Lea Waters

Last updated

Lea Waters
AM
Born (1971-02-24) 24 February 1971 (age 53)
Lara, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Other namesLea Elizabeth Waters
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
Deakin University
SpouseMatthew Scholes
Children2
Scientific career
FieldsIndustrial and organizational psychology, School Psychology
Institutions University of Melbourne

Lea Waters AM (born 24 February 1971) [1] is an Australian psychologist, speaker, author and researcher. She is a psychology professor at the University of Melbourne and was the founding director of the Centre for Positive Psychology in the University of Melbourne. [2] In addition, she has affiliate positions at University of Michigan and sits on the Science Board of The University of California and Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Her main areas of research are positive psychology, organisational psychology, education, leadership and parenting. [3] [4]

Contents

Waters has published over 110 peer reviewed journals and book chapters. [5] [6] [7] She has been the President of the International Positive Psychology Association and the Chair of the 6th World Congress in Positive Psychology. Waters was awarded Member of the Order of Australia in 2020. [8]

Early life

Waters received a Bachelor’s Degree with honors in Psychology in 1992 from the University of Melbourne. Waters then received a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology in 1997 from the Deakin University.[ citation needed ]

Career

From January 1996, Waters has been a researcher and professor at the University of Melbourne. [9] She has been a psychologist for 25 years and is registered with AHRPA, is a member of the Australian Psychological Society and a member of the College of Organizational Psychologists. [10] In 2005, Waters developed her own consultancy business called 'Visible Wellbeing' working with schools and corporations. She is also a gifted speaker and has been on speaking tours across the globe including speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai in 2018. Her work has been featured in the Washington Post, [11] the Toronto Globe and The Sydney Morning Herald. [12] [13]

Waters' acclaimed parenting book The Strength Switch [14] [15] was listed in Top Reads by Berkeley University’s Greater Good Science Centre and Top 5 Books UK. It has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Hungarian, Arabic, Spanish, French and Russian. [16]

Waters, working with Martin Seligman and St Peter's College, Adelaide, has been instrumental in the development and implementation of positive education programs throughout Australia. [17] Waters is committed to translating research and working with the media. She has written for the Wall Street Journal, [18] TIME.com Magazine, The Atlantic, and The Guardian. [19] [20] [21] Waters has also appeared on the TEDx Talk. She is the Director of the teacher training program Visible Wellbeing and has developed student e-wellbeing resources for teachers to deliver to students via online and virtual classrooms. [22] [23]

Selected publications

Selected awards

Personal life

Waters is married to Matthew Scholes and the couple has two children, Nicholas and Emily. [26]

Related Research Articles

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both conscious and unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feelings, and motives. Psychology is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences. Biological psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, linking the discipline to neuroscience. As social scientists, psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups.

Positive psychology is a field of psychological theory and research of optimal human functioning of people, groups, and institutions. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions... it aims to improve quality of life."

School psychology is a field that applies principles from educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and behavior analysis to meet the learning and behavioral health needs of children and adolescents. It is an area of applied psychology practiced by a school psychologist. They often collaborate with educators, families, school leaders, community members, and other professionals to create safe and supportive school environments.

Community psychology is concerned with the community as the unit of study. This contrasts with most psychology which focuses on the individual. Community psychology also studies the community as a context for the individuals within it, and the relationships of the individual to communities and society. Community psychologists seek to understand the functioning of the community, including the quality of life of persons within groups, organizations and institutions, communities, and society. They aim to enhance the quality of life through collaborative research and action.

Susan Fiona Dorinthea Michie is a British academic, clinical psychologist, and professor of health psychology, director of The Centre for Behaviour Change and head of The Health Psychology Research Group, all at University College London. She is also an advisor to the British Government via the SAGE advisory group on matters concerning behavioural compliance with government regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, she was appointed Chair of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Technical Advisory Group on Behavioural Insights and Sciences for Health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Well-being</span> General term for condition of individual or group

Well-being, or wellbeing, also known as wellness, prudential value, prosperity or quality of life, is what is intrinsically valuable relative to someone. So the well-being of a person is what is ultimately good for this person, what is in the self-interest of this person. Well-being can refer to both positive and negative well-being. In its positive sense, it is sometimes contrasted with ill-being as its opposite. The term "subjective well-being" denotes how people experience and evaluate their lives, usually measured in relation to self-reported well-being obtained through questionnaires.

Darcia Narvaez is a Professor of Psychology Emerita at the University of Notre Dame who has written extensively on issues of character, moral development, and human flourishing.

Todd Barrett Kashdan is an American psychologist. He is a professor of psychology and director of the Well-Being Laboratory at George Mason University. His research explores why people suffer, with an emphasis on the transition from normal to pathological anxiety. Other research explores the nature of well-being, with an emphasis on the critical functions of curiosity, meaning and purpose in life, and psychological flexibility to human performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marilyn Price-Mitchell</span> American psychologist

Marilyn Price-Mitchell is an American psychologist, author, columnist, speaker, and youth development expert. She is the co-founder and serves on the Advisory Board of the Washington State Family & Community Engagement Trust and has a regular column at Psychology Today. She has also served as a fellow at the Fielding Graduate University Institute for Social Innovation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Duckworth</span> American psychologist

Angela Lee Duckworth is an American academic, psychologist, and popular science author. She is the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she studies grit and self-control. She is also the Founder and former CEO of Character Lab, a not-for-profit whose mission is to advance the science and practice of character development.

Cultural differences can interact with positive psychology to create great variation, potentially impacting positive psychology interventions. Culture differences have an impact on the interventions of positive psychology. Culture influences how people seek psychological help, their definitions of social structure, and coping strategies. Cross cultural positive psychology is the application of the main themes of positive psychology from cross-cultural or multicultural perspectives.

Michael or Mike Kyrios is a Greek-Australian clinical psychologist. He is an emeritus professor at Flinders University, after serving as vice-president and executive dean at the university's College of Education, Psychology and Social Work.

Christian van Nieuwerburgh (1971) is a British-based executive coach, academic, consultant and author. He is a Professor of Coaching and Positive Psychology at the University of East London (UEL) and Executive Director of Growth Coaching International, a Sydney-based global coach training provider for the education sector.

Well-being is a multifaceted topic studied in psychology, especially positive psychology. Biologically, well-being is highly influenced by endogenous molecules that impact happiness and euphoria in organisms, often referred to as "well-being related markers". Related concepts are eudaimonia, happiness, flourishing, quality of life, contentment, and meaningful life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School belonging</span> Term

The most commonly used definition of school belonging comes from a 1993 academic article by researchers Carol Goodenow and Kathleen Grady, who describe school belonging as "the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school social environment." The construct of school belonging involves feeling connected with and attached to one's school. It also encompasses involvement and affiliation with one's school community. Conversely, students who do not feel a strong sense of belonging within their school environment are frequently described as being alienated or disaffected. There are a number of terms within educational research that are used interchangeably with school belonging, including school connectedness, school attachment, and school engagement.

Lindsay G. Oades is an Australian wellbeing public policy strategist, author, researcher and academic. He is the Director of the Centre for Wellbeing Science and a professor at the University of Melbourne. He is also a non-executive Director of Action for Happiness Australia, and the Positive Education Schools Association. He is a former co-editor of the International Journal of Wellbeing.

Catharine Sarah Creswell is a British psychologist and Professor of Developmental Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford. She specialises in anxiety disorders in children and young people.

Patricia Lynette Dudgeon, usually known as Pat Dudgeon, is an Aboriginal Australian psychologist, Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and a research professor at the University of Western Australia's (UWA) School of Indigenous Studies. Her area of research includes Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention. She is actively involved with the Aboriginal community, having an ongoing commitment to social justice for Indigenous people. Dudgeon has participated in numerous state and national committees, councils, task groups and community service activities in both a voluntary and professional capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Roffey</span> British & Australian psychologist and academic

Sue (Suzanna) Roffey is a teacher, educational psychologist, academic and author. She is Honorary Associate Professor at University College London and an Affiliate of the Institute of Wellbeing in Cambridge, UK. She is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society (FBPsS), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). She is a member of the advisory board of the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools, and a past member of the editorial board of Educational and Child Psychology. She was the founder of Wellbeing Australia.

Tamlin S. Conner, also known as Tamlin Conner Christensen, is an American–New Zealand academic psychologist, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in researching the science of wellbeing and happiness.

References

  1. ↑ Who's Who in Australia (2019), ConnectWeb.
  2. ↑ "Lea Waters's research works | University of Melbourne, Melbourne (MSD) and other places". ResearchGate. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "Strength-based parenting improves children's resilience and stress levels". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Positive tools for a lifetime". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  5. ↑ Stark, Jill (1 March 2014). "Can we build a better child?". The Age. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  6. ↑ Lewin, Evelyn (15 March 2019). "How cultivating a positive mindset benefits your 'emotional fitness'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  7. ↑ "The Strength Switch". ABC Radio National. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  8. 1 2 "APS members honoured for commitment to psychology | APS". www.psychology.org.au. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  9. ↑ "Prof Lea Waters". findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "Focusing on kindness, not consumption, this Christmas". thesector.com.au. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  11. ↑ "Focus on your child's strengths to help them succeed. Here's how". Washington Post.
  12. ↑ "Build on your strengths and be happier at work". www.intheblack.com. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  13. ↑ Thompson, Malachi (12 December 2018). "Simply Expressing Gratitude Will Help You Build an Empire". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  14. ↑ "How do you avoid 'cabin fever' in COVID-19 isolation?". ABC Radio. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  15. ↑ Edwards, Kasey (13 October 2019). "How 'strength-based parenting' is bringing out the best in kids". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  16. ↑ Turnbull, Samantha (1 April 2020). "Tips for working from home with kids during the coronavirus pandemic - ABC Life". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  17. ↑ Positive Education Schools Association. "PESA History". Positive Education Schools Association. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  18. ↑ Waters, Lea (7 July 2017). "The Power of Positive Parenting". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  19. ↑ Waters, Lea (17 March 2020). "Silver linings: how to stay positive during the coronavirus crisis". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  20. ↑ Waters, Lea (20 March 2020). "'Like an emotional Mexican wave': how coronavirus kindness makes the world seem smaller". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  21. ↑ "Kids' Brains Need More Downtime, Research Shows | Voice of America - English". www.voanews.com. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  22. ↑ Waters, Lea; Fanner, David (27 March 2020). "Expressing gratitude during the coronavirus crisis – video". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  23. ↑ Haziq, Saman. "Teenagers with mental illnesses could slip into relapse". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  24. ↑ White, Mathew A.; Slemp, Gavin R.; Murray, A. Simon (16 June 2017). Future Directions in Well-Being: Education, Organizations and Policy. Springer. ISBN   978-3-319-56889-8.
  25. ↑ White, Mathew A.; Murray, A. Simon (8 May 2015). Evidence-Based Approaches in Positive Education: Implementing a Strategic Framework for Well-being in Schools. Springer. ISBN   978-94-017-9667-5.
  26. ↑ "What is the Strength Switch and Why it Can Help You Flourish with Lea Waters" . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.