Isaac has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Manitoba and a Master’s in Clinical Child Psychology from Tel Aviv University. Prior to becoming an academic he worked as a clinician. 

In addition, he is a certified well-being coach from the College of Executive Coaching. He is also a graduate of the Happiness Studies Academy where he studied with Tal Ben Shahar. Isaac has been teaching and researching well-being for the last thirty years at prestigious institutions such as Vanderbilt, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Miami. 

Isaac focuses his coaching practice on six areas of well-being he calls I COPPE (Interpersonal, Community, Occupational, Physical, Psychological, and Economic). This is a model of well-being which he developed, studied, and disseminated in the scientific literature. 

In order to help people achieve their goals, Isaac and his research team developed a method called BET I CAN, which stands for the following seven drivers of change: Behaviors, Emotions, Thoughts, Interactions, Context, Awareness, and Next Steps. The efficacy of this method was proven in two randomized controlled trials, the result of which have been published in scientific papers. The BET I CAN drivers teach individuals the following skills:

• Behaviors:

  • Set a goal

  • Create positive habits

• Emotions

  • Cultivate positive emotions

  • Manage negative emotions

• Thoughts

  • Challenge negative assumptions

  • Write a new story

• Interactions

  • Connect

  • Communicate

• Context

  • Read the cues

  • Change the cues

• Awareness

  • Know the issue

  • Know yourself

• Next Steps

  • Make a plan

  • Make it stick