Character Strengths and Abilities Within Disabilities

Ryan M. Niemiec, Psy.D. is a leading international figure in character strengths that are found in all human beings. As a scientist, educator, and practitioner, Ryan is Chief Science & Education Officer of the renown VIA Institute on Character, a nonprofit organization in Cincinnati, Ohio, that leads the global advancement of the science of character strengths. Ryan is an award-winning psychologist, annual instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, and author of 14 books and over 100 academic papers. His books include the bestselling consumer book, The Power of Character Strengths and two leading practitioner – Character Strengths Interventions and Mindfulness and Character Strengths. The latter book contains the evidenced-based program he founded, Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice (MBSP), used by practitioners and researchers across the globe. Ryan collaborates with multiple research groups across the globe, spanning hundreds of thousands of participants. His research areas include character strengths, MBSP, positive interventions, peace psychology, nature/environment connection, spirituality, life meaning, disability, and positive health. He is Fellow of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) and co-founder and president of the Spirituality/Meaning Division of IPPA.

Dan Tomasulo, Ph.D., is the Academic Director and core faculty member at the Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI), Teachers College, Columbia University. He holds a Ph.D. in psychology, an MFA in writing, and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He has also been a teaching fellow at Princeton University. Sharecare honors Dr. Tomasulo as one of the top ten online influencers on the issue of depression. His most recent book, Learned Hopefulness, The Power of Positivity To Overcome Depression, is hailed as: “…the perfect recipe for fulfillment, joy, peace, andexpansion of awareness”, by Deepak Chopra, M.D. and Martin Seligman, Ph.D. His award-winning memoir, American Snake Pit (2018), tells of the first experimental group home releasing inmates from America’s most notorious asylum, Willowbrook. Dr Tomasulo coauthored the American Psychological Association’s first book on psychotherapy for people with intellectual and psychiatric disabilities and published numerous articles on innovations in delivering mental health and well-being services. Dr. Tomasulo was the lead author for the first Diagnostic Manual - Intellectual Disability (DM-ID), identifying the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in people with intellectual disabilities. He has been elected to fellow of the American Society for Group Psychotherapy/Psychodrama and served as a board member for this organization and the National Association for Dually Diagnosed (NADD). The International Positive Psychology Association has presented Dr. Tomasulo the Avant-Garde Clinical Intervention award.