Ignoring the good life
Psychology has become so focused on mental illness, says Martin Seligman, that it ignores human choice, will, character, and responsibility; forgets to work at making happy, productive, meaningful lives happier, more productive, and more meaningful; and focuses interventions only on reducing misery and not on increasing happiness.Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association, advocates for "positive psychology," a new focus in the field on the strengths, abilities, and resiliency of people.
Positive psychology as a movement seems to offer much to the field of pastoral theology.
For example, I've long considered "abundant life" the goal of my clinical work--but Seligman suggests we've ignored abundance to focus on deficit, which keeps us from understanding more about what does lead to "abundant life" in a psychological sense.
.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Tuesday, March 30, 2004
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