Many of us have been expressing a long collective sigh of relief in recent years, because in the world of psychology, the focus has finally shifted from what is wrong in personal behavior, to what is right.

Like many others who first embarked on the study of psychology decades ago, I was drawn to the question of why people do what they do. As a student, I felt that the human mind was worth investigating because it initiated everything that we as humans impact in the world. The choices we make, and our responses and endeavors all seemed to arise out of established personal thinking patterns.

How the mind works, and how individuals respond differently to the same experiences, as well as lessons learned moving forward, and best practices based on solid data, seemed to be worthy of investigation.

What students found, however, was a field still in its infancy, where abnormal psychology reigned, and there was an overwhelming focus on extremes in behavior, and a cataloging system to differentiate among them. I learned quickly that the understanding of normal human behavior was a young discipline and that much work remained to be done.

And it has. While abnormal psychology focuses on what goes wrong with people; mental disease, depression and issues related to aggression, the tables have turned. Psychology now also systematically focuses on human strengths, the things that go right for people.

An entirely new discipline has developed in recent years, referred to as positive psychology. This is not so much about positive thinking, although it plays a role, but is about the psychology of a healthy population. This approach now better balances how clinical psychologists have focused on less unhappiness. There is now greater emphasis on satisfaction and quality of life, and building on what is working, rather than focusing on what is not.

Human strengths include creativity and curiosity, courage and kindness; valued characteristics that can be measured and increased. The building a scientific discipline on normal psychology, in addition to the longstanding study of abnormal psychology has been a welcome breakthrough. The flourishing of the field of positive psychology was worth waiting for, and is enormously satisfying.

With appreciation,

Maria Berdusco

www.LeadershipInternational.com