The Rock & Roll Shrink Radio Show Episode 48: Positive Psychology

Tonight’s show is called, “Positive Psychology.” There is a continuum of mental health: at the low end is serious and active psychopathology crisis, and at the top end, the most psychologically healthy and adjusted individual you can imagine.  Mainstream psychology (and all psychiatry) focuses on the lower end of this continuum; reducing harm from psychopathology and improving functioning to the point where people can ‘get by’ in their day-to-day lives.  

Just like with your physiological health, where you don’t merely stop at just not having various common problems, such as weight issues, blood pressure, heart, stress problems, sleep problems, and similar things – you want to also not just be doing good enough and not suffering or causing continuous damage, but actually flourishing in your life. The same principles apply to your mental health, where there is so much focus on the low end of the charts, where people are in clear and ongoing distress. But if you have done your work and are maintaining a decent and stable mental health status, might there be room for more improvement? For actually making one’s psychological lives easier and better, and moving up that psychological adjustment continuum.

Tonight, we will discuss:

1. A basic overview of Positive Psychology

2. An overview of the origins of Positive Psychology, and a profile of its founder

3. How these techniques differ from typical psychological and counseling work, and how you can use them in your own lives

We'll start off the evening with some topic-relevant Classic Rock played by Dr. Mathis, followed by Classic Rock trivia, in "The Rock & Roll Shrink Recalls," followed by our topic discussion.

We will have a new topic for you in two weeks!