Positive Psychology

Remediating deficits and managing disabilities has been a central preoccupation for clinical psychologists. Positive Psychology, in contrast, is concerned with the enhancement of happiness and well-being, involving the scientific study of the role of personal strengths and positive social systems in the promotion of optimal wellbeing. Alan Carr's Positive Psychology has become essential reading for anyone requiring a thorough and accessible introduction to the field. This new edition retains all the features that made the first edition so popular, including: * accounts of major theories and relevant research * learning objectives * chapter summaries * research and personal development questions * suggestions for further reading * measures for use in research * glossaries of new terms. The book has also been completely updated to take account of recent research and major advances, and includes a new chapter on Positive Psychotherapy, an extended account of research on character strengths and virtues, and a discussion of recent ground-breaking research on emotional intelligence.This new edition of Positive Psychology will prove a valuable resource for psychology students and lecturers, as well as those involved in postgraduate training in related areas such as clinical psychology, social work, counselling and psychotherapy.

Professor Alan Carr is the Director of the Doctoral Training Programme in Clinical Psychology at University College Dublin and Consultant Marital and Family therapist at the Clanwilliam Institute for Marital and Family Therapy in Dublin.

"This succinct compilation of some of the important ideas and findings in Positive Psychology provides a handy reference for those new to the field and a useful taster for those who wish to delve more deeply." - Professor Felicia A Huppert, University of Cambridge, UK "This book offers an empirically based, rigorously scientific approach to a rapidly changing and expanding field. Undergraduates and graduate students will much appreciate the accessible presentation, ample graphics, and personal development questions, while professionals will be pleased with the up-to-date, sensible coverage of this thoroughly revised edition. The next generation of positive psychology textbooks has arrived!" - Grant Rich, University of Alaska, USA Praise for the first edition: "Carr's Positive Psychology is a magisterial text, an enormously informative and inclusive synthesis of this new branch of science. It is a model of a contemporary textbook, with references to websites, useful copies of test forms, and provocative questi