Acacia Parks is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Hiram College. Her research focuses on the efficacy of positive interventions, and the psychological and behavioral characteristics of individuals who use them. She is also interested in ambulatory assessment, and in particular, the use of smartphone technology as an assessment and intervention tool. Most recently, she has begun examining the effects of positive interventions on physical activity and sleep quality using actigraphs.

Acacia serves as an associate editor of the Journal of Positive Psychology, where she was guest editor of a special issue on Positive Psychology in Higher Education; the special issue is due to be released as a book by Taylor & Francis in 2012. She is also co-editor of a forthcoming positive psychology teaching activities book, published through APA Press, and sole editor of a volume with Wiley-Blackwell entitled "The Handbook of Positive Psychological Interventions." Dr. Parks is an active teacher of both positive psychology and critical writing.

Primary Interests:

Applied Social Psychology
Emotion, Mood, Affect
Health Psychology
Internet and Virtual Psychology
Life Satisfaction, Well-Being

Applied Social Psychology
Emotion, Mood, Affect
Health Psychology

Internet and Virtual Psychology
Life Satisfaction, Well-Being

Books:

Journal Articles:

Kranzler, A., Parks, A. C., & Gillham, J. E. (2011). Service learning in positive psychology: A hands-on resilience course. Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 482-486.
Meyer, P., Johnson, D., Parks, A. C., Iwanski, C., & Penn, D. L. (2012). Positive living: A pilot study of group positive psychotherapy for people with severe mental illness. Journal of Positive Psychology.
Parks, A. C., Della Porta, M. D., Pierce, R. S., Zilca, R., & Lyubomirsky, S. (in press). Pursuing happiness in everyday life: A naturalistic investigation of online happiness seekers. To appear in Emotion.

Linked file: Parks et al. (in press)
Parks, A.C. & Szanto, R.K. (2013). Assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of a positive psychology-based self-help book. Terapia Psicological, 31, 141-149.

Linked file: Parks & Szanto (2013)
Schueller, S., & Parks, A. C. (in press). Disseminating self-help: Positive psychology exercises in an open online trial. To appear in The Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Seligman, M. E. P., Rashid, T., & Parks, A. C. (2006). Positive psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 61, 774-788.

Linked file: Positive psychotherapy

Other Publications:

Parks, A. C. (Ed.). (2011). Positive psychology in higher education [Special Issue]. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(6).

Linked file: Editorial: Special Issue on Positive Psychology in Higher Education
Parks, A. C., & Biswas-Diener, R. (in press). Positive interventions: Past, present and future. To appear in T. Kashdan & J. Ciarrochi (Eds.), Bridging acceptance and commitment therapy and positive psychology: A practitioner’s guide to a unifying framework. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

Linked file: Parks & Biswas-Diener (in press)
Parks, A. C., Schueller, S., & Tasimi, A. (in press). Increasing happiness in the general population: Empirically supported self-help? To appear in I. Boniwell & S. David (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Happiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Linked file: Parks et al. (in press)
Parks, A.C. & Seligman, M.E.P. (2007). 8-week group Positive Psychotherapy (PPT) Manual. Unpublished manual, available by request.

Linked file: Group Positive Psychotherapy Manual

Courses Taught:

Abnormal Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Happiness (Freshman Colloquium)
Health Psychology
Positive Psychology
Psychological Testing
Research Methods

Abnormal Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Happiness (Freshman Colloquium)
Health Psychology

Positive Psychology
Psychological Testing
Research Methods

Note from the Network: The holder of this profile has certified having all necessary rights, licenses, and authorization to post the files listed below. Visitors are welcome to copy or use any files for noncommercial or journalistic purposes provided they credit the profile holder and cite this page as the source.

Files

Group Positive Psychotherapy Manual
Linked publication: Parks, A.C. & Seligman, M.E.P. (2007). 8-week group Positive Psychotherapy (PPT) Manual. Unpublished manual, available by request.
Parks & Biswas-Diener (in press)
Linked publication: Parks, A. C., & Biswas-Diener, R. (in press). Positive interventions: Past, present and future. To appear in T. Kashdan & J. Ciarrochi (Eds.), Bridging acceptance and commitment therapy and positive psychology: A practitioner’s guide to a unifying framework. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Parks et al. (in press)
Linked publication: Parks, A. C., Della Porta, M. D., Pierce, R. S., Zilca, R., & Lyubomirsky, S. (in press). Pursuing happiness in everyday life: A naturalistic investigation of online happiness seekers. To appear in Emotion.

Linked publication: Parks, A. C., Schueller, S., & Tasimi, A. (in press). Increasing happiness in the general population: Empirically supported self-help? To appear in I. Boniwell & S. David (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Happiness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Editorial: Special Issue on Positive Psychology in Higher Education
Linked publication: Parks, A. C. (Ed.). (2011). Positive psychology in higher education [Special Issue]. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6(6).
Positive psychotherapy
Linked publication: Seligman, M. E. P., Rashid, T., & Parks, A. C. (2006). Positive psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 61, 774-788.
Parks & Szanto (2013)
Linked publication: Parks, A.C. & Szanto, R.K. (2013). Assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of a positive psychology-based self-help book. Terapia Psicological, 31, 141-149.

Acacia Parks
Department of Psychology
Hiram College
P.O. Box 67
Hiram, OH 44234
United States

Work: (330) 569-5229
Mobile: (267) 879-8387
Fax: (330) 569-5229