Psychology : Positive And Negative Psychology

Psychology is a broad field that studies the human mind, behavior and mental processes. However I was surprised to learn that psychology also refers to love, stress, wisdom, and more topics that allows one learn more about themself. There are four goals of psychology: describe, understand, predict, and control behavior. Not only is psychology a science, it is a profession.

Psychology is an exceptionally multifaceted field of study, regardless, it can be commonly defined as the study of mental processes and human behavior. The goals of psychology are to describe, explain, predict and control the behavior of others. Psychology incorporates an extensive range of different perspectives into its general principles as well as focuses on securing them with applied research, case studies, evaluations, etc. I first became interested in psychology when I began to watch crime shows in Grade 8. It was tremendously fascinating to absorb such bizarre yet factual information pertaining to criminal offenders, multiple types of mental disorders as well as the personality traits and situations that are gateways to such chaos.

According to the Center, “Positive psychology is the systematic study of human strength, resilience and qualities that empower individuals and group of people to succeed” (Positive Psychology Center, 2014). Positive psychology’s founders learned through study that people usually place more emphasis on what goes wrong in their lives; they focus on their failures. For instance, divorce, financial obligations, or losing a job. It is imperative to comprehend the characteristics of undesirable experiences in an individual’s life. As an alternative to focusing on failure, focus can be placed on the positive situations in life and understand those are the occasions worth living for. Positive psychology emphasizes strengths and weaknesses, magnifying the positive aspects of life, and healing the effects of negative experiences. Positive psychology focuses on a person’s strengths and the hope of something larger then oneself to lead individuals to a more meaningful

Every aspect of psychology excites me. As I take more classes, and my exposure to different theories and perspectives as well as topics and fields increases, I want to know more. The possibilities and applications of psychology are endless. When I wrote about peace and positive psychology for a career paper in an English class, my thoughts on psychology's impact expanded. Influenced by humanistic psychology, positive psychology focuses not only on the health or unhealthiness of an individual, but his or her potential to thrive and live a happy life. The prior theories have opened up the long-neglected opposite side of the spectrum of one’s psychological health. I am inspired by countless psychologists, but notably Abraham Maslow and Martin

In a true clinical setting, a patient is free to express feelings and experiences to facilitate self-healing through positive intervention techniques. With the data available on positive psychology, many clinicians may be tempted to utilize a particular positive intervention with the belief it will make a tremendous impact on the patient. However, this may be unhealthy for the patient who may need to experience negative or difficult emotion to work through the issue they are dealing with. Nonetheless, positive therapy has a definitive useful role in psychological treatment and “adds a deeper dimension to the treatment setting” (p. 404). Therapists who use this type of therapy, however, should remember not to “become a slave to the ‘tyrannies of optimism’” (Seligman, 1990, p. 292; as cited in La Torre, p. 404).

To understand positive psychology and trauma, one must first understand what each term means. First, positive psychology is the study and focus on the best in human behavior. It is a fairly new perspective being observed and used by psychologists from all over the world. The goal of positive psychology is to study and promote conditions that can help people to achieve happy, healthy, and productive lifestyles. It is derived from research and theories from many areas of psychology and tying them together while focusing on the positive aspects of human behavior. What does it mean to be positive? Being positive is displaying affirmation, acceptance, or certainty toward an object, idea, or person.

In class on Monday, we had a very engaging presentation on positive psychology and how flourishing shapes our perspective to be the successful young adults we are today. Positive psychology is the study of promotion for successful functioning. Building enabling conditions for a life worth living is vital to being satisfied with our lives and within ourselves. A few enabling conditions for a life worth living for my own perspectives is my resilience, my supportive buffers, and using my signature strength to help others.

The field of Psychology has been an area of study, since Wilhelm Wundt did the first psychology lab in 1879 (McLeod, 2008), and since then we have come a very long way in discovering what makes up human behaviors and mental processes. It is important to learn about the field of psychology, especially in the field of Child and Youth care because, understanding how the brain works and understanding the actions, and or reasoning behind feelings may help with the cognitive therapy of a child in need. To begin, I believe having the correct knowledge and understanding how neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine, dopamine, GABA, glutamate, norepinephrine, and serotonin affect the brain are important. As well as having the knowledge of the different parts of the limbic system such as the hippocampus (memory), amygdala (emotion), thalamus (brain directory), hypothalamus (breathing, hunger, thirst, sleep). Finally, classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a way of teaching through stimuli and events (David G. Myers, 2014). We study psychology to gain more knowledge on areas of the brain, how they work, and how they may affect an individual. Three areas in the field of psychology that could improve my learning academics/ employment skills include classical conditioning, dopamine, and the amygdala.

Positive psychology is concerned with three issues: positive emotions, positive individual traits, and positive institutions. The first aspect “positive emotions” examines contentment in terms of the past present and future (Seligman, 2007). The second aspect, “positive individual,” identifies one’s virtues and strengths. Furthermore, where positive individual looks at the person, “positive institution examines the community (p. 75). In terms of happiness, this is considered an emotional state and is achieved when balance occurs between the stresses of life and the person’s ability to let the things that are bogging him or her down. It is interesting to note that because of the large amount of

In addition to completing those goals, it also has been found to increase psychological well-being. Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) define well-being as “not only the absence of mental disorder but also the presence of psychological resources, including components of hedonic or subjective well-being as well as components of eudaimonic well-being” (p. 468). This definition includes happiness as part of subjective well-being. Sin and Lyubomirsky analyzed 49 separate studies in order to get the most complete look they could at the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions. What they found from their results indicated that positive psychology interventions are effective in increasing people’s psychological well-being, although not all of the studies they examined had those results. The mean r was 0.29, which indicated high statistical significance. In addition, the researchers examined the effects on depressive symptoms and found, with the mean r being equal to 0.31 in 25 studies, even more significant results than with well-being. Therefore, the researchers concluded that positive psychology interventions do have significant effects in enhancing psychological well-being and decreasing depressive symptoms (p. 482). Although this study did not directly look at happiness, since happiness is a part of psychological well-being, it can be assumed that the results would be similar if the researchers were looking at happiness as opposed to

I am aware that this is just a peer review exercise. I am not creating any bad animosity in this forum, I am complying with what the rubric for this assignment requires; we are allowed to defend our position in our paper. Now to respond to your question: positive psychology interventions have been and are applied to help people with depression and anxiety disorders. Additionally, positive psychology is used to increase life satisfaction of people and increase happiness. For instance, anxiety and depression in a psychological state scale is considered being in the negative side. Traditional psychology fields would try to bring the individual back to a normal state, but after that often nothing else is done. Positive psychology attempts to surpass

Seligman had noticed that psychology was significantly based on different ways in which mental illnesses can be treated, rather than promoting mental health and well-being. It was this realisation that urged Seligman to initiate a shift in psychology’s focus towards a field of psychology that promotes and enhances the well-being of individuals and society as a whole. Years later, positive psychology awareness rose with over 1000 articles, numerous books and special journals embracing this new field. These outlets include topics on well-being, mindfulness, gratitude, pride, forgiveness and the way in which they contribute to our character strengths. Meanwhile, positive psychology is immerging to several schools, businesses and even government forces such as the U.S. Army. The fact that such high valued institutions are incorporating positive psychology into their programs signifies the importance of this field and how beneficial it can be to society. Positive psychology awareness urges citizens to make more educated decisions, thus allowing them to strengthen and grow as an individual and as a community. However, some critics believe that there is not enough sufficient research findings to progress towards the fields

In the previous sessions with my client, she expressed feeling conflict with her roommates. Through the Adlerian therapy techniques, my client spoke of insecurity in many of her personal relationships. She revealed that her greatest anxiety concerning relationships stemmed from two of her roommates. She expressed feeling that they were passive aggressive and generally judgmental. Through the work done through these sessions, my client states that the issues have been resolved and are no longer a constant source of stress. She explains that she was able to confront her roommates in an amicable way and minimize the conflict previously felt. However, she expressed great concern for her social life and her future. She states that she feels severe anxiety and pressure from those around her as graduate school approaches and feels inferior in her social relationships.

In conclusion, the Good Life is within reach for me and anyone who hopes for it. Positive psychology provides the blueprint on actions and cognitive thinking which will lead me to happiness and balance. The goals I have established through the course and by focusing on: my signature strengths, knowing my motivational method, establishing goals, achieving flow, being healthy, continued cognitive and emotional growth, wisdom, and spirituality, I will meet “my” Good

Positive psychology, which has emerged recently, is the scientific study of human thriving. Psychology traditionally focuses on dysfunction—on people with mental illness or other psychological problems and how to treat them. Positive psychology, by contrast, is a relatively new field that examines how ordinary people can become happier and more fulfilled. In his 1998 APA presidential address, Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, argued that psychology had become too focused on curing mental illness according to a disease model, and that, for all intents and purposes, it had become a “victimology” (Seligman, 1998). What was needed, he averred, was a new “science of human strengths,” a positive psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).