Professor Carol Kauffman, of Harvard Medical School, will be presenting the key ingredients of her powerful coaching approach at the third annual National Coaching Psychology Conference to be held at City University London on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 December 2007, organised by the British Psychological Society's Special Group in Coaching Psychology.

Professor Kauffman has defined a potent combination of psychological theory and practice, as well as using tools such as the 'intelligent mouse' for computer users. Incorporating a range of concepts from the psychology arena, Professor Kauffman uses positive psychology, optimal performance states, and hope psychology, to generate performance improvements.

The 'intelligent mouse' is the latest addition to the set of tools a coach may use. This new innovation measures actual stress levels when you work through a computer mouse, with a galvanic skin response sensor embedded in it, and offers tips and training to the user.

"Much of psychology has focussed on the negative, and what may need fixing, rather than emphasising strengths that could be leveraged for performance gains," explains Professor Kauffman. "Positive psychology reverses this approach, and research confirms that a positive focus increases both creativity and performance".

Professor Kauffman proposes four key steps for putting positive psychology into coaching:-
1.   Reverse the focus: from negative to positive
2.   Develop language for strengths and flourishing
3.   Focus on and build positive states
4.   Build strategies for hope and optimal performance

Professor Kauffman has worked for over 25 years at Harvard Medical School, with the Department of Psychiatry, and has conducted over 35,000 hours of psychotherapy and coaching sessions. She has an extensive repertoire of work in the world of coaching, including practices in both the US and the UK, and is a recognised pre-eminent expert in the fields of coaching and positive psychology.