Learn how to incorporate resilience interventions into your personal and professional life with Dr. Karen Reivich. In this course, you are exposed to the foundational research in resilience, including protective factors such as mental agility and optimism. Several types of resilience interventions are explored including cognitive strategies; strategies to manage anxiety and increase positive emotions such as gratitude; and a critical relationship enhancement skill. Throughout the course, you will hear examples of individuals using resilience skills in their personal and professional lives. Suggested prerequisites: Positive Psychology: Martin E. P. Seligman’s Visionary Science, Positive Psychology: Applications and Interventions and Positive Psychology: Character, Grit & Research Methods.
This course is part of the Foundations of Positive Psychology Specialization
Offered By
Foundations of Positive Psychology SpecializationUniversity of PennsylvaniaAbout this Course
Learner Career Outcomes
20%
29%
What you will learn
Understand the protective factors that make one resilient
Describe thinking traps and how they undercut resilience
Make use of non-cognitive strategies that decrease anxiety
Create a buffer of positivity that boosts resilience in stressful situations
Skills you will gain
Learner Career Outcomes
20%
29%
Offered by
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (commonly referred to as Penn) is a private university, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. A member of the Ivy League, Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and considers itself to be the first university in the United States with both undergraduate and graduate studies.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Resilience and Optimism
In this module, you will learn the definition of resilience and understand the protective factors that make one resilient. You will differentiate between helplessness and mastery orientations, and understand the thinking styles underlying each. You will summarize major outcomes of optimism, and the mediators of those outcomes, as well as assess your own levels of optimism, using a questionnaire. Finally, you will hear about personal and organizational outcomes of optimism, and will be able to apply these concepts to your own life.
Cognitive Approaches to Resilience: Strategies to Increase Optimism and Resilient Thinking
In this module, you will learn about thinking traps and how they undercut resilience. You will learn about five common thinking traps and identify which you are prone to, in addition to the effects of those styles of thinking. You will practice Real-Time Resilience, a strategy to challenge non-resilient thinking. Finally, you will hear about personal and organizational outcomes of optimism, and plan how to apply these concepts to your own life.
Managing Anxiety and Increasing Positive Emotions Like Gratitude
In this module, you will learn the definition of catastrophic thinking and identify the effects it has on physiology, attention and contingency planning. You will experiment with several non-cognitive strategies to decrease anxiety, including Deliberate Breathing. You will be introduced to the Broaden and Build theory of positive emotions, and will be able to describe the effects of positive emotions on resilience. Finally, you will relate research and examples of gratitude to your own life and develop a plan for a gratitude practice.
Leveraging Character Strengths and Strengthening Relationships
In this module, you will identify your own character strengths using a well-validated questionnaire. Next, you will describe how to use your character strengths in stressful situations to increase resilience by creating a buffer of positive emotion. Additionally, you will learn the research on active constructive responding, and identify their predominant responding style with important people in their lives. Finally, you will hear examples of inculcating resilience into organizations, and plan how to incorporate resilience strategies into your personal and professional lives.
Reviews
TOP REVIEWS FROM POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY: RESILIENCE SKILLS
I truly felt like I was in a classroom learning all the material! I greatly appreciated all of the real-world applications and hearing all of the different perspectives throughout each week and topic!
Excellent! There was some common sense here, but plenty of new data and tools anyone can use in both their personal and professional life. A must for every human who wants to get the most out of life.
As always, very impressed with the coursework and the Professors. I will use each topic in my day-to-day life and continue to encourage others too. Thank you for taking the time to create this MOOC.
The course was really good. I had some idea of mindfulness but the course brought up some refreshing new concepts on resilience and it turned out to be really useful for me. Thank you so much Karen!
About the Foundations of Positive Psychology Specialization
The University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman welcome you to Foundations of Positive Psychology. Our five-course specialization provides you with the key theories and research in the field of positive psychology as well as opportunities for application.
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