Beata Souders

Beata Souders, MSPP, ACC, is an optimal performance coach, positive psychology expert, flow and motivation science researcher, HR professional, writer, and presenter.

She has experience as an individual coach and group workshop facilitator. Her coaching methodology employs motivational interviewing and positive psychology interventions.

Work Experience

• Positive psychology practitioner specializing in optimal performance and motivational interviewing at Michelangelo Coaching
• ICF accredited coach, alumni and assistant trainer at IPEC
• HR professional with 20 years of corporate expertise in optimal employee experience
• Avid researcher and writer, author of numerous articles on motivation, applied positive psychology, flow theory, resilience, parenting, and forgiveness
• PsyD candidate in clinical psychology, MSPP and Gottman Institute Certified Educator
• Trained in leadership coaching, Motivational Interviewing, CBTH, REBT, ACT, the Gottman Method family therapy, positive psychotherapy, and mindfulness

About Beata

Beata has 20 years of corporate experience in a variety of HR and operational roles that today help her bring her passion for the development of human potential to many overachievers and their organizations. From employee engagement and strengths-based culture to workplace well-being, she has a wealth of knowledge in everything related to the positive employee experience.

Her ambition is to contribute to the goal of positive psychology to have 51% of the world population thrive by 2051.

When not in the corporate office, she can be found hunting for inspiration and white noise all over the Big Apple to help her research and write articles and plan her dissertation, coaching clients and mentoring students in real and virtual world, training, facilitating workshops, and speaking about positive psychology to anyone who is willing to listen.

Beata has published many articles on motivation, the flow theory, employee engagement, psychology of forgiveness, mechanics of resilience, positive parenting, applied positive psychology, happiness interventions, positive organizational scholarship, and positive psychotherapy. She has presented her research on flow at the Congress of International Positive Psychology Association in Montreal and the European Conference on Positive Psychology in Budapest. She has facilitated workshops on flow, PERMA model of wellbeing, optimal workplace and employee engagement at private events as well as corporate and educational institutions.

Beata is a founding member of the Association of Positive Psychology Coaches and an active member of the International Positive Psychology Association, European Flow Researchers Network, International Coaching Federation, and American Psychological Association.

Training, Titles & Degrees

Beata holds a Master of Science degree in Applied Positive Psychology with a specialization in coaching from Life University and studied creative non-fiction and writing at Southern New Hampshire University.

She is currently working toward her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at California Southern University. Her graduate-level coursework spans from positive organizational scholarship, appreciative Inquiry, coaching psychology, program design, and assessments to stress management, mindfulness, ACT, positive interventions, and psychology of forgiveness.

She has taken courses in neuro-linguistic programming and motivational interviewing. She is an ICF accredited coach and holds a coaching certificate from the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching where she sometimes assists in coach training facilitation. She is a Gottman Institute Certified Educator, where she is pursuing her clinical certification in family therapy. She is also training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Hypnosis at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

A Personal Message From Beata

Positive psychology’s dynamic growth and rapid evolution are precisely in step with the exponential change we’re experiencing and offer hope and haven from the escalating demands, a better home for our ever more complex psyche.

Perhaps the second renaissance of human potential where we match our internal power to our technological advancements in strive to live up to our potential by utilizing strengths and limitless capacity for growth.

The major paradigm on which many theories of positive psychology rest is that we are a species that has evolved beyond mere survival and has moved into a stage where we all can focus our energies toward thriving as individuals and as members of society.

Flourishing is no longer reserved for the privileged few who have material resources, or the intellectual elite or academic or spiritual gurus who may have all the answers. Most of us are not satisfied with just surviving. We’ve graduated with honors. As we harness the powers within and without, our reality can reflect our newfound understanding through better ways of being in the world.

Why Should You Trust What Beata Writes?

The value of science is in its application, and the very purpose of Applied Positive Psychology is not only to study what makes life worth living but also to find ways to apply the science to making life better.

I can’t imagine pursuing anything more important, from stiving for eudaimonia in my personal life to cultivating flow in my research and writing. My biggest strengths are love of learning and appreciation of beauty and excellence. I am allergic to well-meaning generalities. I am a passionate collector of psychological concepts and whatever degrees they come with. But most importantly, I am addicted to reading, writing, and research as if my life depended on it.

Bookworm, adventure capitalist and serial volunteer, when not working or studying, I am looking for perfect moments, traveling, dancing, and hunting for fun with my children.