What is Positive Psychology?

When people think about the field of psychology, clinical issues such as anxiety and depression often come to mind. Positive psychology arose, in part, as a reaction against the field of psychology’s traditional focus on mental health “problems.” Instead of trying to fix what is “wrong” with us, positive psychology asks how we can cultivate human strengths such as resilience, joy, and meaning.   If you are not familiar with the field of positive psychology, the name might seem like it is referring to something along the lines of “positive thinking.” However, while optimism is certainly relevant to positive psychology, it is simply one of many concepts under the broad umbrella of positive psychology.  Theories  The psychologists, Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who are often considered…