Activating the Science of Happiness: Healthy Habits, Self-Compassion, and Meaning, with Dr. Laurie Santos
With and For hosted by Dr. Pam KingShow Notes
Science can change your life. The more we study what makes people develop, grow, learn, and flourish—the more we see how the practical application of scientific findings can help us transform our life and experience—into a life of value, meaning, purpose and true thriving.
Yale psychologist Laurie Santos has spent her career investigating the human brain and how it thrives. From her popular Yale course to her podcast, The Happiness Lab, she’s communicating actionable and hopeful lessons for how to build lasting habits, cultivate self-compassion, manage complex emotions, and realign our lives toward meaningful happiness.
In this conversation with Dr. Laurie Santos, we discuss:
How the mental health crisis affecting young people changed her, and how she teaches psychology
How our brains lie to us
The role of positive and negative emotions in a good life
How feeling good can lead to doing good
The psychological and relational benefits of faith and spirituality
And she offers practical insights, science-backed guidance, and powerful exercises for managing misalignment and difficult emotions.
Laurie Santos on how to activate psychological science for more happiness and meaning (from the episode):
“Some of these factors that we know scientifically do work. From simple behavior changes like being more social, doing nice things for others, just healthy habits like sleeping and moving your body, to mindset shifts, to becoming a little bit more present, to becoming more other oriented, to becoming more grateful, more self-compassionate, and so on.
There are shifts that we can make that can have a huge effect on how we actually interact in the world.
We need to understand that we're not perfect, we're just human. And we will mess up a little bit too. But it's really the journey that matters.”
About Laurie Santos
Dr. Laurie Santos is the Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology at Yale University and host of The Happiness Lab podcast. Dr. Santos is an expert on the science of happiness. Her Yale course, Psychology and the Good Life, teaches students how the science of psychology can provide important hints about how to make wiser choices and live a life that’s happier and more fulfilling. Her course recently became Yale’s most popular course in over 300 years, with almost one of our four students at Yale enrolled. Her course has been featured in numerous news outlets including the New York Times, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, GQ Magazine, Slate and O! Magazine. A winner of numerous awards both for her science and teaching, she was recently voted as one of Popular Science Magazine’s “Brilliant 10” young minds, and was named in Time Magazine as a “Leading Campus Celebrity.” Her podcast, The Happiness Lab, has over 100 million downloads.
Listen to The Happiness Lab podcast
Visit [drlauriesantos.com](http://drlauriesantos.comhttps://www.drlauriesantos.com/)
Show Notes
*Thriving with Stone Age Minds: Evolutionary Psychology, Christian Faith, and the Quest for Human Flourishing* (Justin Barrett and Pam King)
Self-flagellation, frustration, and criticizing ourselves
Kristin Neff on Self-Compassion
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.
Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenter
Follow us on X @thrivecenter
Follow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenter
About Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam King
Senior Director and Producer: Jill Westbrook
Operations Manager: Lauren Kim
Social Media Graphic Designer: Wren Juergensen
Special thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
More from With and For hosted by Dr. Pam King
I is for Identity & Narrative. A helpful way to think about your identity is as an evolving story of your life, that incorporates who you are, to whom you belong, and your life experiences. Whether you are spiritual or religious– or somewhere in between – it’s important to consider what bigger stories your life is a part of. Neuroscientist Dr. Mary Helen Immordino-Yang discusses how we develop these narratives. This re-aired episode is part of our Best of With & For series.
R is for Relationships & Community. Spirituality and faith have as much to do with our human relationships as with our relationship with the divine. We are essentially relational beings. In an era when a lot of people are renegotiating their faith and how they engage religion or spirituality–this one is often overlooked. But to be spiritually healthy–we need others. The late, great relationship expert and therapist Dr. Sue Johnson joined Dr. King along with Dr. Jim Furrow to discuss the science of relationships. This re-aired episode is part of our Best of With & For series.
H is for Habits & Rhythms. Healthy spirituality involves spiritual habits or practices. It also involves regular rhythms–of rest, celebration, work, connection. Dr. Richie Davidson, a Buddhist and leading mindfulness researcher offers meditations as well as scientific insight into how we can train our minds for spiritual practices. This re-aired episode is part of our Best of With & For series.
T is for Transcendence. The research shows that an understanding of a loving or benevolent source - something bigger than we are – gives us meaning and offers us greater purpose. Dr. Lisa Miller is one of the leading researchers on spirituality and mental health–and shares her insight into how transcendence impacts us as human beings. This re-aired episode is part of our Best of With & For series.
Introducing our Best Of series, taking a look back at some of our most popular and wisdom-packed episodes from previous seasons.