Introducing The Positive Psychology Summit Events
This guest entry is from Jane Jennison MSc, a positive psychology coach and author, and co-founder of the Positive Psychology Summit:UK. Jane is a Fellow Member of the Positive Psychology Guild (PPG) and co-director of Autonomous Ideas, one of the PPG’s organisational members. Her grassroots-driven approach to practicing and sharing Positive Psychology is one that is much needed in communities today.
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The Positive Psychology Summit
What does it stand for (values, aims) and what does it hope to achieve?
The PP Summit was founded by Catherine Stacey, a fellow ARU MAPPster, Andrew Foster, an Executive Coach, and myself in 2018 as a response to a gap for new Practitioners to share experiences and to build networks focusing on how to apply Positive Psychology. It aims to be an inclusive, safe space – both online and In Real Life for PP practitioners to come together. It is an arena to share best practice, tools such as Strengths Cards, and to build a Positive Psychology community in the UK.
Who launched / is involved in running it and what is their motivation?
It was launched by Catherine Andrew and I in 2018 – when Cat and I should have been focusing on completing and submitting our Major Projects for our MAPP! – and we held our first Summit in April 2019. Our motivation was to continue to be part of the PP ‘Tribe’ we had found as MAPPsters, and to build this as an inclusive space for other MAPP graduates, and practitioners using PP who may not have competed the MAPP. We had attended the excellent PP Symposium run by Bucks New Uni, and were aware of the PP Network and Guild, and saw our event as a way to bring people together who may have come through these routes and were looking for a ‘next step’ on how to apply PP in their work.
How can Positive Psychology Practitioners be a part of it?
We are running ‘In Conversation’ events online, and our next In Real Life Summit is April 2023 at the Derby Conference Centre. You can visit our website here for details and to sign up to our newsletter to keep informed.
Our next ‘In Conversation’ event is Monday 13th September 18:00hrs (London time) with Tia Moin (click here for further information). Tia will be talking about how the Covid19 pandemic has led to the experience of significant personal and professional challenges for many over the past year and a half; and one might question what role positive psychology – often misunderstood as “happy-ology” – has to play in supporting people through the pandemic? In this conversation, Tia will discuss research she completed in collaboration with Professor Christian van Nieuwerburgh and colleagues, at the University of East London, as well as draw on her professional experience of coaching through the pandemic to provide insight into how positive psychology coaching can support individuals through these difficult times.
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The PP Summit “In Conversation” Events
What is the intention behind these events and who should attend?
These events are to help build and resource the community of PP Practitioners during the Covid-19 Pandemic. We are very aware that ‘business as usual’ is not happening, and this has impacted how we work, whether we can work, and the issues our clients and colleagues are dealing with in this unique crisis. We also recognize that mental health has been negatively impacted for many, many people – us as PP Practitioners, as well as our clients. The idea behind the In Conversation events is to provide an opportunity for PP Practitioners to come together every 2 months to share how we are responding to this, and how this has impacted on our work. It provides a forum for us to meet together when we cannot meet In Real Life and helps us sustain our relationships.
What are some of your favourite highlights from past events?
We love the way these sessions are less formal than a traditional conference. For the ‘Parenting in a Pandemic’ session, for example, our attendees were able to share what their challenges had been, and Cat and I could share how we had responded to the challenges we had faced. We also share what our ‘super-powers’ are; not something that is usually on a Conference agenda!
What is the theme of your next event and why?
Tia Moin will be leading the conversation around how Positive Psychology Coaching can support individuals through these difficult times. We want our conversations to be responsive to the issues our speakers are dealing with. Tia is is a Positive Organisational & Coaching Psychologist with over 20 years of international consulting experience developing leaders and professionals. As an elected Committee Member of the Special Group in Coaching Psychology – British Psychological Society, she is closely involved in developing and shaping the profession of Coaching Psychology and prides herself on professional, ethical and evidence-based psychological practice. She is actively involved in researching coaching, diversity and inclusion through the University of East London and University of Reading (UK) respectively. Tia enjoys helping people to achieve the “sweet spot” between performance and wellbeing through the use of positive psychology coaching.
Her passion and current area of interest is coaching, diversity and inclusion, which we will hear more about In Real Life in 2023, but the In Conversation event gives her an opportunity to deal with the changes in how she works because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and how how Positive Psychology Coaching can support individuals through these difficult times.
Where can people go to find out more?
Details of our “In Conversations” series can be found on our website https://www.positivepsychologysummituk.org/ and you can follow the hashtag #PPSummitUK on social media, too!
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Jane Jennison has a Master’s Degree in Applied Positive Psychology, and is trained in a range of therapeutic interventions for families, including Theraplay, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Parenting and Practice (DDP) and Person Centered Art Therapy. She has a particular interest in supporting parents and carers touched by adoption and fostering, and those with neurodiverse children. She works one-to-one with coaching clients, and also delivers bespoke workshops and training courses.
Jane is a co-founder and co-organiser of the Positive Psychology Summit, an online space for ‘In Conversation’ events for and with Positive Psychology Practitioners, and a two-day In Real Life Summit every two years.
Jane is a Fellow Member of the Positive Psychology Guild, and an accredited Course Provider. Jane is an Adopter Voice Champion for Adoption:UK, and a Trustee for Home for Good:Suffolk. Jane also delivers Safeguarding training on behalf of the Baptist Union of Great Britain.
Jane has co-authored ’Happier at Home: a guided positive psychology journal for parents and carers’ and ‘Happier at work: a guided positive psychology journal’. She has also produced a set of Strengths cards endorsed by the VIA Institute, and cards for Positive Journaling. These are all available on her website and on the Positive Psychology Summit website.