The VIA Institute on Character provides professional development for professionals such as business/management consultants, coaches, therapists and psychologists using character strengths as a part of their work.
Register now for The Activation of Strengths: Bringing Research on Character Strengths into Practice a 7-week on-line course.
This online workshop in English began, Monday, August 15, 2011 and continues with hour-long sessions each Monday at 3:00 pm EST for seven weeks, through Monday, October 3, 2011. (**Note: Monday, September 5th is skipped due to the Labor Day holiday). VIA is still accepting registrations! Register now. Join Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D., VIA's Director of Education, on the phone and online, for this intense, interactive immersion into VIA strengths research and practice. (Registrants joining after Tuesday, August 23, 2011 will not be assigned to a Skype group).
All sessions are recorded and made available after the live lecture. Therefore, it is not necessary that you have to be on each live call. You will still receive all of the material.
In order to get the most out of this course, participants are expected to participate at least 1 hour every 1-2 weeks on a Skype call with their small group. Participants should also allot time for personal practice exercises, videos, and readings distributed each week. Considering the lecture hour, Skype time, and additional material/exercises, past participants tend to spend 3-5 hours per week with this course.
"The best online course I have attended! Good job!!"
This course involves much more than merely listening to the hour-long lecture each week. Through videos, readings and live, small-group work each week using Skype and e-mail, participants take an in-depth look at the research-backed VIA strengths. You work with practices on your own and in groups to maximize the applications to your own clients and situations.
Continuing Education Credits
APA: The VIA Institute is approved by the American Psychological Association as a provider of continuing education for psychologists. The Online VIA Intensive provides 7 continuing education credits.
ICF: The International Coach Federation has approved 7 CCE units (3 in Core Competencies and 4 in Other Skills and Tools).
*NOTE: THIS COURSE IS NOT A CERTIFICATION IN THE VIA INVENTORY OF STRENGTHS OR THE VIA CLASSIFICATION. THE VIA INSTITUTE DOES NOT OFFER CERTIFICATION AT THE PRESENT TIME.
Who's the course for?
People who are serious about deepening their understanding of the 24 VIA Character Strengths:
- Practitioners, including psychologists, life/health coaches, executive coaches, social workers, counselors
- Educators/professors and students in psychology, counseling and management
- Business professionals
Who should register?
People committed to practice and comparing notes via Skype and e-mail, in addition to the webinar sessions:
- Those who want to learn practical interventions, based on science, in applying the VIA character strengths
- Those who can attend all 7 lectures (minimum of 6)
- Those who desire to take an active approach in applying character strengths in their lives and work
- Those participants who will commit to working with several homework exercises each week of the course
There are no exclusionary criteria.
How is this different from VIA's in-person Intensives?
All VIA workshops emphasize experiences; participants work with the material and with one another in a variety of exercises, dyads and small groups. This course creates virtual connections and opportunities to grapple with the material outside of the course time. This format, which provides time for reading, practice and communication between sessions, is perfect for comprehensive study of using the VIA strengths in practice.
Teaching methods
- Lecture - live or via online archive (available for several weeks)
- Small-group work via Skype and e-mail
- VIA videos
- Q & As submitted to instructor and reviewed at onset of next session
- Substantive readings/handouts
Register here