Additional Speeches:
Click Here
Resilience Article:
https://thedrivemagazine.com/posts/three-ways-to-bounce-forward
Additional Articles:
Click Here
7 Psychology Talks on Resilience with Dr. Andrea Dinardo
Tag: life lessons
What advice would you give your younger self?
Live Zoom Conference
At a recent leadership conference, student leaders from St. Clair College’s Student Representative Council SRC had the opportunity to ask questions live during the final portion of the virtual training event.
Ask Dr. D
The student leaders raised the reflection bar high during this discussion period.
One Question Stood Out The Most
Specifically:
What Advice Would You Give Your Younger Self?
In the video below, I share my answer.
“It All Works Out“
Even during COVID-19.
For the pandemic has not changed my optimistic perspective on life and learning.
If anything, COVID-19 has underscored my belief in posttraumatic growth and resilience.
For everybody.
Growth is the only evidence of life.
John Henry Newman
Video of Post: Click Here
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2020 Life Lessons: Be Strong Enough To Be Gentle
Lockdowns have us spending a lot of extra time with the ones we love.
Especially during the holidays.
And if you’re anything like our household, it requires a whole new level of relationship skills.
A deeper level of empathy and compassion for the pressures of the people we are living with.
Helpful Tips: Psychology Today
What worked before, doesn’t necessarily work now.
And if it does, it takes more patience, more compassion, more love.
Emotionally Intelligent COVID Conversations
How does this show up in our home?
Emotional Intelligence: Resources
One approach that has helped tremendously is how I ask to have my needs met.
Not what I say but how I say it.
Same message.
A new level of gentleness.
Power versus Force
Kindness versus Conviction
The beauty of this 2020 life lesson is that when I am strong enough to be gentle: I am heard.
What life lessons has 2020 taught you?
Watch 2 min Video of Post: Click Here
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The Space Between No Longer and Not Yet
The time in between is a difficult time for all of us.
Myself included.
A super organized (type A) person like me becomes a little unhinged in the space in between.
But don’t we all?
Wondering if we still have what it takes.
Hoping we can still make a difference in the world when the pandemic ends.
Which is why I wrote this post today.
Highlighting the shared challenge we all face between the old and the new.
Change is a lifelong process.
Let yourself feel what you need to feel.
Take a breath. Enjoy some rest.
Give your monkey mind a break.
It’s ok to not be ok.
What comes also goes.
Honour the space in between.
Related Post: Divine Timing
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Positive psychology on campus
What is Positive Psychology?
“While traditional psychology focused its attention on pathology and problems, in the relatively new field of positive psychology, researchers strive to explore and understand the strengths of individuals and communities that contribute to their flourishing.” Source: Psychology Guide
Strengths first.
I am passionate about what positive psychology can do for students and educators in and out of the classroom. By first focusing on what is right, before examining what is wrong, students are motivated to move beyond, and in some cases, be transformed by their current limitations, history, and circumstances.
Link to: VIA Character Strengths Inventory
Balance is key.
Positive psychology is not about being happy and successful all the time. Instead, happiness is aspirational like a delicious meal at a 5 star restaurant. Wonderful but not to be expected, at every meal, all the time. (Otherwise, we set ourselves up for disappointment on the Kraft Dinner days.)
Instead, the field of positive psychology helps bring out the best in us. In a balanced way. The ebb and flow of life. Negativity is to be expected. The question is – how long do you stay there.
Safe uplifting atmosphere.
As a professor, I believe it is paramount to create a safe and uplifting atmosphere in the classroom. A secure and consistent milieu where students know what to expect class to class, week to week, semester to semester. A place where students are encouraged to build upon their existing strengths, while feeling supported enough to share their current struggles.
Link to: Broaden & Build Theory of Positive Emotion
As I teach mostly nursing students, it is critical that I practice what I teach in and out of the classroom. Nursing students will also be responsible for creating an encouraging and safe space for their clients one day.
The yellow t-shirts are from the Yellow Umbrella Project, an Ontario wide college campaign for battling the stigma of mental illness on campus.
Positive psychology and student empowerment.
My highest goal is to work with young Canadians in a way that empowers and encourages them to become the best version of themselves. Cultivating success in a way that is unique to them. I believe that interactive lectures combined with warmth and real-life stories is the best approach for achieving this goal.
Link to: Positive Psychology Interview
The photo below is from a leadership conference for college students where I discussed the connection between optimism and student success.
Celebrating students every chance I get.
Ultimately, I hope to remind students of their gifts. While encouraging them to embrace their challenges. For we are the sum total of all that is powerful and vulnerable – within and around us. And it’s this extraordinary combination of strong and weak, good and bad, light and dark, that makes our world and our classrooms such a fascinating place to live and thrive.
Repost from July 5 2017
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Empowering Conversations.
In today’s psychology class, we discussed how important it is to empower friends, family, and clients going through difficult times.
And how even if we’re an expert in psychology, medicine, or business – it does not make us the master of someone else’s life.
Together we explored strength based techniques for uplifting and encouraging others in conversation and in daily life.
Acknowledging that we still have so much left to learn about friends and family.
And the only way to do this is to create an inviting listening space between ourselves and the people we meet to be themselves.
Next Steps
Helpful tips for enhancing conversations with clients and family members can be found in the June article in The Drive Magazine (click here) and in the psychology video below —
The Story Behind the Story
This post was inspired by my sister Noelle.
“When my sister was 19, she had a brain aneurysm. Every day since, she has struggled to maintain her independence and financial security.
Despite her trauma, Noelle continues to thrive in unexpected and beautiful ways. She never gives up, no matter what comes her way. Over the years, I have discovered the difference it makes when I support Noelle from her perspective, rather than dictating what she needs.”
EMPOWERING
Someone with a Brain Injury
Written with the help of my sister ❤️
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Lemon Soul Podcast: Thriving Under Pressure
The Psychology of Wellness
I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed on the Lemon Soul Podcast by an engaging and bright young woman named Sierra Parr.
It was one of the most rewarding projects I have worked on and I hope you find the same value in listening to the podcast as I had co-creating it with Ms. Parr.
What is a Lemon Soul? 🍋
A lemon soul is someone who has been sweetened by the sour parts of life. Resulting in the most beautiful soul of all – “The Lemon Soul”.
The Lemon Soul Experience 🍋
Sierra’s podcast questions are timely, thought-provoking, and well-organized.
With equal parts practicality, spirituality, and science. Wrapped up in a captivating and compassionate interview style.
So much so, that I revealed parts of my life that I have never shared publicly before.
Take a listen and let me know what resonates with you!
Lemon Soul Podcast: Episode 15
Tap on Image Below and Press Play
Thriving Under Pressure: Psychology of Mental Wellness
Listen on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/lemon-soul/id1386504193?mt=2&i=1000432857445
SHOW NOTES FROM LEMON SOUL PODCAST 🍋
Very honoured to sit down with Dr. Andrea Dinardo this week and divulge all my lemon soul questions with her. A true testament to her work as a psychologist and now psychology professor, this episode is FULL of good advice! With a deeper insight into many of our mental health struggles and the science behind how our brain is working. Furthermore diving into Dr. Dinardo’s personal life as she uncovers her fundamental inspiration for everything she does in life, her sister.
Topics covered on the podcast:
From psychologist to psychology professor!
How to motivate students!
Why connection is important.
Compassion fatigue
The givers & the takers
Setting boundaries for others and ourselves.
Thriving Under Pressure!
Failure as Feedback!
Are we socialized to care?
How to train your brain
Challenge, Control, & Commitment
Honour your pain!
B r e a t h i n g s p a c e !
The universe box
Claiming your prize
GET MOVING!
I hope this podcast interview inspires you to take the road less traveled this week.
The one you have been waiting to take for days, months, perhaps years.
If not now, when?
Listen Here: Lemon Soul Podcast
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The Shadow Effect
Psychology Class
The Shadow Effect
One of the things I love to do is share what’s happening on campus in my psychology class.
Today’s topic: The Shadow Effect
Watch this short video and consider the following questions:
- What is your shadow?
- How does your shadow serve you?
- Where does your shadow come from?
How do I bring shadow side of myself into the light?
Helpful resources and activities
- One Minute Meditation: https://youtu.be/3ucdU7URx5g
- Give Pain Room to Breathe: https://youtu.be/Mp_QjmmCzeU
- Lean Into Loneliness: https://www.thedrivemagazine.com/posts/lean-into-loneliness
- Failure as Feedback: https://www.thedrivemagazine.com/posts/failure-as-feedback
- The Positive Power of Negative Emotions: amazon.ca/books
There is transformative power in our negative emotions. The key is to create a safe, welcoming space to lean in and hear their lessons.
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Failure as FEEDBACK | The Drive Magazine.
There are two ways of looking at failure.
Failure as FEEDBACK.
Failure as PUNISHMENT.
⊕⊕⊕⊕⊕
One energizes.
The other paralyzes.
WHY FAILURE IS NECESSARY
I believe that failure is essential for success, at work and in our personal lives.
Failure lights our way to what we’re ultimately meant to do. Especially when we embrace it and consciously invite it into our lives. Pushing us past our comfort zones. Having the courage to take risks beyond our current circumstances.
Failure shows us what we’re good at, and equally what we are not skilled at. And how if we perceive failure as information (versus punishment) we will move on much more quickly to what we were born to do.
THE DRIVE MAGAZINE
I believe so strongly in the benefits of failure that I “pitched” failure as feedback to the editors of The Drive Magazine. And they said yes!
So here it is: A video overview of the February issue and links to the online edition of the magazine.
🔝 Psychology YouTube Channel 🔝
MAGAZINE edition
For the rest of the story, pick up a copy of The DRIVE Magazine.ONLINE edition
My psychology article “Failure as FEEDBACK” is also available online: https://www.thedrivemagazine.com/posts/failure-as-feedback
Related: Lean into loneliness | The Drive Magazine
