Happiness
The Philosophy Behind My Work
In A Unified Theory of Happiness, Dr. Andrea F. Polard brings together twelve years of research, personal breakthroughs, Western psychological science, and Eastern wisdom traditions to explore a deceptively simple question: What does it mean to be fully alive?
Happiness here is not something we achieve. Rather, it emerges when we become fully engaged in the present moment. This engagement can take several forms:
Becoming absorbed in meaningful pursuits of goals
Connecting deeply with other people
Recognizing our participation in something larger than ourselves—the living world, the wider whole of existence, or awareness itself.
These paths offer different ways into what psychologists call flow: a state of wholehearted engagement in which attention is no longer divided; time, ego, and all else fall away.
Sometimes we enter this state through what we do and whom we love. At other times, we discover that our connection to life is already here, a flow we can tap into always.
What Does This Mean for You?
♾️
The award winning book's ideas also have relevance for understanding human development and autism, although it is not an autism book. Some autistic people experience deep absorption in particular interests, which can become sources of mastery and creativity. Social connection, by contrast, are typically more difficult to navigate and require support. A fuller life need not look the same for everyone, nor should participation require abandoning one's authentic way of being.
At the Spectrum Launch Institute of Agoura Hills, this broader perspective informs a central conviction: meaningful development for everybody is not about becoming someone else. It is about understanding the conditions that support growth, cultivating one's capacities, and finding ways to participate more fully in life.
What Other Authors Say
“A Unified Theory of Happiness is an engaging, warm-hearted, and essential book for anyone looking for sincere ways to find inner peace in modern time.”
HOPE EDELMAN
Author of Motherless Daughters and The Possibility of Everything
“Life-changing book! If you put into practice what Dr. Polard suggests, you will see radical changes in your life – for the better!”
TRISTA HENDREN
Author of The Girl God
“A major contribution to the fields of positive and transpersonal psychology.”
RONALD A. ALEXANDER
Author of Wise Mind, Open Mind
“I wholeheartedly recommend “A Unified Theory of Happiness” to anyone who has more than a glancing acquaintanceship with the inner world and who is motivated to fulfillment and to realizing their potential.”
RICHARD HARVEY
Author of Your Sacred Calling
“Polard’s book, backed with research that carefully examines the being-doing dichotomy, not only shows how each dimension has a vital part in the progress of an awakened life but also provides much useful advice on how to make it so.”
DAVID BRAZIER
Author of Zen Therapy and The Feeling Buddha
“Whoever dares to follow the practical guidelines offered in this book risks achieving an interconnected, meaningful, and balanced–in short, happy–life.”
TERRY MARKS-TARLOW
Author of Clinical Intuition in Psychotherapy, Psyche’s Veil, and Creativity Inside Out.
The Heart Sutra
My engagement with the Heart Sutra began with study but deepened through months of meditation and years of allowing its meaning to unfold. I wanted to offer readers an accessible text, free of unfamiliar terminology, that invites experience rather than intellectual understanding.
This beautifully illustrated booklet features professional photography by Michael Desmond, bringing together words and images in an invitation to pause, reflect, and encounter the quiet clarity of awareness.
What Does This Mean for You?
♾️
My special interest in Zen also informs my work with autism, inspiring my curiosity about interconnectedness and awareness.
The ideas expressed are secular and will not collide with religious beliefs. Reading this poem often might make the light of awareness more accessible in your everyday life.
Inviting happiness into our lives is a matter of the focused mind. It allows us to feel a part of something, be it our pursuits, relationships, or the web of existence.