The Center for Human Potential offers world-class coaching for your own personal development or for your organization. See below for our current lineup of coaches. If you’d like to hire a coach or inquire about their fees, send us a message today.
Coaching
Scott Barry Kaufman
Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., is founder and director of the Center for Human Potential and founder of Self-Actualization Coaching. Dr. Kaufman is a cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist exploring intelligence, creativity, and the depths of human potential. He applies the latest science to help all people self-actualize in their own style.
Formerly Scientific Director of the Imagination Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Kaufman has taught popular courses on intelligence, creativity, and well-being at Columbia University, Yale, NYU, the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. He is also an Honorary Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne's Centre for Wellbeing Science. He earned a P.h.D. in cognitive psychology at Yale University and an M.Phil in experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge under a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. He received his formal coaching training with Positive Acorn. His coaching style incorporates unconditional positive regard to help you accept the totality of who you are so that you can become who you truly want to become.
Dr. Kaufman is author and/or editor of 10 books, including Choose Growth: A Workbook for Transcending Trauma, Fear, and Self-Doubt (with Jordyn Feingold), Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization, Wired to Create: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (with Carolyn Gregoire), Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined, and Twice Exceptional: Supporting and Educating Bright and Creative Students with Learning Difficulties.
He also hosts The Psychology Podcast— the #1 psychology podcast in the world— with over 30 million downloads.
In 2015, he was named one of “50 Groundbreaking Scientists who are changing the way we see the world” by Business Insider.
Work with Dr. Kaufman if you want to infuse more exploration, love, and purpose into your life.
Joshua Steinfeldt
Joshua is a teacher and a coach. As a coach, he has attained over 5,000 hours of experience, and has mentored and trained hundreds of professional coaches around the world, largely as a faculty member of ICF accredited coach training programs. Joshua’s approach to working with people is heavily influenced by his passion for understanding how people can leverage science to live better and more meaningful lives. In addition to his experience as a professional coach Joshua holds a Master's Degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania where he was a student of Dr. Martin Seligman, and Dr. Angela Duckworth.
Joshua’s coaching approach blends his expertise in positive psychology, contemplative practices, and the science of behavior change to push his clients to pursue personally meaningful and challenging goals in a safe and supportive one-to-one environment.
As a teacher Joshua facilitates a variety of programs in mindfulness and compassion in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has attained training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), mindfulness facilitation, and Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT), through teacher training programs at UCSD, UCLA, and Stanford University respectively.
Deeply interested in conversations about living authentically, and the courage it can take to do so, Joshua launched the Courageous Life, a podcast aimed at empowering individuals to overcome fear, doubt, and uncertainty, to pursue what matters most in life, work, and love. Guests have included Dr. Scotty Barry Kaufman, Sharon Salzberg, Parker Palmer, Kelly McGonigal, Dr, Jud Brewer, Dr. James Doty, Mark Nepo, and more. All episodes of The Courageous Life can be found on iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud. For more on Joshua visit: www.joshuasteinfeldt.com
Dan Lerner
As a speaker, teacher, and strengths-based performance coach, Daniel Lerner is an expert in positive and performance psychologies.
His key theme is that developing a healthy psychological state has a profound impact on the pursuit of excellence—a message that he brings to students, established and high-potential performing artists and athletes, and executives at Fortune 500 companies and startups worldwide.
Lerner is a faculty member at NYU, is on the teaching staff in the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania, and guest lectures regularly at universities across the country. “The Science of Happiness,” a course that he has co-taught to over 7000 students for the past nine years with Dr. Alan Schlechter, is currently the largest and most popular non-required offering at New York University, in great part due to the positive changes that students report throughout the semester.
Following a decade at International Creative Management (where he specialized in the representation and development of young performers) and at 21C Media Group (where he was a co-founder and the director of artist development), Lerner studied closely with renowned sports psychologist Dr. Nathaniel Zinsser—a Director of The Center for Enhanced Performance at the United States Military Academy at West Point—focusing on coaching and performance enhancement techniques employed by professional and Olympic athletes. He holds a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and his book U Thrive: How to Succeed in College (and Life), was released in Spring 2017 by Little, Brown, and Company.
Emily Esfahani Smith
Emily Esfahani Smith is the author of The Power of Meaning, an international bestseller.
Smith draws on the latest research in human development and positive psychology to help people find more meaning and purpose in their lives, develop richer relationships, and meet the challenges of life with courage, grace, and resilience.
Smith's coaching style embraces the power of storytelling. She wants to hear your story and believes in the power of narrative to change people's lives for the better.
Smith's articles about psychology and culture have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. Her TED talk, "There's More to Life Than Being Happy," has been viewed over 10 million times.
Smith received her master’s degree in positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Catholic University.
Lisa Sansom
Lisa Sansom shares positive psychology tools and techniques with her clients through speaking, corporate training, consulting, and coaching. Lisa has been working in Organizational Development, Leadership Development and Change Management since 2000. She has been coaching officially since 2008 and is a certified coach at the PCC level (with the International Coaching Federation), working with leaders and aspiring leaders as well as high-performing teams.
Educationally, Lisa obtained her MBA from the Rotman School of Management, and earned her coaching accreditation from Adler International Learning / OISE-UT. In addition, she holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts (in French and English) and a Bachelor of Education. Her first career was as a high school French teacher, and education remains near and dear to her heart and life mission. She completed the MAPP (Master of Applied Positive Psychology) from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010 and is enrolled in the DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) program at Royal Roads University researching the workplace impacts of positive feedback.
Additional certifications include Prosci Change Management, ShiftPositive 360, Designing Your Life (Stanford), Gallup Strengths Certified Coach, Process Management (Excellence Canada) and Change Cycle™. Lisa also has experience leading strategic design workshops, Appreciative Inquiry summits and visioning workshops for leadership teams.
She is a founding Board member of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association, has presented at the International Positive Psychology Association’s World Congress four times and was the co-Chair of the practice review committee for the 2017, 2019 and 2021 World Congresses on Positive Psychology. Lisa continues to speak on many topics, run workshops, and is open to work 1:1 with select coaching clients. Her style is warm, friendly, forward-looking, and action oriented. Working with Lisa, you will go deeper into introspection and awareness and then forward the movement with concrete action plans to help you get closer to your most important and meaningful goals.
Jordana Cole
Jordana Cole is an igniter of leadership and team potential. As a global learning & development leader, leadership development facilitator, certified coach, and applied improviser, Jordana has designed and led programs, workshops, courses, teambuilding sessions, and coaching engagements for thousands of individuals around the globe. Her organizational background includes non-profits, higher education, SAAS technology, financial services, and e-commerce.
Jordana is an alumna of the University of Pennslyvania’s Master of Applied Positive Psychology program and has served as an assistant instructor for undergraduate and graduate courses related to positive organizations and human strengths & resilience. Jordana is also certified as a Gallup Strengths Coach and as a facilitator of Inside Out Coaching, the Kevin Eikenberry Group’s From Bud to Boss curriculum, and Fierce Conversations.
As a coach, Jordana helps individuals understand themselves and others on a deeper level to create stronger relationships and thriving environments at work and at home. Through a strengths based approach that incorporates compassionate curiosity, accountability, and a dash of humor, she helps those she coaches translate their goals into meaningful action and impact. Find out more at Ignited Coaching.
Krista Stryker
Krista Stryker is an author, entrepreneur, and self-actualization coach specializing in physical and mental fitness. She is one of the core faculty members of the Transcend Course.
Krista believes that everyone has untapped potential – and has made it her life's mission to help uncover it. As a coach, she focuses on helping people grow as individuals in order to be their best selves, relying on the latest science-based tools and interventions emerging from the study of positive psychology and self-actualization to facilitate the process. She gets immense joy especially from helping people find personal transformation through movement and exercise.
As an entrepreneur, Krista has built apps and programs used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide – and is deeply passionate about helping to build world-class, universally accessible products and services that empower the masses to develop essential self-actualization skills and work toward their full potential. She graduated from Lewis & Clark College – and is wholeheartedly committed to lifelong learning.
Krista is excited to be on the founding faculty of the Center for Human Potential, where she focuses on helping to translate the center's scientific core into opportunities to empower people everywhere.
You can find her online at 12minuteathlete.com and @12minuteathlete.
Clare Sarah Goodridge
Emily Esfahani Smith is the author of The Power of Meaning, an international bestseller.
Smith draws on the latest research in human development and positive psychology to help people find more meaning and purpose in their lives, develop richer relationships, and meet the challenges of life with courage, grace, and resilience.
Smith's coaching style embraces the power of storytelling. She wants to hear your story and believes in the power of narrative to change people's lives for the better.
Smith's articles about psychology and culture have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. Her TED talk, "There's More to Life Than Being Happy," has been viewed over 10 million times.
Smith received her master’s degree in positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Catholic University.
Seth Gillhan
Seth Gillihan, PhD, has worked closely with hundreds of men and women as they made important changes in their lives. His mind-body-spirit approach to coaching is grounded in the science of mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). He aims to help each person he works with integrate thought, action, and open-hearted awareness as they move toward their goals.
Seth earned his doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as a full-time faculty member in the Perelman School of Medicine. His academic publications include over 40 book chapters and peer-reviewed research articles. He has taught and lectured nationally and internationally on topics that include healing from trauma, managing stress, building resilience, preventing burnout, boosting mood, reducing anxiety, and embracing uncertainty.
Seth was previously the lead mental health blogger for WebMD and currently serves as medical reviewer for Everyday Health and Head of Therapy for Bloom, the leading self-therapy app. His books include Mindful Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Retrain Your Brain, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Made Simple, and A Mindful Year (co-authored with Dr. Aria Campbell-Danesh). His work has been featured in outlets that include the New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, USA Today, Psychology Today Magazine, and Men’s Health.
Learn more at sethgillihan.com/1-1-sessions.
Jonathan Beale
Jon Beale, Ph.D., is a researcher and coach specializing in human flourishing, peak performance, and the science of learning. He is a Research Affiliate at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and a Peak Performance Coach for the Flow Research Collective, and has previously held research positions at the University of Oxford and Eton College. He co-hosts a podcast on flourishing, Flourish FM, sponsored by the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard and Oxford University’s Department of Education.
Beale implements his research into his coaching to empower individuals and teams with the skills to flourish. He has coached hundreds of high-performing clients from a wide range of backgrounds, from CEOs to renowned musicians and writers. He has published research articles and book chapters in leading academic journals, book publishers and media outlets, including The New York Times. He is co-editor of four books on philosophy and education, including The Future of Education, forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
Join Our Courses
The Center offers various classes and workshops to help you realize your full potential.