Andy Proctor CAPP

Andy Proctor, CAPP, is a Ph.D. student at Brigham Young University specializing in the health impacts of adult friendship and is a certified positive psychology practitioner (CAPP). He manages the Social Connections and Health Lab under the direction of Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad. His positive psychology podcast, More Happy Life, has been mentioned in The New York Times, ABC News, and Fox Business, among other outlets.

Proctor is the co-chair of the Utah Positive Psychology Association, a board member of TEDxBYU, and member of the research team for Eventbrite’s national Social Connection Project. He is currently conducting research on how social disconnection impacts health markers such as heart rate variability, blood pressure, skin temperature, and sleep quality as measured by wearable technology. His work includes machine learning analysis of journal entries via the PERMA lexicon, and the perception of the importance of social determinants of health in healthcare providers and general populations. His dissertation research is focused on the relationship between adult friendship and health biomarkers, based on Baumeister and Leary's Need to Belong Theory.

Before starting his Ph.D., Proctor served as both Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Happiness Officer for social innovation startups and non-profit organizations. He recently directed press efforts for the first-ever animated series on suicide prevention, My Life is Worth Living, which was featured in USA Today, Teen Vogue, The Hill, Fox News, ABC, and other local media outlets.