Gauri Chhabra
Someone has rightly said,” We all live in a state of mental diarrhea”. This means in spite of extreme development across the globe, human beings are churning in and out mental ill health at an alarming rate. We live in a world overrun by stress. Global urbanization, competition and the spread of technology have created a world in which access to information has become an obligation and necessity. This leads to sidelining of mental health. However, of late people are increasingly becoming conscious of how their mental health is eroding, which has led to Positive Psychology as a career option.
What is Positive Psychology?
Positive Psychology is a specialization within psychology that focuses on teaching people to use their personal strengths and increase their levels of optimism. The field is founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within them, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play. Positive psychologists contribute to society as they help nurture and maintain the well-being of people, create environments with high productivity, build interactive communities that support children and guide families to develop healthy lifestyles.
Difference between Positive Psychology and Clinical Psychology:
Positive psychologists study aspects of human psychology which are not pathological. Most of psychology has historically focused on the Deficit model – what is wrong with people, and treated pathology – mental illness and abnormal behavior. Positive psychology focuses on what is right with people – happiness, peak performance, success, accomplishment, resiliency, coping, competence, and adaptation.
Clinical Psychology is concerned with researching and applying psychological theories to mental health issues, learning difficulties, addictions and other related problems. It usually specializes in a particular area of psychology. Some of these areas include- Education, learning difficulties and disabilities, autism spectrum depression, behavioral problems, anxiety, addiction, brain Injuries, sexuality problems and many others, including Positive Psychology.
Positive Psychology is concerned with researching and applying the effects of positive thoughts and emotions on general wellbeing. It complements Clinical Psychology and other traditional areas by focusing not just on problems but also on how to prevent the problems developing in t0 he first place.
Programs
If you are interested in becoming positive psychologist, you must undergo an immersion program. Generally, you are required to work under a licensed clinical supervisor. Internships for positive psychology are usually conducted in school based clinics and in private practices.
Institute Scape:
Positive psychology is offered at three qualification levels. You can choose from a postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma or master’s degree.
“Indian Institute of Positive Psychology, Hyderabad offering certificate course in Positive Psychology and Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Positive Psychology.
“National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore offering certificate course in Positive Psychology Perspective: Research, Education & Communication for Health.
“Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi offering course in Applied Positive Psychology.
“Institute of Holistic Mental Health, Tamil Nadu offering Masters Certificate course in Psychology.
Online Courses:
“Harvard University (Harvard Extension School) offering online course in “The Science and Application of Positive Psychology”.
“Life University, USA offers online Master’s degree program in Positive Psychology.
“Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada offers online certificate course in Positive Psychology.
“Kripalu Center, USA offers online certificate course in Positive Psychology.
“The Flourishing Center, USA offers a certificate course in Applied Positive Psychology.
“University of Missouri offers an online Master’s degree in Positive Psychology.
Career Scape
Many psychology careers require the same education, skills, and abilities as those of a positive psychologist. Some of the career opportunities in Positive Psychology are:
Career Counseling
Positive Psychology isn’t just an academic endeavor, but is also a social movement with an agenda which overlaps that of Career Counseling. Both fields follow a secular path to the noble purpose of increasing the well-being of individuals and communities. Positive Psychology’s distinctive contribution is to employ randomized, controlled experiments to study the good life, the engaged life, and the meaningful life. A significant finding that positive psychology offers to career counselors is to reverse the assumption of career counseling clients who believe that the right job will make them happy, or that success at work will lead to lasting satisfaction. Success doesn’t yield happiness. Happiness yields success. Assessing and working to improve clients’ overall happiness isn’t just relevant to building a satisfying career, therefore, it’s the foundation for success. To that end, Positive Psychology suggests numerous strategies for increasing overall life satisfaction that are easy to do, straightforward to explain, and similar in strategy and aims to those already used by many, if not most career counselors.
Executive Coaching
As an executive coach, you would work directly with executives to hone skills and work toward specific goals. These may include, but are not limited to, public speaking skills, leadership skills, and organizational skills. The professionally trained coach may help the executive figure out how to change the workplace to optimize employee productivity. You may also offer advice and support toward the executive’s personal well-being.
Occupational Health Psychology
Occupational health psychologist is a relatively new field. Problems and health issues facing the workforce have changed from viral and bacterial epidemics to heart disease and other potentially stress-related concerns. Occupational health psychologists are concerned both with physical safety as well as the emotional and psychological health of people at work. After all, happier people are often more productive people. Much of the knowledge gained with a degree in positive psychology can be applied to this field.
Psychosomatic Medicine
Individuals who practice in the field of psychosomatic medicine focus on the diagnoses and treatment of behavioral disorders in medically ill patients. Studies have shown that a more positive perspective on human functioning can significantly influence the course of physical illness.
Recreational Therapy
As a Recreational therapist, you would provide a treatment service for your clients, which is designed to restore and rehabilitate their levels of functioning and independence in everyday activities. They may also work to promote good health and wellness practices, as well as to remove any limitations the patient may be facing in life situations due to disabilities or illness. Recreational therapy can also be known as therapeutic recreation.
Motivational Speeches
If you have good oratory skills, you can become a motivational speaker who is employed to make speeches to a group or to individuals, in order to inspire and motivate them to achieve their goals. The talk they give to these audiences is known as a ‘pep talk’. Motivational speakers use different methods to engage with their audiences, such as retelling their own positive experiences to the group or sharing their know-how and expertise in order to help others succeed. You may use the skills learned in a positive psychology degree to banish negativity held by their audience.
Head Hunting
Human resources recruiters are also called “headhunters.” Headhunters must have a clear understanding of the demand of the job and be able to pick out, among hundreds, the perfect person for the position. Some headhunters are paid based upon their ability to find the right fit; in other words, if your choices do not work out, you might go out of business. But if you understand the complicated intricacies of finding the right personality for the job, you might do well as a headhunter.
Besides, if you are a Generalist, you may also be responsible for managing a company’s employees, settle disputes, integrate and often train new employees, and may also be responsible for payroll and benefits, you may also be required to ensure companies comply with local, state and national regulations.
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