I have recently returned from Innsbruck, Austria where I attended the European Conference on Positive Psychology (ECPP2024). The theme of the conference was, 'It's you, it's me, it's us' which is so appropriate not only for the field of positive psychology (PP) but for how PP can contribute to much more than the individual and include our social relationships, community/society, the planet/nature and spirtuality. This was very much the message coming from Andreas Krafft in his keynote on day 3 about our hopes, our fears, our future. There was a sense of realism permeating from the conference that the challenges that we all face are massive be it the environment, the political landscape, and the move towards nationalism and extremeism. While 'hope' is difficult, positive psychology has an important role to play in our future and it is up to each one of us to help make a positive difference not simply by talking to each other but by bringing positive psychology to a much wider audience.
These conferences always offer a fantastic mix of research and practice and a myriad of choices as to what sessions to attend. So, as a positive psychology practitioner my 'selection' leans more towards using PP in action. I am also super interested in how I can use the ideas and information in my own world of coaching which primarily centers around snowsports, teaching skiing and training and certifying ski instructors. The sessions I attended covered topics such as 'positive education', 'flow', 'professionalising positive psychology', 'neuroscience and wellbeing', and 'meaning'. In addition there were keynote presentations some of which really resonated with me. This report focuses on the sessions I attended that were most impactful for me. With around 1200 people attending, from all over the world, and the broad spectrum of sessions and topics covered my takeaways will be very different to others but that is what is so beautiful about this event and positive psychology - it brings such a diverse group of people together who have a common goal: to improve the world we live in no matter what the context or culture.
I attended a total of 19 sessions in 3 days!! And the ones that impacted me most are covered below:
1) The Quest for Optimal Learning (positive education) - Sue Roffey
This was a symposium about the visions for future education. Of the speakers in this session I was so impressed with Sue Roffey who spoke with clarity and passion. She said that learning should be 'joyous' and should encourage curiosity, excitement, and collaboration. It should give children an opportunity to develop their strengths. And she said that "teachers need to be facilitators of learning" highlighting that they do not need to be fonts of all knowledge but rather have the skills to facilitate. Her new book ASPIRE to Wellbeing and Learning for All in Early Years and Primary is available now and I was at her book launch the next day to get my copy. The acronym stands for Agency, Safety, Positivity, Inclusion, Respect, and Equity.
2) Positive Psychology Interventions in Educational Contexts (positive education) - Ilona Boniwell
This symposium was about developing flexible and engaging tools in educational contexts. Ilona Boniwell's case study with Club Med was particularly interesting to me as I could immediately see how such a program could be adapted for how we teach children in the snowsports environment. This has been a 5 year project across 34 resorts in 2022 and 22 resorts in 2023. The goal is to create an innovative holiday offer that brings positive psychology into how children are developed.
The framework combines soft skills (I prefer human skills) with positive education and character strengths dvelopment. 35 activities have been developed to unleash the power of play. Building strenghts like creativity, courage, confidence, cooperation, connection, and cheerfulness is at heart of this program. I'm so looking forward to see what we can do for the organisations I am involved with in snowsports - the Professional Ski Instructors of Europe (PSIE) and the Professional Ski Instructors of Canada (PSIC).
3) What's Your Why? Positive Psychology is a Means, So What is Your End? (keynote) - Corey Keyes
This was an incredible keynote with Corey Keyes being interviewed by Marta Bassi. My notebook was filled with Corey's wisdom around languishing, flourishing, and wellbeing. He said of wellbeing, "when you give it, you get it".
Some other things he said that stuck with me were:
"Don't just treat the mental illness, improve mental wellness (positive mental health)".
"Dream a world that you want and ask why not?"
He said that languishing was being dead inside, feeling nothing, being a hungry ghost, wanting to escape invisibility!
He was inspirational yet brutally honest saying we are not making any progress with reducing mental illness and improving mental health.
He reminded us that "human beings are planted here on earth to grow".
4) Breathwork Transformation Session - Itai Itzvan
I have known Itai Itzvan for some time and been a student of his school of positive transformation (mindfulness teacher training, strengths practitioner etc.). To be honest I did not know what to expect from this session but it was certainly transformative and took me 'on a trip' that I have never exprienced before. It is difficult to describe the experience here but suffice to say it was truly incredible and it brought a lot emotions to the fore.
If you want to transform yourself and your life then the teachings of Itai can really help you. But be warned this is not necessarily a plesant experience but I never knew you could achieve something so profound through a breathing exercise. INCREDIBLE.
If you want to know more visit the School of Positive Transformation.
5) Diagnosing, Nurturing and Maintaining Resilience (keynote) - Michael Ungar
Michael Ungar was another very inspiring speaker and delivered an engaging presentation filled with stories about resilience. The biggest takeaway from this was how Michael defined 'resilience' saying that resilience is...
"When under unusual stress, resilience is our ability (alone and in groups) to navigate our way to the psychological, social, cultural, and physical resources that sustain our wellbeing, and our ability to negotiate for these resources to be provided in ways we experience as meaningful".
In other words nothing to do with 'bouncing back'!!!
6) Prosocial Commitment, Flow, and the Limits of our Attention (flow) - Jeanne Nakamura
Jeanne Nakamura is one of the leading authorities on Flow and this beautiful presentation resonated with me so much as it reminded us that the attentional component of flow is central to the construct and essential to our individual and collective wellbeing. I cannot do justice to her presentation in this short review but I will be spending time pouring over her slides and thinking deeply about attention, flow, wellbeing and meaning.
7) The Neuroscience of Wellbeing - Sue Langley
This was, quite simply, one of the best presentations I have ever been to at a conference! Considering it was at the end of a long day it was a testament to Sue's delivery that she held my attention throughout.
Understanding the brain and how it works is vitally important for all mental health professionals because it means we know why interventions work/don't work. I have often read and listened to people explaining the brain and neuroscience, and understand the value of this education, but this presentation made it simple, clear, and understandable. While people know about neuroplasticity it seems many still need convincing that it is never to late to improve our brain health.
Apart from helping the audience know how the brain works, the limbic system, the pre-frontal cortex, threat & reward, major brain functions, memory, recall, inhibiting, and changing habits Sue then moved onto genetics of wellbeing and the importance of microbiome. Fascinating stuff that I will be delving into further.
The standing ovation at the end was so well deserved.
8) Paws for Wellbeing - Clive Leach and Roz Rimes
Being a dog lover I was naturally interested in this workshop but I wasn't expecting it to be so good! Clive and Roz were brilliant. They oozed passion and enthusiasm and delivered an entertaining workshop that beautifully drew links between canine-human interaction and positive psychology to enhance our wellbeing.
It was great spending time with other dog lovers and during the workshop we had the opportunity to discuss how dogs support our flourishing using Martin Seligman's PERMA model (plus the H) as a framework.
9) Seasons of Meaning: Approaches to Deepening Meaning in Everyday Life - Michael Steger and Pninit Russo-Netzer
This was another highly useful and fun workshop that was very well attended. It was so nice to take the big subject of 'Meaning in Life' and drill down to approaches to accessing meaning in everyday life. We engaged in a number of practical activities that increased our felt sense and felt meaning. Beautifully delivered by Michael and Pninit.
This slide with the quote from Helen Keller summed up this important workshop.
Conclusions
It is difficult not to feel a degree of imposter syndrome when attending events like this. You
get to chat and spend time with some of the leading authorities in our field of positive psychology. Eminent researchers, massively experienced practitioners, inspirational speakers all of whom are down to earth and happy to share their knowledge. It was lovely to catch up with friends and colleagues, MAPP alumni, and colleagues whom I had only previously met virtually such as Ilona Boniwell, Gary and Deanne Gute who run the Flow Channel on Facebook, and Sue Jackson who co authored Flow in Sports with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1999 and who has just published her new book Experiencing Flow: Life Beyond Boredom and Anxiety. And I was delighted to get my copy signed by Sue.
Overall this was a fantastic conference and much needed, for me personally, and all those
who attended. I hope that applying what I have learned to my own domain of snowsports can positively impact our industry and in some small way contribute to a better society for all.
I'm so looking forward to the next ECPP in 2026 in my hometown of Dublin.
About the author
Derek Tate is an alpine skiing coach and director of British Alpine Ski School Chamonix. He is the President of the newly formed Professional Ski Instructors of Europe, a mental skills coach, positive psychology practitioner, strengths practitioner, and author. His recent books include, "Six Steps for Training the Mind", "Learn, Enjoy, Flow & Grow" and "Transformational Flow Coaching". You can learn more from his author page. He is a member of PSIE, PSIC, BASI, and IASI.
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