
Lea Waters
Founder
About the instructor
Lea is one of the world’s leading experts on Positive Education, Positive Organizations and Strength-Based Parenting and Teaching. As a University researcher, Lea turns her science into strength-based strategies to help organizations, educators and parents around the world build resilience in their employees and children, helping them to thrive.
Lea is the President of the International Positive Psychology Association (2017-2019) and will continue to be on the Board of IPPA until 2021. Lea is on Advisory Board for Berkeley Universities Greater Good Science Centre, serves on the Positive Education Committee for the Global Happiness Council, and is the founding Director of the Centre for Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne, where she’s worked for more than 20 years.
Lea helps parents, educators and organizations make a small switch that makes a big difference in overall wellbeing.
As humans, we’re wired to focus on the negative and zoom in on what’s “off.” Lea proposes a better way for doing things. She says we can short-circuit our negative defaults by making a mental switch that flicks to shift our attention from weaknesses to strengths, and from negative to positive.
In her book, The Strength Switch, Lea says that the strength-based approach gives us the power to live the good life by drawing on our most abundant inner resources (our strengths!) The Strength Switch was named one of the top reads for 2017 by Greater Good Magazine, was the top new release in the parenting category on Amazon, and has been translated into Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Japanese, Hungarian, Arabic, Spanish, Russian and French.
Lea is passionate about helping people all over the world make the Strength Switch. Her Strength Switch parenting course and Visible Wellbeing approach are being used by parents and schools worldwide.
Lea has been featured in The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and more. As a researcher, she’s published more than 100 scientific journal articles.
Lea’s top strengths include: humor, curiosity and kindness.
Course Contents
Course Curriculum
- SESSION 1 GOALS
- PARENT TIME - Parent Lesson with Lea
- PARENT TIME: Your Strength-Based Parenting Levels
- PARENT TIME: Foundations of Good Parenting
- PARENT TIME: What supports strong family relationships
- PARENT TIME: What are Strengths?
- PARENT TIME: What are your Strengths?
- FAMILY TIME: What are the strengths in each of us?
- FAMILY TIME: Share your journey on social media
- LIVING IT: Strengths on show
- EXTRA LEARNING OPPORTUNITY: Online tests
- The science behind understanding strengths
- SESSION 2 GOALS
- PARENT TIME: Weekly reflection
- PARENT TIME: Parent lesson with Lea
- PARENT TIME: Why do we find strengths hard to spot?
- PARENT TIME: Strength spotting in others
- FAMILY TIME: Strength spotting in ourselves in challenging and good times
- FAMILY TIME: Share your journey on social media
- LIVING IT: Strengths spotting on the internet
- LIVING IT: Strengths spotting week
- LIVING IT: Shining a light on strengths every day
- EXTRA LEARNING OPPORTUNITY: Strength spotting at the movies
- EXTRA LEARNING OPPORTUNITY: Who did you inherit your strengths from?
- The science behind seeing strengths
- SESSION 3 GOALS
- PARENT TIME: Weekly reflection
- PARENT LESSON: Lesson with Lea
- PARENT TIME: Learning from other parents
- PARENT TIME: How are you currently using your strengths?
- FAMILY TIME: Sharing where the family use their top strengths
- FAMILY TIME: Appreciative Inquiry - What makes our family happy
- FAMILY TIME: Strengths family contract
- FAMILY TIME: Share your journey on social media
- LIVING IT: Putting the Strengths Family Contract into action during the week
- EXTRA LEARNING OPPORTUNITY: Using your top strengths in new ways
- The science behind using strengths.
- SESSION 4 GOALS
- PARENT TIME: Weekly reflection
- PARENT TIME: Lesson with Lea
- PARENT TIME: The development of the brain
- PARENT TIME: Neuroplasticity and strength-based parenting
- PARENT TIME: Growing past strengths
- FAMILY TIME: Quiet reflection of your strengths
- FAMILY TIME: Growing your Strengths
- FAMILY TIME: Creating new habits
- FAMILY TIME: Share your journey on social media
- LIVING IT: Creating new habits
- EXTRA LEARNING OPPORTUNITY: Inspiring you to grow your strengths
- The science behind growing strengths
- SESSION 5 GOALS - Celebrating Strengths
- PARENT TIME: Weekly reflection
- PARENT TIME: Lesson with Lea
- FAMILY TIME: Plan your Celebration Dinner
- FAMILY TIME: Family Celebration Dinner
- FAMILY TIME: Family Certificate of Completion
- FAMILY TIME: Sign your Parenting Manifesto
- LIVING IT: Practise what you have learnt
- EXTRA LEARNING OPPORTUNITY
- FAMILY TIME: Share your journey on social media
- PARENT TIME: Final Weekly Reflection
- FINAL REVIEW - Before Week#1 and After Week#5
- RATE THIS COURSE
- The science behind celebrating strengths