40th Annual Brigham Young University Counseling Workshop

Presenter: Christopher Peterson, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan

THE SCIENCE OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
BYU Counseling Workshop, March 5 –6, 2009

PDF to download 2008 brochure

Workshop Description

Positive psychology is an umbrella term describing the scientific study of what makes life most worth living. Positive psychologists concern themselves with positive experiences (happiness, pleasure), positive traits (character strengths, interests, talents), positive relationships (friendship, family, marriage), and positive institutions (schools, workplaces, communities). Research findings from positive psychology are intended to provide a more complete and balanced scientific understanding of the human experience. Unlike traditional psychology which is based on a disease model of human nature and thus glimpses only part of the human condition, the new field of positive psychology calls for as much focus on strength as on weakness, as much interest in building the best things in life as in repairing the worst, and as much concern with making the lives of normal people fulfilling as with healing pathology.

Positive psychology does not replace business-as-usual psychology, which often focuses on people’s problems and how to remedy them. Rather, positive psychology intends to complement and extend a problem-focused psychology. Accordingly, positive psychology can and should be distinguished from other approaches that are not grounded in systematic research. Applications of positive psychology need to be empirically informed.

Positive psychology and its applications are not to be confused with pop psychology or untested self-help approaches. Positive psychology is neither dogmatic nor a panacea. It is neither The Power of Positive Thinking nor The Secret. Positive psychologists do not blame victims or congratulate the fortunate. Positive psychology is neither radical nor reactionary.

Building and maintaining a happy, healthy, and moral life is not easy. Doing so requires hard work and a commitment to changing how one lives. Positive psychology provides a valuable perspective on the human condition, suggesting an explicit vision of psychological health and thereby making concrete the goals of therapy. Positive psychology also provides useful strategies for assessment, treatment, prevention, rehabilitation, and promotion. Positive psychology expands the view of psychological health beyond the absence of symptoms and disorders and suggests possible routes to a life that is healthy, happy, fulfilled, meaningful, and productive. Although positive psychology has made significant progress in a short time, caution is needed not to run ahead of what is known.

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Christopher Peterson