Another flaw in the human character
is that everybody wants to build and
nobody wants to do maintenance
- Kurt Vonnegut

Transforming the Workplace
with
Healthy Thinking
John Weaver, Psy.D
What Works Best in Health Promotion?
Art & Science of Health Promotion
March 17, 2009

Objectives
• Participants will understand the emotional
factors that interfere with attempts to
make healthy lifestyle changes
• Participants will be familiar with a tool to
assess the six dimensions of wellness
• Participants will be able to identify and
understand how to address learned
helplessness through training in optimism
• Participants will be able to identify and
understand how to address burnout through
training in resilience
• Participants will be able to identify and
understand how to maintain long term
change through training in mindfulness

The Problem
Resistance to lifestyle changes

The Problem
Physical
• About 66% of adults over
20 are classified
overweight or obese
• 75% regain weight after 1
year, 95% regain it after 3
years.

The Problem
Intellectual
• 5.2 million people in the US
have Alzheimer’s disease or
a related dementia
• It is the 7th leading cause of
death
• Rates are climbing

The Problem
Social
• The divorce rate for the 1st
marriage is approximately 41%,
for the 2nd 60%, and for the third
73%
• At least 50% of children will spend
part of their growing years in a
single parent family

The Problem
Vocational
• 8.1% unemployment in the US in
February, 2009.
• Today less than half of all Americans
are satisfied with their jobs, down from
61% twenty years ago.
• 70% of employees said you have to
work late and work overtime to get
ahead, 61% of employers agreed.

The Problem
Spirituality
• About 1 in 4 Americans is
devoutly religious
• Those who identify
themselves as “Christian” has
dropped 20% in the past 20
years
• 15% now say they have no
religion

The Problem
Emotional
• Estimated 9.5% of adults and 5%
of children have a depressive
disorder in a given one-year
period
• Depression is the leading cost of
health care and is approximately
70% higher than the next leading
cost.

The Best Ideas for Motivation
What are you doing that works?

Moving from
external motivation
to internal motivation

The Good News
Positive Psychology Research
– Focus is on STRENGTHS 
easier lifestyle change
– Focus on POSITIVE RECOGNITION 
it’s continuation
– Focus on “should”/“shouldn’t” 
demoralization

Mental Fitness Coaching Assessment

Wellness

Behavior
Wellness

Emotional State
Behavior
Wellness

Thinking Skills
Emotional State
Behavior
Wellness

Thinking Skills
Emotional State
Behavior
Wellness

Optimism

Learned Helplessness

Learned Helplessness
The Experiment

Learned Helplessness
The Experiment
Applications to Real Life

I can’t…
I always fail…
I’m no good at…
I tried that before…
With my luck…

Optimism
can be
learned!

Optimists believe that good things are:

Optimists believe that good things are:
Personal

Optimists believe that good things are:
Personal
Pervasive

Optimists believe that good things are:
Personal
Pervasive
Permanent

Resilience

Chronic
Disconnected
Hypervigilant
Apathetic
Irritable
Tired

According to a recent survey by
the American Psychological
Association, 68% of American
workers say that their employer
should offer a program to build
Resilience to stress.

The Vitamin C’s of Emotional Health

The Vitamin C’s of Emotional Health
Commitment

The Vitamin C’s of Emotional Health
Commitment
Challenge

The Vitamin C’s of Emotional Health
Commitment
Challenge
Control

Mindfulness

Mindless Eating
Lacking Motivation
Information Overload
Slave to Emotions
Magical Thinking
Social Isolation
Exercise Injuries

There is more right with you than wrong with you!

Paying attention in a particular way:

Paying attention in a particular way:
On purpose,

Paying attention in a particular way:
On purpose,
In the present moment,

Paying attention in a particular way:
On purpose,
In the present moment,
And without judgment.

Selected Bibliography
• Lambert, K. (2008). Lifting Depression. New York: Basic Books.
• Pert, C. & Marriott, N. (2006). Everything You Need to Feel
Go(o)d. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House.
• Sapolsky, R. (1994). Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. New York:
W.H. Freeman and Company.
• Nussbaum, P. (2003). Brain Health and Wellness. Tarentum, PA:
Word Association Publishers.

Select Bibliography
• Prochaska, J., Norcross, J., & DiClemente. (1994).
Changing for Good. New York: Avon Books.
• Revich, K. & Shatte, A. (2002). The Resilience
Factor. New York: Broadway Books.
• Seigel, Z; Williams, J.M., & Teasdale, J. (2002).
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression.
New York: Guilford Press.
• Seligman , M.E.P. (1991). Learned Optimism. New
York: Alfred A. Knopf.

John Weaver, Psy.D.
Director
The Healthy Thinking Initiative
2717 N. Grandview Blvd. #303
Waukesha, WI 53188
(262) 544-6486
jweaver@preventingdepression.com
Watch for my new book:
The Prevention of Depression
(Publication Date: April 2009)