Struggle precedes mastery | Positive psychotherapy with Dr. Dan Tomasulo

Daniel Tomasulo, PhD, is an American counseling psychologist, writer, and professor and the Academic Director and core faculty at the Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI), Teachers College, Columbia University.  He holds a Ph.D. in psychology, MFA in writing, and a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and was formerly the Director of the New York City Certification in Positive Psychology for the New York Open Center. He is also a Review Editor for Frontiers in Psychology special section Positive Psychology.  

​Sharecare honors Dr. Tomasulo as one of the top ten online influencers on the issue of depression, and was also recently honored by Teachers College, Columbia University with their 2021 Teaching Award. 

His clinical specialization is in psychodrama and sociometry, with an academic specialization in intellectual disabilities. Tomasulo developed Interactive Behavioral Therapy (IBT) and later Positive-Interactive Behavioral Therapy (P-IBT), forms of group psychotherapy for people with intellectual disabilities, and coauthored the American Psychological Association’s first book on the subject: Healing Trauma: The Power of Group Treatment for People with Intellectual Disabilities (2005) with Nancy Razza.  

Dan's passion is Positive Psychology. While traditional psychology focuses on our weaknesses, positive psychology focuses on our strengths, cultivating our best selves so we can lead meaningful and fulfilling lives. 

See Dan's website here: www.dantomasulo.com
See Dan's books here: www.dantomasulo.com/books

Some of Maya's favorite quotes from Dan:

• "Most of my career has been about being disappointed with the establishment."
• "If you look at the statistics, 80% of people with depression relapse. If I'm going into business and I invent the pen that I've got to put on the market, and 80% of them break, I wouldn't be in business very long, you know? So, I think in the last 20 years, you've started to see a shift -- let's study the 20% that are doing well and figure out what they're doing. And that's what positive psychology is."
• "I want to do something that's bi-directional. I want to put out something good that something good happens out there. And that fills me back up and then I can put out more, you know, and if there's always a working through point, but if something isn't filling you up on a very regular basis, it's time for change."
• "Every stage of development is hallmarked by crisis and commitment. At first, the crisis happens, and then you become committed to a way of being. That crisis and commitment end up being the cornerstone of every developmental transition." 

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Music by: Adam Fine