The Happiness Foundation is a powerful force for the greater social good, offering practical solutions that deliver sustainable results. THF delivers access-to-all inspirational programmes and 1-1 support enabling families, adults, older people, and young people to flourish. Happiness has an economy and clearly links with success, productivity, contribution, health and wellness, and longevity. Thi
s leads to healthier, wealthier, happier, more successful and more inclusive communities. THF raises aspiration, self-esteem, confidence, igniting potential, shifting limiting beliefs, improving mental health, mental toughness, resilience, and ability to manage difficult emotions. We build personal leadership skills, communication and relationship skills, leading to stronger families, stronger communities, positive lifestyle choices, improved chances in life, and increases life expectancy. We tackle challenges preventing Happiness: depression, post-natal depression and anxiety (accounts for 87% of all mental illness). We help clients manage stress, anger, self-harm, self-sabotage, trauma, PTSD, abuse, phobias, addiction, bad habits, relationship breakdowns, unforgiveness, loss and grief. Our systems thinking enables us to identify the tipping points for change. We understand things don’t exist in a vacuum. We exist as part of a mind body system and we are all part of a wider interconnected system (our families and communities etc). The first peace in the world is self-peace. We create pathways to peace of mind, put the smile back on people’s faces and positive energy back in their lives. We help our clients to flourish, lead their best lives, have brighter futures, be kinder, happier, healthier, and more fulfilled. How We Do It - Services & Activities
We empower clients across the life-cycle working preventatively and responsively. We demonstrate how massively powerful their mind is, why they think and feel as they do, how they can change their minds and change their lives. We offer 1-1 therapy, coaching, groupwork and training, a drop-in service, food mood and well-being clinic, and weekly inspiration and aspiration groups. Courses include: Up From Depression, Overcoming Anxiety, Stress Solutions, Authentic Happiness, Igniting Potential, Young Leaders, Stop Self-Harming, Phoenix Rising – Up From Abuse, Food & Mood, Family Harmony, Family Leadership, Happier Families, Success Intelligence, Why EQ Matters More Than IQ, Infinite Possibilities, The Confidence Switch, Fit Fabulous Me, Healthy Happy Weightloss, Navigating Mid-life, Aging With Happiness & Vitality. We coach and teach through the framework of personal leadership, responsibility and accountability, helping clients create a coherent vision for their one wild and precious lives, clarify their values, and walk them as actions and ways of being into their lives, families, workplaces, and communities. We help people understand how their biography becomes their biology, and how kindness, contribution, connections, and community are good for their emotional state, self-esteem, health, futures, communities and the world. We use humour to open people up to the possibility of change. We show clients how to shift their brain’s neurochemistry with thoughts, food, techniques and habits. Happiness neurochemistry - DHEA, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphins - is vastly different to the cortisol laden neurochemistry of negativity, cynicism, stress, depression, and anxiety. Whilst DHEA is anti-diabetes, anti-cancer, anti-arthritis and anti-aging, cortisol is pro-diabetes, pro-cancer, pro-arthritis, pro-aging. One self-management strategies we teach is an acupressure technique proven to trigger the production of endorphins (Johnson,1999; Napadow et al, 2008). Clients learn about the natural pharmacy in their brain; how their thinking switches on and off different neuropeptides and how these impact strength, voice, energy, immune system and health. Muscle testing provides unforgettable immediate bio-feedback about the effects of negativity, positivity, integrity – the body never lies. Clients see how psychology impacts physiology, and physiology impacts psychology – just changing body language changes many things. We provide information on the natural pharmacy in foods, how food affects mood, thoughts, energy, behaviour, health and longevity. We help clients stabilize blood sugars, and sleep patterns. We show the interconnections between all these things and this coherent approach joins the dots for people and significantly accelerates their results.
• Extra Information
Happier people are are less self-focused, less hostile and abusive, and less susceptible to disease. They are kinder, more altruistic, fairer, more co-operative, get better results in life (Goleman, 1995; 2002; 2006; 2009; Seligman, 1975; 1987; 2002; 2004; 2005, Lewis, Amini & Lannon, 2000; Myers & Diener, 1996; Kelly & Barsade, 2001).
• Hard-nosed economists like Lord Layard and Harvard Business School recognize the impact of Happiness on society, success, prosperity, family relationships, productivity and business profitability, sickness levels, absenteeism, community cohesion etc.
• We facilitate inter-generational connections, improving outcomes for both (Professor Ellen Langer, Harvard), and increasing what Vygotsky called ‘the social transmission of knowledge’.
• Our communities could be changed within one or two generations using our approaches. We could leverage this right across the UK within just a few years.
• Volunteers include PhD and MSc Psychologists, Solutions-Focused Psychotherapists, Coaches, Hypnotherapists, Behavioural Change Specialists, Educationalists, Community Midwives.
• We empower clients and volunteers by generously sharing our skills and knowledge, encouraging ‘graduate’ clients to mentor new clients.
• Our patrons include the financial whizz James Robinson, Dr Mervyn Druin, Professor Monder Ram OBE, and Dr Ian McEwan the Financial Director of RAND, the world’s biggest research and development organisation for health and social policy.
