Cultivating Well-Being and Meaning During COVID-19
Some clients are not struggling with distorted thinking. They are struggling because their situation is genuinely bad and is not going to improve on any timeline they can see. The usual moves get thin quickly, and a clinician can end up with little to offer beyond validation and waiting.
Jonah Paquette built this course for exactly that position. Fifteen pathways into well-being, with more than fifty practical strategies attached to them, all drawn from positive psychology and mindfulness research and all aimed at people whose circumstances are hard. Connection, gratitude, savouring, kindness, compassion, self-compassion, awe and the rest, each with what it does and how to put it in front of a client who is not in the mood for it.
He also spends time on what a prolonged difficult period does to people clinically: the effect on sleep, on chronic anxiety, on substance use, on mood, and how a reasonable response to a bad situation can tip into something that needs treatment. He works through the cognitive distortions as they show up under sustained strain, which is a different set of examples from the ones in a standard CBT text. Three hours, two sessions, strengths-based throughout, and deliberately practical rather than theoretical.
You’ll walk away with
- Fifteen distinct pathways into well-being, with more than fifty strategies attached to them
- Working with clients whose circumstances are genuinely bad and not about to change
- Connection, and what the long-running research on social relationships points to
- Gratitude and savouring, introduced to a client who finds both ideas irritating
- Kindness and compassion as practices with something behind them, not as advice
- Self-compassion for the client who is hardest on themselves when they are already struggling
- Awe and wonder, and how to build for it when someone’s world has narrowed
- The cognitive distortions as they present under sustained strain, with the phrasing clients use
- What prolonged difficulty does to sleep, anxiety, mood and substance use, and when it needs treating
- A strengths-based way to work when there is no fix available
- Practices you can use on yourself, which matters when your caseload is all carrying the same thing
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.
Please note: this was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic and Jonah Paquette uses it throughout as the working example. The pathways and strategies are not specific to it.
Where this sits: the shortest of Jonah Paquette’s three courses and the most immediately practical. The Happiness Toolbox covers the same pathways in twice the depth without the crisis framing.
Course Duration: 3 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 1
- Topics 3
- Duration 3 hours
- Quizzes 1
- Language English