Modern science has been used to create new things and to resolve old problems.  Yet, can science help you heal a broken heart?  Amelie Chance thinks so.  She’s so certain of the link between science – specifically positive psychology – and its potential to mend a broken heart that she’s created an entire course about it.

Amelie Chance is the author of the Step to Heal course, designed to help its users get over the pain and stagnation of a broken heart and retake control of their lives.  This compassionate and action-driven course offers something different from competing products, by relying on the science of positive psychology to deliver results.

Positive psychology is a relatively new branch of the psychology field.  It primarily concerns itself with human meaning, fulfillment, and engagement by examining how to increase positive emotions rather than decrease negative ones.  Positive psychology has roots in the happiness research conducted by some of history’s most notable humanistic psychologists, such as Abraham Maslow (father of the famed “Hierarchy of Needs”).  These psychologists recognized the importance of happiness and fulfillment for true mental health and maximized human potential, which later birthed positive psychology.

Amelie Chance is a Certified Coach of Positive Psychology, has suffered the overwhelming heartbreak of divorce, as well as its devastating aftereffects.  This particular combination of skills has allowed her to not only put forth a system of well-defined steps in her course, but also to present the material in a way that users can fully grasp and begin implementing right away. In my evaluation of the course, I found the negative aspects of a break-up are not ignored. Rather, things like jealousy, anxiety, panic, loneliness are approached from a different point of view. From a positive psychology standpoint, the solutions seem to be more powerful.

Step to Heal is comprised of 15 different steps, delivered in video format to improve users’ ability to grasp and retain its material.  The course also includes a workbook, used to further reinforce the principles of the system.

Amelie Chance’s system does take a positive approach to healing a broken heart, but it’s also steeped in practicality.  Step to Heal not only talks about what to do after your lover’s left, but also includes timely information like how you can get over a broken heart when you and your ex are still living together.  Attention to details like these help stand out as an insightful and effective system to bounce back from heartbreak.

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Recent research in the field of positive psychology provides many useful tools that promote good mental health, but these same tools can be used to improve parenting and provide children with the tools they need to succeed and enjoy a strong sense of well being and contentment throughout life.

Personal Strength: In the field of positive psychology, the special skills and abilities that people have that make them unique are called their signature strengths. Focusing on the development of these signature strengths in your children can help them feel more confident and have better self-esteem. In addition, it helps them express and celebrate their own individuality in ways that will enable and empower them throughout life.

Control: Having control and autonomy over one’s own space provides a level of confidence and self esteem that cannot be gained in other ways. Parents who allow their children to self-express with their image, identity, and room décor can be used as an ongoing way to promote self esteem as well as an intervention tool to reach a child who is struggling and needs something to help anchor him or her.

Philanthropy: From a very early age, you can teach your children the value of philanthropy. From encouraging them to donate their old toys to people in need to making it a part of your routine to donate time to worthy causes, you can teach your children to value philanthropy. Even families with limited resources can share a skill or donate spare change to a worthy organization. The benefits to children raised in households who value philanthropy are enormous, improving self esteem, confidence, and tolerance.

Exercise: Encouraging your children to develop healthy habits and active lifestyles not only improve their physical health but their mental cognition and academic ability as well. Exercise helps children learn to manage stress effectively and gives them an outlet for emotional stress.

Positive Thinking: Encouraging your children to think positively about their lives can help them overcome even their worst fears. Help your children learn how to envision success, picture what they want to accomplish, and think clearly about what they need to do to achieve their goals. When they have moments of disappointment and frustration, help them see the positive in the experience.

Good Days: At the end of each day, talk to your children and help them reflect on their day and think about the things that made it a good day. By ending each day thinking about what happened that made them happy, you can help them learn to accentuate the positive events in their lives.

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The economy and unemployment situation in the U.S. has led to increased stress across the country. Mental health professionals and medical doctors are reporting higher levels of stress and stress related illnesses in many of their patients. The stress of not being able to adequately provide for a family, meet financial obligations, or find a job is wearing on millions.

Positive psychology offers an approach that helps alleviate stress and boost confidence by giving patients the ability to address their symptoms without turning to medications that often have unpleasant side effects.

Positive psychology suggests that people who learn to visualize success, refocus themselves, and be aware of their bodies and their own surroundings can relieve tension and stress and allow the person to function more effectively.

There are several ways to use positive psychology to improve stress in your life:

Stop. Often, when a person is upset or stressed about something, they begin to panic. The mind and the body begin to race. Simply taking a moment to stop, sit, and tell yourself that things will be ok can give you the calm you need to get through.

Pay attention to your body. Stress causes a multitude of reactions within the body, including increased breathing and heart rate, a feeling of tightness in the chest, a feeling of pressure, and many other physical sensations. By being aware of your body’s reactions you can more easily gauge your level of stress and take actions to remain in control. Deep breathing and meditation can both be helpful.

Being grateful. By stopping and realizing what you do have and what is going well, you can train your mind to be more positive and to more readily recognize the positive aspects of your life. Living with gratitude can have an extremely powerful impact on your attitude, stress levels, and sense of well being.

You may not be able to avoid the stress that accompanies financial and economic turmoil, but you can control your reaction to it.

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Positive psychology offers a unique perspective on mental health by focusing on the ways in which well-being can be improved. One of the most extraordinary discoveries – one which will continue to be studied for a long time – is the deep connection between the way people think and the way they feel.

The internal dialogue of an individual can often be used to measure not just the person’s sense of well being and contentment but their level of success and physical health as well. By focusing on what you are good at and by establishing positivity in your life, one researcher believes more people will be able to reach their goals and be able to achieve contentment.

Researcher and author Marcus Buckingham’s research reveals that the majority of people, rather than focusing on the things they are good at spend a considerable amount of time beating themselves up, developing and listening to an internal dialogue whose constant theme is, “You’re no good.”

By taking control of that inner voice and committing to a more positive focus, Buckingham’s research suggests that people will be able to achieve more success, improve their sense of well being, and enjoy better contentment with their lives. The most meaningful steps to take in improving an individual’s outlook and inner dialogue is to spend time every day recognizing your own strengths. By developing the habit of catching yourself when you have negative thoughts and using it as an opportunity to think something positive about your capability, you can retrain your mind and improve your sense of well being.

Shadra Bruce is a contributing writer for Mental Health News

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Around the country, kids have been heading back to school, and those first few weeks can be extremely stressful for some children. Separation anxiety, jangled nerves, and fears about success at school can make it difficult for kids to leave the house with a smile, but in some cases, the condition can become severe enough to threaten the child’s ability to function.

Separation anxiety is a disorder in which a child has an overpowering and irrational fear that something bad will happen to the parent if the child is not there. It can become severely debilitating and make it extremely difficult for the child to adjust to attending school. The symptoms experienced by the child suffering from separation anxiety include nausea, pains, aches, and heart palpitations.

Positive Psychology has been successfully used to help children work through separation anxiety with surprising success. Using positive reinforcement and encouraging the child to work diligently to build positive expectations of the upcoming event can help. Parents may contribute to anxiety if they prolong their departure, so psychologists suggest reassuring the child with a hug and encouraging them to have a good day before leaving. The earlier the child can be made accustomed to being without the parent for short periods of time, the easier it will be for the child to adjust to school days away from home.

Shadra Bruce is a contributing writer for Mental Health News

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Cambridge University researchers have discovered an application of positive psychology that vastly improves teen boys’ level of self-esteem and sense of well-being. Called mindfulness training, the researchers worked with 155 volunteer participants – 14 and 15 year old boys who spent four weeks learning mindfulness techniques.

Professor Felicia Huppert, who led the study on behalf of the Well-being Institute at the University of Cambridge, said, “More and more we are realizing the importance of supporting the overall mental health of children. Our study demonstrates that this type of training improves well-being in adolescents and that the more they practice, the greater the benefits. Importantly, many of the students genuinely enjoyed the exercises and said they intended to continue them — a good sign that many children would be receptive to this type of intervention. Another significant aspect of this study is that adolescents who suffered from higher levels of anxiety were the ones who benefitted most from the training.”

The mindfulness training taught the boys to become more self-aware, with a special focus on helping the boys be more aware of their bodies, their breathing, and other sensations. The participants were asked to practice mindfulness in and out of the classroom and were provided with listening exercises to improve their concentration.

Huppert said, “We believe that the effects of mindfulness training can enhance well-being in a number of ways. If you practice being in the present, you can increase positive feelings by savoring pleasurable on-going experiences. Additionally, calming the mind and observing experiences with curiosity and acceptance not only reduces stress but helps with attention control and emotion regulation — skills which are valuable both inside and outside the classroom.”  Because the study met with such success, schools are adopting mindfulness curriculum that will last 8 weeks and be available to both public and private school children.

Shadra Bruce is a contributing writer for Mental Health News

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China is embracing Positive Psychology as a way to remain culturally intact and centered on community rather than the more Western ideal of profit. Psychologist Kaiping Peng, the founder of the Program for Advanced Study in Psychology, wealth is dominating the minds of many younger Chinese.

Peng says, “We want to switch the focus in China from the gross domestic product to happiness, from the culture of competition to the common good. We are seeking to correct that imbalance by spreading the science of happiness in China.” Given the dramatic increase in suicide and crime in the country, including the recent knifings of young children, a shift in focus may be necessary to preserve the peaceful culture.

To help introduce more people to the benefits of positive psychology, Peng, representing the Berkeley-Tsinghua Program for Advanced Study in Psychology, hosted a positive psychology conference that was largely supported by the Chinese Communist Party and attracted academics from around the world.

Explains Peng, “Many people in China feel uncertain about the future. We want to do more than just talk about depression and mental illness. We want to figure out how to improve people’s emotional outlooks and bring the wisdom of Buddhism and other religions to the scientific study of happiness.”

It is important, says Peng, to begin “paying more attention to student’s good character and beautiful souls, and on positive cognitive processing, positive emotional experiences, and positive social behaviors, so that students can become positive, healthy people.” Chinese officials are using positive psychology to improve education and plan to focus on the youth of the country, giving teachers additional tools.  Beijing Normal University in Beijing, China hosted the conference August 13-15.

Shadra Bruce is a contributing writer for Mental Health News

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Positive psychology is an approach that helps people identify and learn ways to achieve better life satisfaction. The definition of positive psychology as developed by Seligman is explained as “the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.”

Positive psychology may be a purely psychological endeavor, but recent research into the connection between mental emotion and physical health may justify an increased level of attention on the benefits of positive psychology.

A study conducted by the University of Kansas has revealed a deep connection between positive emotions like happiness and laughter and physical health. Led by Sarah Pressman, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Kansas, the study was enormous, evaluating more than 150,000 people from 140 countries.

Explains Pressman, “We’ve known for a while now that emotions play a critical role in physical health, but until recently, most of this research was conducted only in industrialized countries. So we couldn’t know whether feelings like happiness or sadness matter to the health of people who have more pressing concerns — like getting enough to eat or finding shelter. But now we do.”

The results of the study inarguably concluded that positive emotions are “unmistakably linked to better health” and are even more important to overall health that basic needs like food, water, and shelter. Negative emotions like anger and sadness, had the opposite effect on physical health. Because the sample studied was so large, it is representative of nearly the entire population, making it one of the most important studies of the relationship between positive emotion and physical health to ever be conducted.

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The field of education is one of the most prominent areas in which positive psychology can have an impact. Through the use of positive education, an approach that says it is just as important to teach skills that contribute to happiness along with traditional academic topics, supporters of positive psychology hope to improve mental health.

Nearly a fifth of American youth suffer from depression, with the onset of symptoms now starting much earlier. The problem is even worse in other countries, like China and Japan, where the pressure to succeed academically is almost overwhelming to some students.

Positive education provides students will skills and tools to increase their ability to communicate effectively. The goal of positive education is to improve self-confidence and self-esteem while increasing tolerant behavior. Positive educators encourage respect for self and others, and work hard to create an atmosphere that encourages positive learning.

The tools learned through positive education give children added resilience against depression and allows students to focus on learning. The idea behind positive education is that by introducing positive psychology to students at a younger age, they will suffer less impediments to their overall learning, which will serve to enhance their academic capability as well. In conjunction with an improved focus on physical exercise and healthy eating, the approach promises to offer a broader set of tools for success to all students.

Shadra Bruce is a contributing writer for Mental Health News

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While nearly half of all marriages will end with divorce, pre-marital relationships, at least once in every person’s life, almost always end in break up. Every person who becomes involved in a relationship will eventually and inevitably experience the dissolution of the relationship.

Positive psychology can be used to mend broken hearts, and one study has shown that engaging in positive writing about the relationship immediately after the breakup occurs can help assuage the negative or damaging feelings experienced during breakup, demonstrating that the power of positive psychology can be more powerful than medication.

Writing as therapy is not a new concept, but it has most often been applied to other types of circumstances, such as sexual abuse and rape. However, the power of writing can be a very useful tool in overcoming heartache. The most extraordinary discovery revealed by the research was that negative writing, or writing about negative aspects of the relationship, did not positively impact the participants. It was positive writing and writing about positive aspects of the relationship that most contributed to the healing process.

The researchers, from Monmouth University in New Jersey, believe that the broader implications of positive writing will lead to better therapeutic use of the tool. More research, explains lead researcher Gary W. Lewandowski, Jr., “Might also examine if more specific writing instructions in the positive condition (e.g., focusing on perceived benefits or reinterpretation) can produce even more increases in positive emotions or in other positive outcomes such as personal growth.” Lewandowski believes that positive writing techniques could be used to assist people working through grief, divorce, and other negative experiences.

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