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    Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being

    Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being

    2.9 15

    by Martin E. P. Seligman


    eBook

    $12.99
    $12.99

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      ISBN-13: 9781439190777
    • Publisher: Atria Books
    • Publication date: 04/05/2011
    • Sold by: SIMON & SCHUSTER
    • Format: eBook
    • Pages: 368
    • Sales rank: 91,499
    • File size: 3 MB

    Martin E.P. Seligman, Ph.D., the Robert A. Fox Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, works on positive psychology, learned helplessness, depression, ethnopolitical conflict, and optimism. Dr. Seligman's work has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation. He is the director of the Positive Psychology Network and scientific director of Foresight, Inc., a testing company that predicts success in various walks of life.
         He was for fourteen years the Director of the Clinical Training Program of the University of Pennsylvania and was named a "Distinguished Practitioner" by the National Academies of Practice. In 1995, he received the Pennsylvania Psychological Association's award for "Distinguished Contributions to Science and Practice."

    Table of Contents

    Preface 1

    Part 1 A New Positive Psychology 3

    Chapter 1 What Is Well-Being? 5

    The Birth of a New Theory 9

    The Original Theory: Authentic Happiness 11

    From Authentic Happiness Theory to Well-Being Theory 13

    Well-Being Theory 14

    The Elements of Well-Being 16

    Kindness Exercise 21

    Flourishing as the Goal of Positive Psychology 26

    Chapter 2 Creating Your Happiness: Positive Psychology Exercises That Work 30

    The Gratitude Visit 30

    Can Well-Being Be Changed? 31

    What-Went-Well Exercise 33

    Positive Psychology Interventions and Cases 35

    Signature Strengths Exercise 38

    Positive Psychotherapy 40

    Chapter 3 The Dirty Little Secret of Drugs and Therapy 45

    Cure Versus Symptom Relief 46

    The 65 Percent Barrier 47

    Active, Constructive Responding 48

    Dealing with Negative Emotions 51

    A New Approach to Cure 53

    Applied Psychology Versus Basic Psychology: Problems Versus Puzzles 55

    Wittgenstein, Popper, and Penn 56

    Chapter 4 Teaching Well-Being: The Magic of MAPP 63

    The First MAPP 64

    Ingredients of Applied Positive Psychology 66

    Intellectually Challenging Applicable Content 66

    Personal and Professional Transformation 70

    Transformations 71

    Called to Positive Psychology 75

    Chapter 5 Positive Education: Teaching Well-Being to Young People 78

    Should Well-Being Be Taught in School? 79

    The Penn Resiliency Program: A Way to Teach Well-Being in School 81

    Three-Good-Things Exercise 84

    Using Signature Strengths in New Ways 84

    The Geelong Grammar School Project 85

    Teaching Positive Education 89

    Embedding Positive Education 90

    Living Positive Education 92

    Positive Computing 93

    A New Measure of Prosperity 96

    Part 2 The Ways to Flourish 99

    Chapter 6 GRIT, Character, and Achievement: A New Theory of Intelligence 101

    Success and Intelligence 102

    Positive Character 103

    Drawn by the Future, Not Driven by the Past 104

    What Intelligence Is 106

    Speed 106

    The Virtue of Slowness 110

    Executive Function 112

    Rate of Learning: The First Derivative of Speed 113

    Self-Control and GRIT 115

    GRIT Versus Self-Discipline 118

    High Human Accomplishment 119

    GRIT's Benefits 122

    Building the Elements of Success 124

    Chapter 7 Army Strong: Comprehensive Soldier Fitness 126

    A Psychologically Fit Army 126

    Global Assessment Tool (GAT) 129

    Online Courses 137

    Emotional Fitness Module 139

    Family Fitness Module 142

    Social Fitness Module 143

    Spiritual Fitness Module 149

    Chapter 8 Turning Trauma into Growth 152

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 152

    Post-Traumatic Growth 159

    Post-Traumatic Growth Course 161

    Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory 161

    Master Resilience Training 163

    Building Mental Toughness 167

    The Hot Seat: Fighting Catastrophic Thoughts in Real Time 169

    Hunt the Good Stuff 171

    Character Strengths 171

    Building Strong Relationships 173

    The Rollout 177

    Chapter 9 Positive Physical Health: The Biology of Optimism 182

    Turning Medicine on Its Head 182

    Origins of Learned Helplessness Theory 184

    Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) 190

    Infectious Illness 194

    Cancer and All-Cause Mortality 200

    Is Well-Being Causal, and How Might It Protect? 204

    Positive Health 208

    Army Database: A National Treasure 211

    Cardiovascular Health Assets 213

    Exercise as a Health Asset 214

    Chapter 10 The Politics and Economics of Well-Being 221

    Beyond Money 221

    The Divergence Between GDP and Well-Being 222

    The Financial Downturn 228

    Ethics Versus Values 228

    Optimism and Economics 232

    Reflexive and Nonreflexive Reality 234

    Perma 51 237

    Appendix: Signature Strengths Test 243

    Thanks and Acknowledgments 267

    Notes 271

    Index 321

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    “This book will help you flourish.”

    With this unprecedented promise, internationally esteemed psychologist Martin Seligman begins Flourish, his first book in ten years—and the first to present his dynamic new concept of what well-being really is. Traditionally, the goal of psychology has been to relieve human suffering, but the goal of the Positive Psychology movement, which Dr. Seligman has led for fifteen years, is different—it’s about actually raising the bar for the human condition.

    Flourish builds on Dr. Seligman’s game-changing work on optimism, motivation, and character to show how to get the most out of life, unveiling an electrifying new theory of what makes a good life—for individuals, for communities, and for nations. In a fascinating evolution of thought and practice, Flourish refines what Positive Psychology is all about.

    While certainly a part of well-being, happiness alone doesn’t give life meaning. Seligman now asks, What is it that enables you to cultivate your talents, to build deep, lasting relationships with others, to feel pleasure, and to contribute meaningfully to the world? In a word, what is it that allows you to flourish? “Well-being” takes the stage front and center, and Happiness (or Positive Emotion) becomes one of the five pillars of Positive Psychology, along with Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment—or PERMA, the permanent building blocks for a life of profound fulfillment.

    Thought-provoking in its implications for education, economics, therapy, medicine, and public policy—the very fabric of society—Flourish tells inspiring stories of Positive Psychology in action, including how the entire U.S. Army is now trained in emotional resilience; how innovative schools can educate for fulfillment in life and not just for workplace success; and how corporations can improve performance at the same time as they raise employee well-being.

    With interactive exercises to help readers explore their own attitudes and aims, Flourish is a watershed in the understanding of happiness as well as a tool for getting the most out of life. On the cutting edge of a science that has changed millions of lives, Dr. Seligman now creates the ultimate extension and capstone of his bestselling classics, Authentic Happiness and Learned Optimism.

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    In his first new book in a dozen years, psychologist Martin Seligman (Authentic Happiness) turns psychology upside down. While others view its goal as the relief of human suffering, Dr. Seligman believes that it should be an affirmative enterprise focused on nurturing optimism, motivation, well-being, and healthy self-actualization. Flourish lays out both the rationale behind Positive Psychology and describes the five pillars that make authentic fulfillment possible. A confident stride towards deep self-improvement; now in trade paperback and NOOK Book.

    Alisa Schnaars

    Publishers Weekly
    Seligman, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the guru of the "positive psychology" movement, abandons his previous emphasis on happiness, which he now views as simplistic, to examine how individuals might achieve a richer, multilayered goal: a life of well-being. He identifies four factors that can help individuals thrive: positive emotion, engagement with what one is doing, a sense of accomplishment, and good relationships. Those expecting a guide on how to achieve these goals will be disappointed; Seligman's approach is largely conceptual and empirical, although he has some useful things to say, such as how even soldiers with PTSD can be taught resilience to recover and even grow from their traumas, and how students of all ages can be taught focus, delayed gratification, and GRIT, a combination of drive and perseverance. But Seligman includes too much on the mechanics of conducting his studies. Also, he can be self-congratulatory regarding his own theory, and harsh and reductionist on traditional treatments ("psychology-as-usual—the psychology of victims and negative emotions and alienation and pathology and tragedy"). This is a potentially important book whose impact may be limited by its flaws. (Apr.)
    From the Publisher
    "Repaves the path to true happiness. A relentlessly optimistic guidebook on finding and securing individual happiness." –Kirkus

    "Important" —Publishers Weekly

    "I was immediately charmed... Seligman's intentions are admirable and exciting. He is consumed by his mission, which is to take psychology on from its traditional role in alleviating misery, and broaden it into positive psychology — the entirely different art of teaching us how to be wiser, stronger, more generous to others, more self-disciplined, and more capable of dealing with difficulty and rejection... The book is full of nuggets about why positive approaches work."
    The Sunday Times

    Library Journal
    Former president of the division of clinical psychology of the American Psychological Association, Seligman (psychology, Univ. of Pennsylvania) wrote the book on positive psychology. Here, he goes beyond his previous volumes (Learned Optimism; Authentic Happiness) by explaining how to achieve well-being by mastering its components—positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and purpose, and accomplishment. Seligman expands his prescription for personal happiness and demonstrates how teaching resiliency to young people, those in the armed services, and business personnel has helped them overcome trauma and flourish in their environments. Seligman includes over 40 pages of annotated bibliography, websites, and interviews. This is particularly helpful for people who want to know why learned optimism works and the variety of venues in which it has been successful.
    Kirkus Reviews

    The former president of the American Psychological Association repaves the path to true happiness.

    Seligman (Authentic Happiness, 2002, etc.) parlays his 20-year experience studying and applying theories about personal contentment into an instructional book on personal growth through affirmative, upbeat reinforcement—a continuance of the author's "positive psychology" movement. The author surprisingly admits that the word happiness has become virtually meaningless because of its rampant overuse in contemporary society, and he focuses on the promotion of individual well-being. Promoting these concepts in schools and the armed forces ("resilience training") could be a key element, he writes, in the advancement of happiness in youth and those consistently engaged in difficult, demanding situations. Seligman discredits the rampant overuse of anti-depressants in the administration of "biological psychiatry," advocating instead for increased curative efforts rather than temporary symptom suppression. Utilizing interactive exercises, case histories and examples from everyday life (health and wealth factors), the author energetically coaches those interested in self-improvement and personal growth. But is acquiring happiness such a complex, theoretical accomplishment? Seligman believes so and never wavers in his belief in a well-honed, systematic process of managed satisfaction. Though certain sections become garrulous and repetitive, graphs, charts and tables offer refreshingly visual proof of the success of his model, including a reprint of his "Signature Strengths Test." An elusive quality for some, a natural condition for others, happiness, Seligman avows, is a priceless emotion to cultivate and preserve.

    A relentlessly optimistic guidebook on finding and securing individual happiness.

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