|
Dr. Sharp and The Happiness Institute have been written and talked about in publications and on TV & radio all across Australia. Here's a few examples of what they had to say.
...and who better to talk about happiness than Dr. Timothy Sharp (aka Dr. Happy), the Chief Happiness Officer of The Happiness Institute? Not surprisingly, in his talk there were plenty of laughs, but Dr. Sharp also tapped into one of the most challenging themes of the conference when he called for some serious reflection on the way we operate...instead of merely helping people feel 'normal', he said the aim should be to assist them reach their goals and feel fantastic.
National HealthCare Journal (Sept-Oct 2007)
Swiss Re. called in Dr. Happy, otherwise known as Dr. Tim Sharp, whose mission was to help the 170 staff think positively about the (enforced) reorganisation.
Kerry Baxter from SwissRe noted that "It's a great case study...[we] can see the increase in productivity and bottom line results that go up with the engagement scores. While working on the engagement scores the business was turned around with no capital injection or downsizing..."
Australian Financial Review (August 7, 2007)
Think you'll be happy when you're rich, slim, successful or simply when the sun comes back out? Think again, writes Genevieve Read.
The good news is happiness is not reserved for the lucky, the rich, the slim, or Tasmanians who migrate to sunnier states. The bad news is if you want to be happier this winter you'll have to work at it.
In his best selling book, The Happiness Handbook, Dr. Timothy Sharp says happiness is a choice we make every day of our lives.
Sunday Tasmanian (July 2007)
[The Happiness Institute's] eye-catching website with orange typography offers snappy articles...as well as a free happiness test.
Danielle Teutsch - Sun Herald (June 10 2007)
Warwich Plly is not your typical person in need of psychological help. He has never been depressed. He is smart, financially stable, happily married and has a 15-month old son who light up his world...But in January Pelly was feeling ordinary. His career had come to a crossroads and a series of job interviews resulted in rejection.
His wife suggested he enrol in a six-week course in positive psychology at The Happiness Institute in Sydney. Pelly, 35, says the change in his life since completing the course has been "phenomenal".
Danielle Teutsch - Sun Herald (June 10 2007)
The general pace of things is one factor in the escalating levels of aggro, according to Dr. Timothy Sharp, founder of The Happiness Institute, who stresses that society is now working to a deadline.
Scott Bowles - AFR Magazine (March 2006)
The fact we're so busy is proof that a lot of business people in organisations of all sizes feel under pressure, says Dr. Timothy Sharp founder of The Happiness Institute.
Damian Lynch - Australian Financial Review (March 7, 2006)
Happiness is the elusive quality most of us seek and the Happiness Institute tells people what it is and how to get it.
9 to 5 (Feb 2006)
Dr. Timothy Sharp, founder of the aptly named Happiness Institute, helps thousands of people ....
Sydney Morning Herald (Feb 2006)
With a respected clinical practice, a teaching appointment at the University of Sydney, and articles published in international journals, Dr Sharp is able to bring A-list credentials to a field that otherwise often resides in the realm of feel-good, self-help drivel.
National Post (Canada) - AnneMarie Owens (July 2005)
At the Happiness Institute in Sydney, eight strangers of varying ages and professions squeeze into a small, artificially lit room to recieve instruction. They include a corporate lawyer, a doctor, a business executive and a financial analyst: low-spirited high achievers in search of meaning and purpose.
... Take Liz Agnew, a 43 year old gentle mannered librarian. After her discharge from hospital, a friend put her onto the Happiness Institute, which was founded by Dr Timothy Sharp, a clinical and coaching psychologist-turned-happiness guru. Here Agnew found herself back in the classroom learning simple, life enhancing strategies to help her recover her joie de vivre.
... successful and talented people throng to places like the Happiness institute. Dr. Sharp, author of 'The Happiness Handbook', spent more than a decade building a thriving private practice in Sydney when he decided to do something to help counter the epidemic of unhappiness...
The Weekend Australian Magazine 'Are we having fun yet? By Liz van den Nieuwenhof (March 26-27th 200
True happiness is so powerful it can affect everything from health and relationships to the wider community. It is the kind of thing you'd expect to find at the top of most people's wish lists. But the sad fact is many people don't even think about being happy and just accept living an average existence. However, the benefits of achieving a state of wellbeing are considerable, says psychologist Dr timothy Sharp. "It feels good to feel good so its a worthy goal in itself."
The Daily Telegraph 'The feel good factor' By Kate Minogue (2nd March 2005)
Search for the word 'happy' in a dictionary and it suggests, "having or showing pleasure". Dr Sharp stresses that people are happy in different ways. "It is very individual," he reports, since some people are happy when excited and very emotionally aroused where others are simply quietly contented.
... I asked Dr Sharp why he feels it is important to be happy. He cited numerous peices of research, which show just how beneficial being happy can be. "Happiness buffers against stress and illness", reports Dr Sharp. Happy people are more active, they have better relationships which again guard against stress and illness, plus happy parents are much more likely to have happy children who also have a better chance of academic success" Dr Sharp also points out that happy people achieve more in their work, they have less absenteeism and change jobs less often. Positive psychology fans also insist that happy people create more, help others more and build positive, community-focused institutions.
Mind 'How to be happy' By Nichola Suzanne Bedos (September 2004)
No matter how or when laughter strikes, laughter makes us feel good and it is scientifically proven to be good for mental health and wellbeing. "Psychologically laughing is good for us," says clinical psychologist Dr Tim Sharp, director of the Sydney-based Happiness Institute. "Laughter lifts your mood and it makes you think differently. Happy people tend to be more creative, they are better problem solvers, have better relationships and a clearer sense of purpose."
Sunday Mail 'Why we chuckle, laugh and guffaw' By Catherine Bauer (12th September 2004)
At The Happiness Institute we take people from negative or zero and try to put a positive in their happiness bank account. You don't have to settle for just OK-ness. Its no more OK than having a zero bank balance. You can have a lot more. (Dr. Sharp)
The Telegraph (India) 'Happiness needs just a few dollars (3rd July, 2004)
Dr. Timothy Sharp, founder of The Happiness Institute, argues that "You don't have to settle for just OK-ness...You can have alot more."
China Daily
Dr Tim Sharp, a psychologist who recently started a coaching organisation called the Happiness Institute, uses meditation to teach people to be happier by calming their minds. Along with a shift from western medicine's perception of what it means to be well, he says there has been a "positive psychology movement" that focuses on "enhancing happiness" rather than diagnosing and alleviating psychological problems. Sharp says meditation makes people feel good in several ways. "There is undoubtedly a health benefit to meditation. Meditation contributes to positive health in the same way diet and exercsie do. It is an effective strategy for managing stress and distress, and that is an important part of feeling happier."
The Sydney Morning Herald 'The pleasure principle' By Anneli Knight (August 12, 200
According to Dr Timothy Sharp, a clinical coaching psychologist and lecturer at the universities of Sydney and NSW, almost everyone can be happier than they currently are. As director of Sydney's The Happiness Institute, one of the world's first clinics devoted to the pursuit of happiness, Sharp is one of a new breed of psychologists who believe we don't have to settle for being merely "not unhappy". We can actually aim for bliss. It is at the Institute that I find myslf on a dreary Monday morning, when most of us are dealling with the plunge into another working week. How we feel about that, I will later learn, is, like everything esle, completely controllable. "We know from some fascinating research that people can be happy in all sorts of jobs, even dish washing or selling fish, depending on how they look at it," Sharp will tell me. The Happiness Institute is about teaching people to be really happy as opposed to just not depressed, "There are basic principles to (achieving) happiness, which can be taught and learnt"
Now that's something most of us would be interested in hearing.
Vogue 'Get Happy' By Helen Hawkes (August 2004)
Some Australian companies are determined to turn their staff into examples of corporate beatitude, so much so they're investing in consulting from one of the most unusually named companies in Sydney, the Happiness Institute. The institute was set up by Sydney clinical psychologist Tim Sharp and employs only psychologists. Sharp and his colleagues work with clients, giving workshops and one on one coaching. The regional managing director of chewing gum giant Wrigley, John Batistich, swears by it after stumbling across Sharp in a newspaper article earlier this year. He has been using the institutes services as part of a development program, called Breakthrough, aimed at improving staff performance through fostering a positive outlook on life, work and the companies objectives. "Happiness is a serious business because it enhances personal effectiveness - and effectiveness drives performance." Batistich says. And he thinks a work force can learn to be happier.
The Australian Financial Review ' Happiness is a bottom line business' By James Hall (6 July 2004)
In today's body obsessed times its not unusual to devote loads of time and money to physical fitness.. However, few of us can boast the same level of commitment when it comes to building our mental fitness. But there is no doubt that giving our minds a regular work-out is just as important as keeping our weight down. In fact, some experts believe that strengthening our emotional endurance is vital for a happy life. Psychologist Dr Timothy Sharp, who runs courses on improving positive mental health at his aptly named Happiness Institute in Sydney, says if we're not convinced, all we need to do is take a look at any of our elite athletes. Why? Because when you think about it its really mental discipline that seperates the average ambitious sportsman from an Olympian.
The Sunday Telegraph 'be your own shrink' By Rachel Lloyd (June 20, 2004)
Finding happiness is hard for some, but at the Happiness Institute hearts and minds are being coached towards greater fulfilment. Helen Sarwood thought her life was okay but not exceptional. She'd had various jobs but wasn't sure if they really suited her. She wanted more contentment and Dr Sharp pointed the way. "I decided it was time to do some really hard work on this part of my life," Helen said. "For me it was a wake up call, it was tapping me on the shoulder, you've done a lot, you are relatively okay and happy but there's more." ....While happiness coaching may seem like a course in self improvement another institute graduate Derek Manoy says the techniques he's learned have enriched his life. "For me writing the goals down, physically putting pen to paper, putting the goals down for me was one thing that was great for me," Derek said. "I've now maintained an exercise program from that." With happy therapy perhaps governments could create notions of happy families and world leaders establish a permenently peaceful planet. Some say the happy hour is already upon is.
Today Tonight on Seven. Reporter: Chris Simmond (June 15, 2004)
Dr Timothy Sharp's new Happiness Institute screamed marketing hype for those of us self indulgent enough to want more from life. More meaning. More out of it. More happiness. More more. In this world, its addictive. Dr Tim is a tousle-headed, beatle suited clinical and coaching psychologist who wants to make us happy. One in four Australians at some stage suffer from anxiety or depression disorders (not including schizophrenia or drug and alcohol dependencies). Most don't seek professional help. "The Happiness Institute," explains Sharp, "is less scary, less daunting than saying something's wrong. There's nothing wrong with being unhappy - what's wrong is not developing a strategy to manage it so it doesn't go on and on." One of Dr. Sharp's main points is that once learnt, these skills are there for the long haul and cost nothing to reactivate. Just thinking that strategies for change exist was enough to change my attitude, Dr Tim.
Sunday Life - 'The Art of Happiness' By Libbi Gorr (April 25, 2005)
Life is short, too short to be unhappy, say The Happiness Institute, an organisation devoted to helping people lead happier lives. And it is a philosophy that more people seem to be taking to heart. Demand for the institute's latest group program was so big, sessions filled within a day of the details being posted on the website. "There is no doubt that's an indication that people are looking for something and something that's more credible," institute founder and managing director Dr. Tim Sharp said. The institute offers programs such as optimistic thinking, identifying and capitalising on your strengths and finding your life purpose, run by professionals trained in psychology and human behaviour....It seems to have tapped into a growing need.
The Sun-Herald 'Institute offers degrees of happiness, majoring in optimism' By Sarah Price (May 9th
Get happy with Dr Timothy Sharp, founder of The Happiness Institute: Monday: make a decision to be happy. Happiness is a choice, but you need to believe it's achievable. Tuesday: Determine what happiness means to you; there's no need to get more out of your life. Wednesday: Think happy thoughts. look for the positives in life and appreciate whats good. Thursday: Control what you can, accept what you can't and practice knowing the difference. Friday: Make someone you care about happy. Spend time with people who are important to you. Saturday: Live healthily. You'll be happier if you eat well, exercise regularly and get enough sleep. Sunday: Make all the above part of your life. Happiness is a few simple disciplines practiced every day.
Cleo Magazine 'The 7 day happiness work-out' (May 2004)
Sitting in a dark room with a bunch of complete strangers may seem antisocial, but it's actually a comforting group activity. "There are other people who are around you experiencing the same thing," explains Dr Timothy Sharp of Sydney's The Happiness Institute. "The other thing that happens is that you forget about everything else. This is what we call "living in the moment or the present. There is also something we call flow that refers to the sense of being so involved in an activity you love, you loose track of time." If you have a pastime you really love doing on your own - whether its painting, knitting or photography - chances are you'll emerge as a more positive person. "People involved in something they really enjoy experience more positive emotions and are less likely to be negative,: adds Dr Sharp. So break out the brushes or the knitting needles.
The Sunday Telegraph 'The science of happiness' By Debra Taylor (April 18, 2004)
GREAT news: the secret to a happy life has been revealled and it turns out it was not such a mystery after all. It is as easy as employing 10 life skills and, if they don't come naturally, you can learn them - with a bit of help. Dr Timothy Sharp says he is happy because he has started to achieve his goal of making other people happy. Dr Sharp insisted: "This is not just something I made up in the pub one night. It's based on solid, scientific research. Happiness is possible - its within our reach."
The Daily Telegraph 'Don't just worry - be happy' By Zoe Taylor (March 26, 2004)
'....Then there's the Happiness Institute, launched this month by clinical psychologist and NSW lecturer Dr Timothy Sharp. It runs courses to teach people how to apply the principles of "positive psychology and happiness", covering nutrition, sleep, optimistic thinking, good relationships, life purpose and life control. The Sydney based institute plans to expand nationally in the coming year....'
The Sydney Morning Herald - 'The age of prevention' by Guy Allenby (2003)
|
