Tapping Into Your Inner Superhero: Positive Interventions for At-Risk Youth Organizations

Childhood poverty has been linked with gaps in physical, emotional, and cognitive outcomes. Previous research sheds light on potential interventions for helping at-risk youth. We combine these findings with proven positive psychology interventions to create a curriculum for an organization serving at-risk youth in Trenton, New Jersey. The workshops are geared towards teaching components that enable lasting well-being using existing positive psychology frameworks, such as Martin Seligman’s PERMA. We also adapt lessons using VIA Character Strengths and resiliency factors for an adolescent population, and leverage behavioral modeling, self-agency, and environmental mastery to create sustainable programming. If successful, these interventions may teach us how positive psychology can enable flourishing in at-risk youth populations