Treat Yourself: A Little Reward Goes a Long Way

Guest Bio: Emma Seppala, PhD

Emma Seppala, PhD, is Associate Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University and a popular Psychology Today blogger and science journalist. Her work has appeared in Scientific American Mind, Huffington Post, Mindful and Spirituality & Health. She obtained her BA from Yale, her MA from Columbia University and her PhD in Psychology from Stanford University.

Emma’s areas of expertise are health psychology, well-being and resilience. She has examined the impact of meditation on happiness, social connection, and compassion. She has also investigated the effects of yoga-based interventions for combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder. She is the recipient of a number of grants and awards including the James W. Lyons Award awarded by Stanford University for service to the Stanford campus: she helped found Stanford’s first class on the Psychology of Happiness and taught a large number of well-being programs for students. Emma’s research has been cited in numerous television and news outlets including ABC News and the New York Times, as well as books such as Congressman Tim Ryan’s Mindful Nation and documentary films such as Free the Mind. Emma often gives talks on the psychology of health and well-being to academic, corporate, and governmental institutions including places such as Google, the National Science Foundation and a U.S. Congressional Hearing. She speaks five languages: French, German, Spanish, English & Mandarin. She is the author of the upcoming book on the science of happiness with HarperOne and the founder of the e-magazine FulfillmentDaily.com.