From Surviving to Thriving

Abstract

In 1997, Dr Martin Seligman was voted as president of the American Psychological Association and he decided to invest his energies and influence into a new field of psychology. Dr Seligman noted that psychology had concerned itself traditionally only with the negative-devoting all its attention to remedyingdysfunctional psychological states-so he decided to investigate and promote what he referred to as positive psychology. Positive psychology does not refer to the idea of "thinking yourself happy" or wishful thinking, rather the intent of positive psychology is to scientifically understand and promote thrivingindividuals, families and communities in order to make "normal" lives more fulfilling. A key concept in the field is that true happiness has a number of important contributing factors. Just as in whole-person health, these factors can be valuable on their own, but it's when all factors come together like a jigsawpuzzle that the biggest impact on wellbeing is felt.