By
Adrian
Posted 1 week ago
Wed 01 Oct, 2025 12:10 AM
The University of London is launching THRIVE, a pilot programme for all students and staff running from October to December 2025. THRIVE takes a proactive, skills-based approach to wellbeing, building resilience and personal growth through structured activities, short courses, and digital resources.
What THRIVE offers
Each week, participants can join:
- Workshops and short courses on stress management, communication, procrastination, confidence, and emotional regulation.
- Practical sessions including yoga, fitness, mindfulness, and meditation.
- Evidence-based training such as Look After Your Mate (peer support skills for student mental health).
- Digital access to live-streamed or recorded sessions and resources for those unable to attend in person.
All activities are grounded in positive psychology and aligned with the PERMA model (developed by Professor Martin Seligman) together with the eight dimensions of wellness (emotional, social, intellectual, physical, occupational, spiritual, environmental, and financial). This ensures that THRIVE addresses both the psychological and practical aspects of wellbeing.
Why PERMA?
The PERMA framework identifies five measurable building blocks of flourishing:
- Positive Emotion – cultivating gratitude, joy, and optimism, which broaden cognitive flexibility and build resilience.
- Engagement – promoting “flow” states that strengthen mastery and intrinsic motivation.
- Relationships – developing supportive social connections that predict psychological health and academic persistence.
- Meaning – aligning effort with purpose, which buffers against stress and sustains motivation.
- Accomplishment – progressing towards valued goals, building competence and self-efficacy.
Evidence across higher education and workplace settings shows clear benefits of PERMA-based interventions:
- Students: Positive psychology programmes improve optimism, resilience, life satisfaction, and belonging, while reducing depression and anxiety. Studies link PERMA-aligned training with better concentration, greater persistence, higher academic performance, and lower dropout risk.
- Staff: Higher PERMA scores correlate with greater job satisfaction, vitality, and engagement.
- Preventative value: PERMA interventions act as protective factors, helping individuals build coping skills before difficulties escalate. This normalises wellbeing as a core life skill and can reduce demand on counselling and crisis services.
Who it’s for
THRIVE is open to all students and staff, whether or not they are currently experiencing difficulties. It is not therapy or a counselling service, but an inclusive opportunity to build skills and confidence for study, research, work, relationships, and wellbeing.
Get Involved
THRIVE runs October–December 2025 across Senate House, the Intercollegiate Halls, and online.
