How to Boost Client Happiness during Career Transition

1. How to Boost Client Happiness during Career Transition Dr. Mary McNabbLearning Gauge Inc. mlmcnabb@learningauge.org Careers Conference January 27, 2010

2. Nature of Transition • Transitions are periods of change caused by events or non-events that disrupt routines and expectations. • Impact of change is often determined by how well a person manages the transition. • Zikic and Hall (2009) suggest individuals in career transition are caught off guard with the career exploration phase of transition – discovering things they did not know about themselves or leaving the known to explore the unknown.

3. Nature of Transition • Schlossberg (2005) suggests use of action planning as a coping strategy. • Others focus on learning about the self in terms of interests, values, and personality types. • Now career services can also include tools and techniques from the science of happiness to help those in transition buoy their resiliency.

4. What is the new science of happiness? • Science of happiness and positive psychology are two interchangeable terms used to describe a new direction within the field of psychology. • Positive psychology is the ‘scientific study of optimal human functioning” (Ben-Shahar, 2007).

5. Why is it considered “new”? • Martin Seligman, President of APA in 1998, launched the scientific study of positive psychology to: • be as concerned with strength as with weakness • be as interested in building the best things in life as in repairing the worst • be as concerned with making the lives of normal people fulfilling as with healing pathology • develop interventions to increase well being, not just to decrease misery

6. Explanatory Style • Seligman researched learned helplessness (pessimism) and learned optimism. • Findings include a link between our explanatory style and degree of learned optimism • Explanatory style is the way we have learned to explain situations to ourselves.

7. Examples of Explanatory Style • Pessimists will attribute job loss to a permanent cause (I don’t have the ability to do the job anyway) and give up easily • Optimists will believe job loss is the result of temporary causes (the recession) and persist in finding a new job

8. Examples of Explanatory Style • Pessimists tend to form a generalized explanation for a failure in one area of their lives (I’m not good at anything) • Optimists tend to form a specific explanation for a failure in one area of their lives (I am not the best one for that job)

9. Pessimists tend to . . . • give up easily in the face of adversity, • have low self-esteem, • lack strong commitment to attainable goals, • mentally attribute control over circumstances to external forces.

10. Optimists tend to . . . • persist despite struggles, • have positive self-esteem that transfers to many areas of their lives, • value meaningful goals, • mentally maintain some sense of control over circumstances.

11. ABCDE Method of Learned Optimism • A writing technique developed by Seligman to address negatively biased thoughts. It involves arguing with your own overly pessimistic thoughts in order to not let those thoughts control you. • The parts are related, i.e. our reaction (consequences) to the adversity are often determined by our beliefs about why the bad event happened. • Lyubomirsky et .al (2008) conducted research using ABCDE method. They found the ABCDE method to be useful as a Coping Strategy.

12. ABCDE Journal Writing Method • Ask client to use the following method for writing about their transition experience: • a. Adversity: describe nature of the loss or problem • b. Belief: identify negative beliefs interpreting the loss or problem • c. Consequences: record the consequences arising from the adversity (feelings, actions, inactions) • d. Dispute: challenge the negative core belief and consider other possible reasons for the problem • e. Energization: Consider a more optimistic explanation for the problem or loss

13. ABCDE Interview for Clients in Transition • Use the ABCDE method to interview clients who are experiencing job loss, for example: • 1. Tell me about your job and what happened when you lost it? • 2. What do you think caused your job loss? • 3. What have you been experiencing since you lost your job? • 4. How do you feel about the job loss? • 5. What have you been doing since you lost your job? • 6. What specific evidence do you have for why you lost your job? • 7. What alternative explanations could there be for the job loss? • 8. What is the most likely thing that could happen now? • 9. What is the best possible thing that could happen now? • 10. What are the most helpful actions you can take now?

14. The 40% Factor • A major finding of the happiness research compiled by Haidt (2006) is that: • 50% of a person’s happiness is attributed to biological or genetic temperament • 40% to learned habits of thinking and acting • 10% uncontrollable circumstances

15. Strategies to Help Manage Transition • Lyubomirsky (2008) and colleagues discovered the following 12 strategies for boosting one’s happiness. These strategies were found to correlate with being more energetic, more healthy, more hopeful and better able to take advantage of social networks and new opportunities.

16. Strategies for Developing Positive Thinking Habits • Practicing gratitude involves expressing thankfulness and appreciation for life. • Cultivating optimism involves striving to see the positive side of circumstances. • Avoiding overthinking involves avoiding excessively pondering the meanings, causes, and consequence of your character, your feelings, and your problems.

17. Strategies for Living in the Present • Goal-setting that enhances happiness provides structure and meaningful use of time and involves: • Actions plans that have communal purpose and long-term importance; • Activities that are harmonious with individual’s interests and core values; and • Allows person to experience optimal challenges and find new opportunities.

18. Strategies for Living in the Present • Increasing Flow Experiences involves engaging in activities that balance one’s skills with the challenge level of a task or activity. • Savoring Life’s Joys involves consciously reflecting on positive past, present and future (anticipated) experiences.

19. Strategies for Managing Stress and Hardship • Problem-focused coping is useful when a problem can be acted upon or made to go away. • Emotion-focused coping is useful when the only action available is to manage emotions, such as physical exercise, seeking emotional support from a professional and positive social activity. • Learning to forgive is defined as reduction in the drive for revenge and release of resentment leading to increased understanding of others; it does not require restoring or maintaining harmful relationships.

20. Nurturing Your Body and Soul (discipline) • Nurturing one’s spirit through a belief in a higher power that is supportive, protective and unconditionally caring can boost self-esteem and provide a sense of security and peace. • Nurturing one’s body through meditation involves deep breathing exercises and positive mantras that can lead to greater awareness of one’s unique life purpose and letting things unfold in their own time. • Nurturing one’s body through physical activity and regular exercise reduces anxiety and stress, improves sleep and cognitive functioning, acting like a happy person which increases beneficial hormones.

21. Strategies for Investing in Social Connections • Acts of kindness that are enjoyable and meaningful provide benefits to recipient and the doer. • Nurturing social relationship which yield positive emotions provides tangible support during times of transition.

22. Happiness Assessment Tools • Some suggested tools from the University of Pennsylvania’s Authentic Happiness Website: • http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/questionnaires.aspx • Optimism Test • VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire • Work-Life Questionnaire

23. Concluding Remark • The research-based strategies and tools from the science of happiness are important for career development practice – to boost clients’ psychological capital for managing transitions and help promote positive workplaces and a resilient workforce.

24. Recommended Resources • Ben-Shahar, T. (2007). Happier: Learn the secrets to daily joy and lasting fulfillment. New York: McGraw Hill. • Brooks, A.C. (2008). Gross national happiness: why happiness matters for America—and how we can get more of it. New York: Basic Books/Perseus Books Group. • Gilbert, D. (2006). Stumbling on Happiness. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. • Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want. New York: The Penguin Press.

25. Recommended Resources • Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis. New York: Basic Books/Perseus Books Group. • Seligman, M.E.P. (2002). Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. New York: The Free Press. • Seligman, M.E.P. (2006). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. New York: Vintage Books. • Schlossberg, N.K., Waters, E.B., Goodman, J. (2005). Counseling Adults in Transition: Linking Practice with Theory (Second Edition). New York: Springer Publishing Company. • Zikic, J. & Hall, D.T. (2009). Toward a more complex view of career exploration. The Career Development Quarterly, 58(2), pp. 181-191.

26. Recommended Resources • Stumbling on Happiness 12 Week Study Guide for Discussion Groups from Daniel Gilbert, Harvard University • http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/gilbert/index.html • How of Happiness Blog by S. Lyubomirsky • http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/how-happiness • PBS Three-Part Seminar: This emotional life (2010) is hosted by Dr. Gilbert, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. Part 3: Rethinking Happiness can be found online at • http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/series/episodes/3