Emotions are the core drivers of human quality of life, both in terms of happiness (or unhappiness) and the most common mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide. This means that altering pathogenic emotion generation processes could simultaneously increase happiness in relatively healthy initials, and also simultaneously prevent or treat depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide. If this were true, emotion regulation ability would represent perhaps the most important psychological force in human mental well-being.

To identify the psychological processes driving pathogenetic emotion generation, we first must develop the tools to help us understand what problematic emotion generation patterns are. Dr. Klein's recent emotion dynamics research diverges from classic conceptions of emotional reactivity and highlights the key role of the duration of our negative emotions. His award-wining sciecne brings with it new theories about the most important cognitive processes that may drive pathogenic emotion generation.

Both history and science are clear on the most powerful pathway to lasting happiness: Psychological Flexibility. PF is a mindstate that is open to the world exactly as it is. PF is easily the most ancient recorded wisdom on how to find lasting happiness.  Hindus called it "vairagya", ancient Greeks called it “apatheia”, Buddhists called it "anupādāna", Muslims called it "Islam" meaning "surrender", and modern psychologists call it Psycholgocal Flexibility.