Kathryn Britton

Before I decided to make a big career about-face, Irnhad been a software engineer for 30 years and had risen pretty far up the technical career ladder in a major information technology corporation. I led software development teams, created software architectures, chaired a patent evaluation committee, and filed 25+ patent applications myself.

Inr September 2005, I took a big step out of my comfort zone to study positive psychology as a member of the first class of the Master ofr Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania. This program was the first of its kind in the world.

Applied positive psychology is all about putting research findings to work to make people's lives happier, more productive, more fulfilling, more engaging, and more meaningful. After I finished the degree, I had to figure out, "What next? How do I use what I learned to make a difference?"

For the next 9 months, I focused on helping groups of people inside myrncompany become more engaged and satisfied at work. Certain aspects ofrnpositive psychology make perfect sense in business settings and are not hard for people to learn and apply.

Then I set out on my own. I have at least 20 years experience mentoring individuals and groups of individuals. I've heard a lot of stories. I've also experienced the magic of helping people bring new ideas into existence. That's the core of coaching. So I trained to be a certified professional coach with Coach Training Alliance in 2006 and then completed the training course of the Quality of Life Therapy and Coaching Academy.

I came to coaching to put what I learnedrnabout positive emotion, resilience, intrinsic motivation, and character strengths into practice to make my own positive difference in the world.

I also write about applied positive psychology in my blog, Positive Psychology Reflections, and in monthly articles in Positive Psychology News Daily.