What is Positive Psychology?

The purpose of positive psychology was summed up in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: "We believe that a psychology of positive human functioning will arise that achieves a scientific understanding and effective interventions to build in individuals, families, and communities."

Positive psychologists seek "to find and nurture genius and talent", and "to make normal life more fulfilling," as opposed to traditional clinical psychology whose focus is to treat mental illness.   In more simple terms, Positive Psychology focuses more on what's going right than what's going wrong.

Positive Psychology and Coaching

Because of similar purposes and goals, there is a natural connection between the fields of personal and professional coaching and positive psychology.  Both focus upon:

• utilizing and building upon strengths (FREE self-assessments are available online. Start with the VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire)
• achieving well-being and life/work balance
• fulfillment of purpose and meaning
• peak performance, self-actualization, transformation and transcendence (see Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs)

Organizational Applications

In 2004, Harvard Business Review listed positive psychology as one of the 20 breakthrough ideas for organizational management. Within the next 5 years there was an explosion of writing and research in the area of application of these principles and techniques to business, including David Cooperrider's work on Appreciative Inquiry and the Gallup Organization's strength's based approaches to management.

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