LISA R. MACHENBERG is an Instructor and Staff Hypnotherapist at HMI College of Hypnotherapy in Tarzana, Ca.  She teaches continuing education certification courses for the American Hypnosis Association in: Hypnosis and ADD, Hypnosis and PTSD, Hypnosis Before and After Surgery, and Hypnosis and Seniors.  If Lisa looks familiar she is also the host of the popular internet shows, AMAZING MIND and HYPNOSIS TODAY on the Hypnosis TV Channel.  Lisa was just featured as the “Hypno-Mom” on Bravo’s new show, Extreme Parenting.  Lisa also facilitates the infant and toddler parenting program at Gan Malibu Preschool in Malibu, Ca.

You can learn more about Lisa here.

David Meketon has served in numerous roles in the School District of Philadelphia including Student Support Coordinator, Dean of Students, and Assistant Principal at the J.R. Masterman High School. He has taught philosophy, English, and history. He has been the recipient of a number of awards in education and was a Fulbright Teacher Exchange Fellow. Meketon has also served as a facilitator with “A Gathering of Men” a community based anti-recidivism initiative in the Pennsylvania State Correction System.

He currently works as the school based research liaison with Angela Duckworth at the University of Pennsylvania. He has worked with Duckworth on various projects for more than eleven years.

The Duckworth Lab focuses on two traits that predict success in life: grit and self-control. Grit is the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals. Self-control is the voluntary regulation of behavioral, emotional, and attentional impulses in the presence of momentarily gratifying temptations or diversions. On average, individuals who are gritty are more self-controlled, but the correlation between these two traits is not perfect: some individuals are paragons of grit but not self-control, and some exceptionally well-regulated individuals are not especially gritty. While we haven’t fully worked out how these two traits are related, it seems that an important distinction has to do with timescale. They study character strengths in school age children. The most recent project involves measuring gratitude, actively open minded thinking, self-control, grit, and purpose.Angela Duckworth and our work in general.

You can learn more about David here.