Positive Psychology Leader Series: live webinars and audience Q&A with leaders in the field!

About the Series:

The Positive Psychology Leader Series features live webinars and audience Q&A with leading practitioners and researchers in the field.

IPPA members receive exclusive invitations to these regular webinars.

Do you want to pitch a potential presenter? The Series welcomes researchers and practitioners who work would be of interest to members. Email info@ippanetwork.org

March Presenter:

Harnessing Positive Emotion for Healthy Behavior Change with Judith Moskowitz, Ph.D., MPH

Abstract: How can positive psychology help people respond to significant life stress in a healthier way? IPPA President, Dr. Judith Moskowitz, is a social and health psychologist whose work sheds light on this important question. In this webinar, Dr. Moskowitz will share her research findings on the adaptive role that positive emotion can play in helping people cope with significant physical illnesses, and then extrapolate that knowledge more broadly to support positive behavior change (e.g., increasing exercise, reducing substance use). She will also discuss the positive emotion skills intervention that her team has tested in people experiencing various types of life stress. This webinar will be of interest to everyone, but especially to dementia caregivers and people experiencing health-related stress.

Biography: Judy is a social / health psychologist who conducts patient-oriented research regarding behavioral and psychosocial factors in the context of significant illness or other life stress. Her current research is focused on the adaptive role of positive emotion regulation for support of beneficial health behavior change (such as diet and physical activity) and prevention of maladaptive health behaviors (such as substance abuse.)

Funded by NCCIH, NIA, NIMH, NIDDK, NIDA, and NINR, she examines the unique adaptive role of positive emotion in the process of coping with various types of health-related and other life stress and, through randomized trials, determine whether a positive emotion regulation intervention developed by her team can increase positive affect, reduce stress and depression, and improve health behaviors in at-risk samples.

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Meet the Production Team

Caroline Adams Miller, MAPP
Host, Positive Psychology Leader Series

Read Caroline's Bio

Caroline is one of the world’s leading experts on the science behind successful goal setting and the use of ‘good grit’ to achieve hard things. Caroline used grit to help overcome her personal battle with bulimia, and today she has more than three decades of unbroken recovery. Caroline has a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, and teaches at Wharton Business School’s Executive Education program. Caroline is the author of six books, including Positively Caroline (Cogent 2013), Getting Grit (Sounds True 2017) and Creating Your Best Life (Sterling 2009).

Jodi Wellman
Associate Producer, Positive Psychology Leader Series

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Jodi Wellman is a co-founder of the coaching firm Happy Work Spectacular Life, where she helps individuals and companies create stunningly spectacular success through their work. Jodi is a leadership coach and consultant with 17 years of corporate experience spanning executive roles in operations, sales and customer retention.

Prior to starting Happy Spectacular, Jodi was Senior Vice President of Operations at a leading health and lifestyle organization. Jodi was also a Chair at Vistage International, where she led a private CEO advisory board and coached executives to improve bottom-line results, execution and leadership performance. She has successfully led strategic initiatives focused on culture development, growth/new business development, organizational change and restructuring, and has general management/P&L accountability.

Jodi is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach with CTI and a Professional Certified Coach with ICF. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Athabasca University. Jodi and her firm work with Reebok, HCSC Blue Cross Blue Shield, Payday Loans, and a host of privately held financial services, REITs, and professional services firms.

Jodi brings to clients a corporate executive’s perspective and understanding of their issues, along with the coaching expertise that challenges clients out of their comfort zones in order to grow, think differently, get out of their own way, solve their issues, and win.

Jenny C. Brennan, MAPP
Director, Positive Psychology Leader Series

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Jenny C. Brennan, MAPP, is a research-practitioner, nonprofit consultant and strategist, whose work advances the application of positive psychology at both the individual and systems levels to support human well-being and social good.

Currently, Ms. Brennan serves as Director of Year-Round Programming to the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) where she oversees the Divisions Program and Learning Library, contributes to numerous capacity-building and communication initiatives, and produces the Positive Psychology Leader Series.

For 15 years prior, Ms. Brennan managed award-winning integrated marketing and public education campaigns for organizations such as the American Red Cross, University of Pennsylvania, and Lifetime Television’s Stop Violence Against Women initiative. Her work helped to impact policy and to inspire measurable action on the part of consumers. She earned a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012.