Centre for Positive Psychology
Centre for Positive Psychology
The Centre for Positive Psychology (CPP) provides a home for a group of lecturers, students and staff working in psychology to collaboratively engage in teaching, research and consultancy. We’re dedicated to exploring the ways psychology can promote optimal experience, wellbeing, performance, a ‘good’ life and more.
Education
As lecturers at Buckinghamshire New University, our flagship course is the MSc Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP). We also contribute to the MSc Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education, the MA Education (Specialist Pathway in Positive Education), as well as the BSc (Hons) Psychology degree programme. We also offer a short course in Positive Psychology in Coaching.
Learn more about the courses we work on:
- MSc Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP)
- MSc Mental Health & Wellbeing in Education
- MA Spirituality, Ecology & Mental Health
- MA Education Pathway
- BSc (Hons) Psychology
- Positive Psychology in Coaching
Coaching HUB
The Coaching Hub focuses on developing a coaching culture to help university staff and students learn and develop. It also provides coaching courses, resources, and support for external organisations to develop their clients and employees.
The overall vision is to help individuals, teams, and organisations to develop and reach their potential and improve their wellbeing, specifically within their learning environments and/or working lives.
All our coaches meet professional and ethical standards and follow the approaches adopted by the Centre for Positive Psychology. The coaches at BNU are members of and follow the standards of at least one of the following organisations:
- British Psychological Society
- International Society for Coaching Psychology
- European and Mentoring Coaching Council
- The Positive Psychology Guild
This list of professional coaching organisations is not exhaustive and our coaches at the Centre may belong to another organisation, such as ICF or Association for Coaching. We do not intend to exclude anyone from being involved in coaching at the Centre, if they are adhering to a suitable set of professional standards and coaching approaches.
Consultancy
Our team members are open to working with external partners and providing consultancy services to individuals and groups. Areas of expertise include:
- appreciative coaching
- strengths-based team and leadership development
- positive education
- creativity and benefits of the arts
- research design and analysis
Contact us via pospsych@bnu.ac.uk if you are interested in booking consultancy for your business or organisation.
Research
We are engaged in a range of research projects that focus around positive psychology and its applications in promoting optimal experience, wellbeing and performance. Recent work has explored subjects such as: appreciative coaching; creativity and flow; wellbeing in schools; positive psychology; ‘luck’ experience; and self-transcendence.
Current doctoral research projects focus on solitude and loneliness in relationship to wellbeing; strengths-based approaches to autism; strengths-based approaches to leadership; ‘authenticity’ and meaning at work; nature connectedness interventions; and the nature and psychological impact of ‘out-of-body experiences’.
Meet the Team
The core team consists of the MAPP Senior Lecturer/Assoc. Profs: Drs Genevieve Cseh, Ceri Sims, Matthew Smith, and Visiting Honorary Prof (Retired) Piers Worth, and more recently Associate Lecturers Sarah Monk, Kate Mcallister, Lisa Jones, Sarah Cramoysan, Hannah Dunn, Kimberley Wakefield, and Dr Kristin Thompson.
We have connections to many former and current MAPP students and professional relationships with other MAPP and positive psychology programmes across the UK and elsewhere in the world, and associate staff and colleagues who play an important role in the MAPP and the Centre.
Partnerships
We are staff, students and alumni of BNU and affiliates with an interest in positive psychology, research, applications, events, and much more. We have external collaborations with various other universities and organisations, such as in private coaching consultancies, education, social work, and healthcare.
