in the field of Positive Psychology can help clients in new, evidence-based ways to:

• Increase and amplify positive emotions for significant change
• Identify client strengths and their potential application in goal achievement
• Create opportunities for “flow” and understand their significance in life
• Increase hope, motivation, resilience and optimism
• Learn to prime the environment to assist in goal accomplishment
• Learn why the ratio of positive to negative comments has a profound impact in relationships, work environments, and personal life
• And much more

Caroline Miller and Chris Peterson, PhD, at Caroline's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2006. Dr. Peterson is the co-author of “Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification” with Dr. Seligman and author of “A Primer in Positive Psychology” .

“A Primer in Positive Psychology” by Chris Peterson