Molly Woodhouse

Molly Woodhouse

Youth Counsellor

Brisbane, Australia

Alumni: Byron Bay, Australia, February 2019

In our 11069NAT Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing we always talk about the ripple effect; starting with self and creating a ripple out there in the world - whatever that may mean for each person.

In this interview, a graduate of our Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing beautifully recounts how the course enriched her youth counselling skills AND sparked profound personal growth. Through applying these insights, she fostered positive changes within her family and radiated uplifting effects to friends, family and colleagues alike.

What drew you to complete the Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing?

I was working as a youth counsellor when I stumbled across the Diploma, and as it had been many years since completing my psychology studies, I had been keen to upskill and refresh my knowledge. Then I happened to come across a webinar where Sue discussed some of the central tenets of positive psychology, and I had one of those “This is it!” moments.

I absolutely loved that positive psychology addresses what I have always felt to be the main drawback of traditional psychology approaches: a strong deficit focus (which I have always believed further marginalises people already struggling with something). Positive psychology just resonated with me and my desire to draw on people’s strengths and abilities to better their lives.

As I listened to Sue doing an absolutely brilliant job of explaining and describing potentially complex ideas so simply, I felt uplifted and inspired to further my understanding of positive psychology and pursue more webinars by Sue.

She is one of those speakers who is simultaneously relatable, inspiring and blessed with the capacity to synthesise complex research into understandable and immediately applicable information.

She is very down to earth, and it is EASY to feel inspired and uplifted by how she presents all the information she has consolidated.

How was your experience of the Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing?

What I most loved about the course was the realisation that the same use of empirical science and rigorous research was utilised to inform practical strategies to help people thrive - whether this was starting from a place of high functioning to further flourishing or from a place of great struggle to move beyond coping to actually thriving.

The positive psychology approach effectively removes the expectations of limitation to help people do much more than just “cope” – Without any “woo woo” involved! It was all science-backed and rigorously tested. The approaches and tools learned about are also applicable in so many settings. The diversity of professions of people with whom I shared the course was amazing, and we all found some wonderful tools to take back to our very different professional and personal lives.

The other thing I loved about the course was that it was unexpectedly so much more than just upskilling. It was profoundly impactful personally for me and, I suspect, on everyone who attended. Right from the get-go, a safe atmosphere was created, respectful of the diversity of people, knowledge, and beliefs in the room, which enabled some quite beautiful revelations of personal growth and insight.

I found huge personal growth and the removal of long-held obstacles. This was an unexpected and wonderfully surprising outcome of the course.

How are you spreading your positive ripples, and how has the Diploma of Positive Psychology and Wellbeing helped you achieve this?

The obvious ripples from the course were the professional applications and a whole new skill set to bring to my work counselling young people. I feel more proficient in using a strengths-based framework to address people’s individual struggles still, and I am now applying these skills in such a way to help people do so much more than just cope with hardship.

Many clients who had previously presented as quite “stuck” and struggled to utilise identified tools to progress are now making great strides by focusing on some of the key domains of positive psychology. They inadvertently find themselves addressing the life areas they had previously felt stuck in.

I feel more confident in supporting the young people I work with to change their life trajectories using some beautifully simple strategies identified in the course.

I have a fabulous new battery of tools and strategies in my tool kit, above and beyond what I already drew upon to support clients in achieving their desired changes.

I have experienced the most profound and unexpected ripples in my personal life. I have two beautiful and spirited children who are both autistic, and the course has armed me with a huge amount of tools to better respond to support and guide my children as well as look after and understand myself in my main life role as a parent. There has consequently been a significant shift in the amount of warmth and love demonstrated in our family home and household-wide.

We have all experienced a beautiful shift in the compassion we are able to show one another and ourselves as we all face the inevitable life struggles that emerge. My partner and I are much more aligned on the same team in parenting, friendship and coupledom than we have been for many years. The parenting course I took armed us with significantly better self-care tools and the united front in parenting ethos. It has been invaluable in creating greater household harmony and individual contentment for all four of us.

As I drew on friends, family members and colleagues as my guinea pigs to complete several of the assessments throughout the course, they have all also benefited in various ways too. Many people have given me feedback that they gained so much from participating in my assessments, ranging from improved relationships, identifying and achieving desired goals, improved sense of self-appreciation, and increased joy and happiness in their lives.

I was truly surprised that so many people in my personal circle also benefited from my studies, so this has been a delightful gift for us all. I highly recommend this course as you will inevitably gain so much personally beyond imagination!