Psychology’s 2 great errors – Seligman

Fascinating podcast on the ABC’s All in the Mind series featuring Martin Seligman and the Dalai Lama. 

Seligman claims psychology’s two great errors have been:

1. The focus on the what’s wrong.  Psychology has done very well understanding depression, anxiety etc not what makes people ‘flourish’.
2. The focus on the past rather than the future – what is wrong from the past, rather than creating prefered futures.

 Seligman has been instrumental in shifting psychologies’ focus from the ‘negative’ to starting the Positive Psychology movement. 

He goes onto to explain the 4 pillars of the Positive Psychology movement:

1. Happiness – positive emotions
2. Meaning - being part of something bigger than ourselves.  Reminds me of Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning.
3. Positive relationships – how to get along better with others
4. Achievement - a sense of making a difference

Fascinating stuff!  For more, got to:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/stories/2009/2766891.htm#transcript