Today’s Guest

My guest today is Dr. Ilona Boniwell, the program leader for the first Master’s Degree in Applied Positive Psychology in Europe at Angila Ruskin University. She is also the CEO of Positran.

Ilona Boniwell’s website: https://lifelabs.psychologies.co.uk/users/579-dr-ilona-boniwell

In this interview, you will hear Ilona share her thoughts on how to make positive psychology tangible and practical for people to integrate into their lives and create lasting changes. She also talks about the role of positive psychology in the workplace, including how it can be integrated through play, the current state of these practices in Europe, and the terminology she avoids when proposing these changes to organizations.

You’ll Learn:

● [2:00] – Ilona talks about her goal of making positive psychology “real and tangible.”
● [3:17] – Making strengths real by taking them from a questionnaire and knowing what to do with them.
● [4:52] – Ilona describes The Happiness Dashboard.
● [7:35] – Ilona talks about using the available tools to build our skills and maintain changes.
● [9:04] – The importance of play and it’s role in corporate workplaces.
● [10:55] – Ilona talks about how organizations in Europe are embracing positive psychology practices.
● [12:20] – Ilona talks about how she frames this discussion to get organizations on board with these practices.
● [13:40] – Is there a time when positive psychology is not the right solution?
● [15:28] – The Lightning Round with Ilona Boniwell!

Your Resources:

• “Positive Psychology in a Nutshell: The Science of Happiness” – Ilona Boniwell
• “Oxford Handbook of Happiness”
• “Building a Better Business Using the Lego Serious Play Method” – Per Kristiansen, Robert Rasmussen
• “Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul” – Stuart Brown, Christopher Vaughn
• The European Conference on Positive Psychology
• The Positive Psychology Program

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of this post.

Also, please leave an honest review for the Making Positive Psychology Work Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated. They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.

And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. It’s free!

Special thanks to Ilona for joining me this week. Until next time, take care!