Grounded Dreaming During Dark Times: A Conversation With Maria Sirois

As a positive psychologist (Psy.D.) Maria Sirois focuses on the resilience of the human spirit, particularly when under chronic stress, during significant transitions, and/or feeling the shock of wholesale change. 

As she describes it in the interview: "My understanding of those who choose to work in the arena of social justice is that they're willing to face a kind of chronic overwhelming stress whether you're looking at social justice on behalf of the planet and climate change or other species or social justice in terms of humanity in general — those organizations tend to have a chronic steady state of stress with periodic peaks of acute crisis... [my work is about] how do we do well in the worst moments... what does thriving look like? And who might we be at our best?"

Maria brings a depth of experience in personal and leadership development for corporate and non‐profit professionals, as well as community members, parents, and those who serve in the health and wellness arenas. 

In this episode, Maria focuses on three positive psychology and organizational tools: 

 - Establishing a gratitude practice. Expressing gratitude at work not only is a good thing to do but also benefits individuals and organizations in specific and surprising ways.
 - Appreciative inquiry. Instead of asking what's going wrong how did we fail who's responsible for it, organizations using an appreciative inquiry approach are “inquiring toward the good”: what is going right and how do we have good things happen more often? 
 - Identifying and leading from personal and organizational strengths. Rather than “fixing” what’s wrong with yourself or your organization, why not put more attention into what you already do well? Recognizing and using your strengths is a more efficient and effective fan fixing what is wrong.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
VIA Character Strengths 
https://www.viacharacter.org/
David Cooperider, Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western University
https://www.davidcooperrider.com/
Sonjia Lyubomirsky, University University of California, Riverside
http://sonjalyubomirsky.com/
Robert Emmons, Greater Good Science Center, University of California
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/profile/robert_emmons
Barbara Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
https://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/barb-fredrickson/
Maria Sirois, VP of Curriculum, Whole Being Institute 
https://wholebeinginstitute.com/maria-sirois/