Introduction : 
Well-being and resilience.  What is it to be resilient?  To be able to cope with life’s challenges?  To have a positive outlook on life?  Having diabetes certainly poses a challenge to one’s physical, mental and social well-being.  Diabetes changes lives and people with diabetes can experience a range of emotions such as loss of control, frustration, feeling unmotivated, fatigued, unhappy and depressed.

Health professionals themselves may feel burnt out or stressed, due to time constraints, increasing workload, juggling multiple roles and from the emotional connection with their patients.  Workplace stressors can lead to similar feelings our patient’s experience: loss of control, frustration, lack of motivation and fatigue.  This can have a negative impact on the wellbeing of the health professional and their ability to practise effectively.

How can we all learn to be more resilient, live well and be positive? 

Positive Psychology advocate Martin Seligman teaches that happiness is not something that just happens but rather it is something that we must consciously choose.  Positive Psychology can equip us with the skills to help cultivate a fulfilling life by recognising strengths, clarifying values and goals, developing mindfulness and self-awareness.  Through Positive Psychology people can learn to cope with symptoms, build resilience, improve overall well-being and quality of life.

The purpose of this masterclass is to highlight current research on Positive Psychology and the practical types of psychological interventions that we as health care professionals can use to improve wellbeing and build resilience for our patients and for ourselves.  The model we will be exploring is called PERMA plus, a South Australian State-Wide Initiative for Wellbeing and Resilience based on the work of Martin Seligman.

Symposium Objectives:
1.    To highlight recent research in the field of Positive Psychology and explain how this differs from traditional psychology and how we can measure resilience and well-being.

2.    Discuss and explore what this means in practice, what type of practical interventions can be utilised, for example, “Mindfulness Meditation” will be demonstrated.

3.    Brainstorm strategies on how to promote Positive Psychology to people with diabetes and health professionals themselves.