Courses

Have you ever wondered why activities like connecting with loved ones, practicing mindfulness, and spending time in nature are consistently recommended to help people cope with stress and live richer, more meaningful lives? This course offers an overview of the science of positive affect (a collective term for positive emotions and moods) and provides students with psychological skills for increasing their experiences of positive affect. Through lectures, students will first learn how positive affect is altered in various psychiatric disorders and about novel psychotherapeutic treatments that specifically target it. We will then turn to a review of strategies for increasing positive emotions and moods, including improving social interaction, savoring pleasant experiences, practicing gratitude, and engaging in acts of kindness. Students will learn about the research supporting each strategy and how to more effectively implement these strategies using practices drawn from evidence-based psychotherapies through guided activities (e.g., activity monitoring, goal setting, mindfulness, and values clarification from cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy). Students will be asked to practice and reflect on the experience of implementing these strategies in their lives outside of class. By the end of this course, students will have foundational knowledge of the science of positive affect and concrete skills to increase experiences of positive emotions and moods in their own lives.