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Britton, K. Monthly contributions to Positive Psychology News Daily.    Positive Psychology News Daily is a collection of short articles on positive psychology written by alumni of one of the two Master of Applied Positive programs in the world - one at Penn, one at the University of East London.  I write an article for the 7th of each month, and other authors have their own assigned dates.  Sometimes the articles result in spirited discussions with people who want to know more.  Britton, K. Positive Psychology Reflections.  Blog.  I write about various applications of positive psychology to daily life.   My blog here on Theano Coaching has some summary articles with pointers to individual postings in my long-running blog, which allows you to post comments and ask questions.		Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The how of happiness:  A scientific approach to getting the life you want.  New York:  Penguin Press. This is my new nomination for best single book about positive psychology for a general reader.  It's both research-based and full of practical ideas for practicing positive psychology for personal benefit.  I reviewed this in my blog on January 31, 2008.   Peterson, C. (2006).  A primer in positive psychology.  New York:  Oxford University Press.  ISBN: 0-19-518833-0 This is a wonderfully readable book that covers the breadth of the field by an expert who is too humble to call himself one.  Chris Peterson's humor shines through on every page.  He published it in paperback format so that students can afford it as a textbook.  Topics include:  Positive experience, character strengths, values, wellness, positive relationships, and institutions that enable happiness.   Haidt, J. ( 2006).  The happiness hypothesis:  Finding modern truth in ancient wisdom.  Cambridge, MA:  Basic Books. I have bought 6 copies of Jon Haidt's book for myself - the first 5 then were given away to friends.    The metaphor of the rider on the elephant  is a wonderful way to view the relationship between thought and habit.  Jon Haidt argues that thought often comes into the picture after a decision, when the mind needs to make sense of it.  The rider has some control -- more if it understands the way the elephant works.  Hence this book.     Reivich, K. & Shatte, A. (2002). The resilience factor:  7 keys to finding your inner strength and overcoming life's hurdles.  New York: Broadway Books.  ISBN: 0-7679-1191-1 Karen Reivich taught my course on positive psychology and coaching during the MAPP program.  Her book is a constant companion.  It is pragmatic and direct, as well as firmly based on research. The 7 skills include avoiding thinking traps, challenging beliefs, putting it in perspective, and some fast skills for dealing with overwhelming situations.   Buckingham, M. (2007).   Go put your strengths to work:  6 powerful steps to achieve outstanding performance.   New York: Free Press. I've spent considerable time talking to people about the StrengthsFinder test and I always run into the same question:  "Now what?"   People find it interesting to think about their own talent themes and it's useful to recognize that other people may not share them.   But how do they use that information in their day-to-day jobs?   Buckingham answers that question with this book in a very pragmatic, experiential way.  The 6 steps include self-observation, finding strengths and weaknesses in experiences that invigorate or drain, followed by planning for incremental change. Frisch, M. (2006).  Quality of Life Therapy: Applying a life satisfaction approach to positive psychology and cognitive therapy.   Hoboken, NJ:  John Wiley and Sons.   ISBN 0-471-21351-9 This is the closest I've found to a handbook for selecting and applying positive interventions.   The approach involves assessing importance and satisfaction that an individual associates with 16 areas of life and then using a set of tenets and interventions to raise satisfaction in targeted areas.  For a description of his CASIO model, see here.  To see the 16 areas, try the QOLT  Happiness House exercise.       Rath, T. (2007).  StrengthsFinder 2.0.  New York:  Gallup Press. This book comes with a token that you can use to take the new improved online Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment tool that provides you a list of your top 5 talent themes.  It also includes action planning guides to help you take your top talent themes and develop them into strengths at work.   Linley, Alex (2008).  Average to A+:  Realising strengths in yourself and others.  Coventry, England:  CAPP Press. This book is a very practical guide to recognizing, refining, and expressing strengths.  It describes skills such as strengthspotting, role shaping, complementary partnering, and organizing teams based on strengths.  Each chapter ends with a quick summary of the key points and some areas for reflection and action.
Britton, K.  Quality of Life Therapy and Coaching in Action. About page for the Quality of Life Therapy and Coaching blog.  A one-page introduction to a holistic approach to helping people increase life satisfaction.  See Michael Frisch's book (see below) for more details.  I wrote this introduction while I was participating in the Quality of Life Therapy and Coaching (QOLTC) Academy, training to use QOL approaches in my own coaching practice.  I like the way QOLTC addresses life satisfaction as the quest for fulfillment in areas of personal significance from a position of inner abundance.      Choong, S. & Britton, K. (2007).  Character strengths and type:  Exploration of covariation.  International Coaching Psychology Review, 2 (1), 9-23.   This was an expansion of our joint capstone research for the Master of Applied Positive Psychology degree.  We explored covariation between Values-in Action character strengths and psychological type, as per MBTITM.  We found some meaningful covariation and expounded on implications for coaching.    Britton, K., Atterstam, T., Judge, E., & Ufberg, M. (2006).  A values-based authenticity model: Implications and interventions for leaders.  Presented at the Gallup Leadership Institute, Washington, DC, October. This paper defines authenticity as acting according to ones values. It then provides the model shown below formed by the cross-product of authenticity versus inauthenticity by instinctive versus rational.  Behavior can begin either instinctively through habit or intentionally through rational thought.  The model suggests a number of positive interventions for increasing authentic behavior.   These include ways to increase awareness of actions out of alignment with values so that one can make amends rather than rationalize.  They also include ways to build habits of acting according to values through practice and intentional repetition.
Edelman, S. & Britton, K. (2007).  What people with diabetes want their caregivers to know:  Patient consensus statement.  Insulin 2(3), 146-147.  Retrieved December 30, 2007 from    This statement is the product of a workshop that I conducted at the Taking Control of Your Diabetes (TCOYD) conference in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2003.  Participants shared ideas about things they wanted to tell their doctors, nurses, and educators about caring for them.  Dr. Edelman, founder of the non-profit TCOYD organization,  and I drafted the top ten ideas into this statement.  Others have told me that it is useful for people with other chronic ailments, not just diabetes mellitus.
Atterstam, T., Britton, K., Judge, E., & Ufberg, M. (2006).   Bringing Positive Psychology to the Footlights After-School Center.  A Service Learning Project. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania, Master of Positive Psychology Program. This paper describes a proposal for applying positive psychology at Footlights – a performing arts after-school center for underprivileged teenagers in Hartford, CT. The paper describes Footlights, including daily operations, instructors and participating teenagers. It then outlines a proposed application plan for introducing and using positive psychology at the center. It concludes with an overview of the relevant empirical research that constitutes the basis for the proposed application plan. Appendices give the plan in more detail and describe a particular exercise included in the plan.
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