When you think of how to live a life in which you can flourish, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For many, flourishing is tantamount to happiness. But, what is happiness? What contributes to a life well lived? We are often at our happiest when our natural […]
Character strengths are an indispensable aspect of positive psychology. They are a unique collection of personal abilities that act as buffers against mental health disorders and positively impact our overall health and well-being. The concept of character strengths was popularized by Martin Seligman and Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi’s research in the early […]
Strengths-based approaches deploy the inherent strengths of clients to aid recovery and cultivate a sense of empowerment in terms of their own lives and treatment - irrespective of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference, or ability. Whether those clients are individuals, families, groups or organizations, strengths and asset-based practices encourage clients […]
One of the biggest topics in positive psychology is character strengths. If you’ve given any positive psychology resources even a cursory glance, you’ve probably read about them in some capacity—what they are, how they fit into the field, how to improve them, and how to capitalize on them. Their popularity […]
If someone asked you to define yourself, what would your answer be? Strengths are inherent potentials that influence our thoughts, emotions, and actions. They define who we are and determine our uniqueness. Wisdom, courage, perseverance, and humility are a few instances of the qualities we possess. In psychology, character strengths […]
Our fascination with wisdom dates back for thousands of years. Many people throughout history have pondered what it means to be wise. How do you define wisdom? Aristotle believed in two types of wisdom: theoretical and practical. The former involves the exploration of things we can't change, but about which […]
Are you one of those who believes in living life to the fullest and making the most out of every day? If so, then you are a zestful person. Zest makes an individual loaded with positive vitality that emanates from him to others around. In it lies true happiness, satisfaction, […]
When you consider the word “strength” what comes to mind? Hold on to that for a moment. For me, the word and image of “strength” make me think of synonyms like “sturdy” “solid” and antonyms like “weak”. I also think of my personal strengths. For example, a person can believe […]
We would all benefit from being more aware of our characteristics and personality traits. That's because they are significant predictors of our behaviors and attitudes. The world we live in is different from what it was ten, five, or even one year ago. Thanks to social media, easy-to-use communication tools, […]
“Honesty is the best policy.” – Benjamin Franklin Or is it? Benjamin Franklin seems to think so, but he also said this: “Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” – […]
Almost everyone can think of someone they love who they consider being a strong person, but what makes that person strong? Is it their self-sacrificial nature and their ability to push through hardship? Maybe it is their ability to stay calm in any challenge, or always speak with humility. Often […]
Character Strengths and Virtues is a groundbreaking handbook compiling the work of researchers to create a classification system for widely valued positive traits. The aim is to present a measure of humanist ideals of virtue in an empirical and scientific way. This handbook intends to provide a theoretical framework that will […]
Wisdom, courage, humanity, transcendence, justice, and moderation are the six values that Martin Seligman and Chris Peterson have directed much research towards. What do these different values mean to you? Which of these have the greatest impact on your well-being? Seligman describes in his book “Authentic Happiness” how he and […]
