Mindfulness and Character Strengths: A Practical Guide to Flourishing

By Ryan M. Niemiec. 2014

150 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Looking for the latest research and practices on character strengths and mindfulness? Curious about how character strengths can supercharge your mindfulness practice? Or how mindfulness can help you deploy your best qualities? Look no further – the answers are in this book! At the core of this hands-on resource for psychologists and other practitioners, including educators, coaches, and consultants, is Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice (MBSP), the first structured program to combine mindfulness with the character strengths laid out in the VIA Institute’s classification developed by Drs. Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman. This 8-session program systematically boosts awareness and application of character strengths, helping people flourish and lead more fulfilling lives. The author’s vast experience working with both mindfulness and character strengths is revealed in his sensitive and clear presentation of the conceptual, practical, and scientific elements of this unique combined approach. It is not only those who are new to mindfulness or to character strengths who will appreciate the detailed primers on these topics in the first section of the book. And the deep discussions about the integration of mindfulness and character strengths in the second section will benefit not just intermediate and advanced practitioners. The third section then leads readers step-by-step through each of the 8 MBSP sessions, including details of session structure and content, suggested homework, 30 practical handouts, as well as inspiring quotes and stories and useful practitioner tips. An additional chapter discusses the adaption of MBSP to different settings and populations (e.g., business, education, individuals, couples). The mindfulness and character strengths meditations on the accompanying CD support growth and development. This highly accessible book, while primarily conceived for psychologists, educators, coaches, and consultants,is suitable for anyone who is interested in living a better and improved life.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a78113d982651740ce2d232f00dc533670af9d64

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In Clinical Psychology

Citations in the corpus

From strengths use to work performance: The role of harmonious passion, subjective vitality, and concentration (2014, unknown): “among others, to higher levels of well-being (Forest et al., 2012; Gander, Proyer, Ruch, & Wyss, 2013; Mitchell, Stanimirovic, Klein, & Vella-Brodrick, 2009; Mongrain & Anselmo-Matthews, 2012; Niemiec, 2014; Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005), satisfaction with life (Proctor et al.”
Finding the golden mean: the overuse, underuse, and optimal use of character strengths (2019, methodology): “The Aware-Explore-Apply model (AEA) is the typical process by which practitioners and clients work with character strengths (Niemiec, 2014, 2018).”
Positive psychopathology: Social anxiety via character strengths underuse and overuse (2017, background): “The underuse of social intelligence (Peterson & Seligman, 2004) is characterized as cluelessness, being unaware of or misunderstanding others, while overuse is characterized by an over-analysis of one's own and others' emotions, nonverbal behavior, and social nuances (Niemiec, 2014).”
Ethics, Values, Virtues, and Character Strengths in Mindfulness-Based Interventions: a Psychological Science Perspective (2015, background): “In addition to the factors cited earlier in support of this approach, Niemiec (2014) suggested that mindfulness training implicitly encourages virtues discussed in positive psychology: wisdom through the practice of curiosity and the decentered perspective, courage through remaining present with…”
Character Strengths and Intellectual and Developmental Disability: A Strengths-Based Approach from Positive Psychology (2017, unknown): “…of character, character strengths have been deﬁned as positive, trait-like capacities for thinking, feeling, and behaving in ways that beneﬁt oneself and others (Niemiec, 2014), and also as “a family of positive characteristics . . . each of which exists in degrees” (Park & Peterson, 2009, p. 3).”