To say that Dr. Delvina is a busy woman is an understatement. Since graduating from Gorham High, she has earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Simmons College in 2013, a Masters from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (Human Development and Psychology) in 2008, and a bachelors in Psychology from USM in 2005. She is also a woman on a mission. As a change agent in the mental health field of Positive Psychology, she has dedicated her life to helping others learn life skills which foster resiliency, so they may lead more positive and purposeful lives.

This mother of four children under the age of six currently splits her professional life between working remotely as the Director of Program and Evaluation for Life Advantages LLC, based in Florida and working here in Gorham as CEO of her own business, Realize Your Resilience LLC, which she founded in 2016. She said, “I have partnered with schools, universities, organizations, associations and corporations to provide workshops, webinars, and speaking engagements which help people of all ages learn how to lead happier, more fulfilled lives.” She was featured on a TEDx talk created in the spirit of TED’s mission to encourage “ideas worth spreading.” She also appeared recently on WCSH TV.

Dr. Delvina found her true calling by honing her natural skills and interests, by successfully battling her own undiagnosed anxiety and depression, and by a lot of plain hard work. In preparation for applying to a Ph. D. program in Clinical Psychology, she gained experience working in the Psychiatry Department at Children’s Hospital in Boston as a research assistant for their Adolescent Suicide and Depression Prevention Program. Here she had a life changing realization that the best way to prevent suicide and depression might be by promoting positive coping skills and fostering resilience through very early intervention, rather than by just treating the symptoms.

This epiphany redirected her career path away from Clinical Psychology toward a more dynamic and multi-dimensional approach based on wellness and prevention. She was accepted into Harvard’s Graduate School of Education where she discovered the field of Positive Psychology, the study of the science behind how humans flourish. She said, “I knew I had found my purpose and a lifelong passion. My professional career blossomed out of a realization that there was too much focus on what was wrong and not enough focus on and understanding of what is right.”

Current scientific research informs Dr. Delvina’s ideas about the importance of resilience and how these important skills can be taught. Evolutionary reasons tied to survival have wired the human brain to pay more attention to negative experiences. Research show that 80% of a person’s thoughts are negative, and 95% of these negative thoughts are carried over from day to day because negative thoughts are stored longer and are also easier to recall than positive ones. Acknowledging this as normal, human brain function can give a person the confidence to gently acknowledge and then dismiss non-productive negativity so they can move forward.

Positive Psychology as a discipline provides endless scientifically proven techniques, exercises and skills that change one’s perspective to lead to astounding shifts in wellbeing and life satisfaction. Over the past 15 years Dr. Delvina has developed many innovative prevention tools, such as a resilience toolkit for colleges and universities and A Resilience Success Assessment to help quantify the concept of resilience. She has just finished a self-paced e-learning resilience course for college students.

One helpful piece of advice that lies at the core of everything Dr. Delvina teaches is, “We have the power to shape our entire life experience, by exercising our mind in positive ways.” She added, “If you want to show up in the world as the best version of yourself, you must use scientifically proven strategies like mindfulness, gratitude and optimistic thinking to train your mind muscle, much like you go to the gym to train your body muscles.”

When asked how she and her family decided to move back to Gorham from Massachusetts, Dr. Delvina said, “Maine always had a big piece of my heart, but I honestly didn’t see myself leaving a great career and moving back from Massachusetts.” That began to change when she started her family and her priorities shifted away toward raising four happy, healthy children. “I wanted my children to grow up in a stable, supportive community like Gorham. My husband, Craig Baldino, and I have been here for 1 1⁄2 years now and it’s been the best decision we have ever made,” she said. He works at Martin’s Point Health Care.

Dr. Delvina can be reached at www.realizeyourresileince.com, www.drdelvina.com or through her email delvina@drdelvina.com. Her TEDx talk can be viewed here.

She is the daughter of Barbara Keene and David Keene. She has three siblings: Hossein Miremadi (GHS ’99), Krista Keene (GHS ’08) and Leaha Keene (GHS ’11).