Mental Health Awareness Week Learning Session with Dr Peggy Kern

Effecting Change: A Systems Informed Positive Psychology Perspective

Disability brings a range of difficulties for both carers and the person with a disability. Numerous approaches to care are available, but these often leave caregivers overwhelmed and struggling to offer optimal care. Systems informed positive psychology suggests we need to create systems of care, within a positive psychology lens. This session considers what care might look like if it is functioning in optimal ways, with input from parents, positive psychology, and systems science.

Session aims: 

• Illuminate the challenges of traditional care.

• Introduce a systems informed positive psychology (SIPP) perspective to disability care and practice.

• Describe a case study application of SIPP.

• Provide practical strategies moving forward. 

• Learning objectives: Understand the SIPP perspective Identify practical implications of SIPP. 

• Connect with tools that support the SIPP perspective

About Peggy 

An Associate Professor at the Centre for Wellbeing Science within the University of Melbourne's Graduate School of Education, Peggy’s research draws on multiple fields of inquiry, including health, positive, social, personality, and developmental psychology, and public health, to address the question of thriving across the lifespan. She works with schools and workplaces to examine strategies for supporting wellbeing, and bridging gaps between research and practice.