Book review: Positive Psychology (2013)

Book review: Positive Psychology: Advances in understanding adult motivation (2013)

I was really excited to see this text being published. It's a useful first and second look at Positive Psychology. Not light reading, but clearly useful for those interested in positive psychology.

My psychological perspective

Having been trained in traditional psychology perspectives, I have noticed that the focus on treatment is usually based on the past and based on deficits. But I have noticed that when I include and focus on positive psychology, my clients start showing more resilience, hope and courage. And this really resounds with me.  

I was hooked into the book when it was talking about calling. Particularly reviewing findings where parental calling increases child wellbeing. Bam. This is what I've been noticing all along. And what I have personally found is that the concepts of positive psychology fit better for some clients than the traditional CBT approach. Obviously though, there needs to be more trials in this area.

An interestingly, the text looks at the constructs in positive psychology that aren't easy measured including flow (how do you measure how an individual is completely engrossed in activities that they enjoy?).

My Christian perspective

Positive psychology really resounds with the focuses in the Christian faith. Think purpose driven life by Rick Warren. We are built with a purpose. And when you find said focus, it should empower and drive you. It was interesting to read about the matches between psychology and the christian faith in Chapter 1. This is a relatively uncommon stance as some theorist have openly claimed that psychology conflicts with the Christian perspective. And what is more interesting is that the positive psychology movement to date has been close associated with other world religions.

My overall rating: 

Excellent
This is a very useful resource or a decent use of time. 

This is mostly an academic text, and is a bit too dense for general reading and there are far too many references listed. If you are looking at an easy to read pop psychology book, look elsewhere. But as an academic, I found it an exciting addition to my bookshelf and definitely one I will share with my psychology students.

Please stay tuned for a new program called: Raising Tweens and Teens: Positive and mindful parenting which I will be running late 2014. For more information, please contact the clinic.

  This book is available from Springer, Amazon and other online retailers.

I was provided with a review copy of this book but was not otherwise influenced in my review.