Dr. Niemiec is a psychologist, coach, and international workshop leader. His specialty areas include: character strengths, mindfulness meditation, positive psychology, health psychology, mind-body therapies, and psychology portrayed in media.He is Education Director of VIA Institute on Character, a global, nonprofit organization in Cincinnati, Ohio that educates individuals about the science and practice of character strengths. The VIA Institute is considered a leading organization in positive psychology and the worldwide leader on the science of character strengths. Ryan currently leads online workshops on the practice of character strengths for practitioners in business, psychology, coaching, and education. He is a regular speaker at international and national conferences.Ryan has a passion for teaching mindfulness meditation and character strengths as pathways for helping individuals to flourish and live their best life, as well as in the treatment of physical and mental problems. He has led several-hundred mindfulness meditation groups over the last decade, and is the creator of Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practice (MBSP), a new 8-week program that integrates the best practices of mindfulness and character strengths. It has been successfully piloted in several countries with many more in progress.