The Happiness Toolbox: Brain-Based Skills for Lasting Well-Being and Happiness
People make the largest decisions of their lives with happiness in mind: where to live, who to marry, what work to do. A good deal of the research suggests those decisions move the baseline far less than anyone expects, and that people adapt back to roughly where they started. Jonah Paquette opens with that, because once a clinician sees it, the question changes from what to pursue to what actually works.
He is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Director of Mental Health Training at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, which he describes as the largest non-government mental health training programme in the United States, putting roughly two hundred trainees a year through supervised clinical experience across about twenty medical centres. He has written three books in this area. This course is where positive psychology and neuroscience meet, taught by someone who spends his working life training clinicians.
Six hours across three parts, and it is experiential rather than a lecture on findings. The negativity bias and what it does to a client with depression or anxiety. Gratitude, compassion, self-compassion, connection and savouring, each with the practices and how to bring them into treatment without them landing as homework a client resents. Awe, which is his particular area and the subject of his third book. Practices for settling the nervous system. Character strengths and flow, including why using a strength the same way every day stops working. He is careful throughout to distinguish what the evidence supports from what it does not, which is unusual in this field.
You’ll walk away with
- Why the things people expect to raise their happiness mostly do not, and what the research points to instead
- The negativity bias explained in a way a client with depression or anxiety can use
- Gratitude, compassion, self-compassion, connection and savouring, with the specific practices for each
- How to bring a well-being practice into treatment so it is part of the work rather than an add-on
- Self-appreciation, and why clients answer “what are you grateful for” faster than “what do you value about yourself”
- Loving-kindness practice, where it came from and how to introduce it to a sceptical client
- Awe and wonder, what happens when people experience it, and how to build for it deliberately
- Techniques for regulating the nervous system, including work with the vagus nerve
- Character strengths, flow, and why a strength used the same way every day stops producing it
- Where positive psychology and neuroscience genuinely meet, and where the popular version overstates it
- The same practices applied to your own working life, which he treats as part of the training
Watch the course trailer
CPD Information For Mental Health Professionals
Enjoy complete flexibility with 100% self-paced learning you can access anytime, anywhere, and on any device. This course is included with your Tatra Training membership, along with every other course in the library.
Where this sits: the fullest treatment of Jonah Paquette’s well-being material. Applying Cognitive Behavioural Techniques covers his CBT work, and Cultivating Well-Being and Meaning applies the same pathways to clients in crisis.
Format: three two-hour parts, with practices you take part in rather than watch.
Course Duration: 6 learning hours
Certificate and CPD hours: On completion you’ll receive a Certificate of Completion to support your CPD records. Your certificates are yours to keep.
Assessment: Complete a short quiz at the end (80% pass mark), which you can resit as many times as needed.
Revisit Anytime: Come back to the course as often as you like while your membership is active, whenever you want a refresher for practice.
CPD Eligibility: This program may be suitable for CPD for professionals such as:
- Psychologists
- Counsellors and Psychotherapists
- Social Workers
- Community Workers
- Mental Health Nurses
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Occupational Therapists
CPD requirements vary between professional bodies, so please check with your association or credentialing body to confirm you can claim CPD hours/OPD points for this program and what evidence they require.
Course Content
Meet Your Instructor
Clients struggling with trauma, anxiety, and life's inevitable hardships - and organisations seeking to build genuine employee well-being rather than superficial wellness programs - can need more than traditional approaches to create lasting positive change. Jonah Paquette has dedicated his career to translating cutting-edge research from positive psychology and well-being science into practical tools that help individuals and organisations not just recover from difficulties, but actually thrive in their aftermath.
As Assistant Regional Director of Mental Health Training at Kaiser Permanente, where he helped oversee large mental health training programs spanning 20 medical centers, and co-host of "The Happy Hour" psychology podcast, Dr. Paquette represents the unique combination of clinical expertise and accessible communication that makes complex research immediately applicable. His four books - including Awestruck: How Embracing Wonder Can Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Connected and Happily Even After: Practices for Finding Well-Being After Trauma and Hardship - demonstrate his exceptional ability to distill decades of happiness research into evidence-based practices that create measurable improvements in both individual and organisational well-being.
Dr. Paquette's expertise spans positive psychology, well-being science, awe and wonder research, post-traumatic growth, anxiety disorders, PTSD treatment, CBT, resilience training, and organisational well-being. His approach recognises that true mental health goes beyond symptom reduction to encompass the cultivation of positive emotions, meaning, engagement, and connection. He specialises in helping clients and organisations move from merely surviving difficult circumstances to discovering how challenges can become catalysts for growth, meaning, and deeper well-being.
What sets his training apart is research rigor combined with practical accessibility. Paquette doesn't just teach theoretical concepts - he shows practitioners and organisations how to implement specific, evidence-based interventions that measurably increase happiness, resilience, and connection. His international keynote presentations and workshops demonstrate his exceptional ability to make complex well-being science immediately actionable for diverse audiences.
For your practice, expect to gain specific interventions from positive psychology research, tools for helping clients discover post-traumatic growth, and frameworks for integrating well-being science with traditional therapeutic approaches. His methods particularly benefit clinicians wanting to move beyond symptom-focused treatment, those working with trauma survivors, or practitioners interested in preventive and strength-based interventions.
Quick Win: Paquette's "awe walk" technique helps clients shift from rumination and anxiety to present-moment awareness and positive emotion - which can provide significant mood improvement while building long-term resilience.
Qualifications
- PsyD, Clinical Psychology, PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium, Palo Alto, CA (APA-accredited)
- BA, Psychology and History, Columbia University, New York
- Licensed Clinical Psychologist, California
- Over 10 years healthcare leadership experience at Kaiser Permanente
Authored Books
- Happily Even After: Practices for Finding Well-Being After Trauma and Hardship (2022)
- Awestruck: How Embracing Wonder Can Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Connected (2020)
- The Happiness Toolbox: 60+ Evidence-Based Activities for Greater Joy (2018)
- Real Happiness: Proven Paths for Contentment, Peace & Well-Being (2015)
Leadership & Training
- Assistant Regional Director, Mental Health Training, Kaiser Permanente, Northern California
- Training Director, APA-Accredited Postdoctoral Residency Program, Kaiser Permanente
- Clinical Psychologist, Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco Bay Area
- Co-host, "The Happy Hour" Psychology Podcast, current
Professional Experience
- Author & International Speaker, Keynote Presentations & Workshops, 2015–present
- Clinical Psychologist, Veterans Affairs hospitals
- Psychologist, Community mental health clinics and outpatient medical centers
- Counselor, College counseling centers
- Private Practice Clinician
Clinical Specialties
- Positive psychology and well-being science applications
- Post-traumatic growth and resilience building
- Awe, wonder, and positive emotion cultivation
- Anxiety disorders and PTSD treatment using strength-based approaches
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) integration with positive psychology
- Trauma therapy with focus on growth and meaning-making
- Organisational well-being and emotional fitness programs
Research & Innovation Areas
- Translation of happiness research into practical interventions
- Evidence-based activities for joy and well-being enhancement
- Integration of awe and wonder into therapeutic practice
- Resilience training for individuals and organisations
- Post-traumatic growth facilitation techniques
Ready to help clients not just recover from hardship but discover new levels of well-being and meaning? Discover how Dr. Paquette's evidence-based positive psychology methods can help transform your ability to cultivate lasting happiness, resilience, and growth in both individual and organisational settings.
Feedback & Reviews
This course includes:
- Lessons 2
- Topics 4
- Duration 6 hours
- Quizzes 2
- Language English