Positive psychology – learning to dance in the rain Published July 23, 2013 By Tanya R. Schimon 71st Medical Operations Squadron VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It is about learning to dance in the rain." With those words, Vivian Greene summed up the field of positive psychology. There is always pleasure in the midst of hardship. Just develop within yourself a resilient, helpful, loving and optimistic outlook. Originally developed in the 1950s, positive psychology has re-emerged as a "new" concept, focusing upon what makes people happier and the development of the positive qualities that lead to happiness. It is not about fixing what is wrong. It is all about building upon strengths. An example of positive psychology in action comes from Dr. Martin Seligman, the director of the Penn Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. "The moment took place in my garden while I was weeding with my 5-year old daughter, Nikki. I have to confess that even though I write books about children, I'm actually not all that good with children. "I am goal-oriented and time-urgent and when I'm weeding in the garden, I'm actually trying to get the weeding done. Nikki, however, was throwing weeds into the air, singing and dancing around. I yelled at her. "She walked away, came back and said, 'Daddy, I want to talk to you. Daddy, do you remember before my fifth birthday? From the time I was 3 to the time I was 5, I was a whiner. I whined every day. 'When I turned five, I decided not to whine anymore. That was the hardest thing I've ever done. And if I can stop whining, you can stop being such a grouch.'" Out of the mouths of babes. Positive psychology acknowledges there are problems in life. But there is also good in life, each being equally powerful. It is in adaptation where positive Psychology principles lie. In 1946, after having endured the atrocities of four concentration camps, Victor Frankl, a neurologist and psychiatrist, published "Man's Search for Meaning." The book focused on the realities of life in the concentration camps and Frankl's philosophy and theory of psychology. He noted that more concentration camp deaths occurred between Christmas 1944 and New Year's Day 1945. This higher death rate, in Frankl's opinion, was because "the majority of prisoners had lived in the naïve hope that they would be home again by Christmas." When Christmas came and went, and the prisoners were still in the camps, many of them lost hope. Frankl believed that hope is a buffer against mental illness. Since the 1990s, there has been a re-emerging focus upon positive psychology. Positive psychology encourages the individual to view situations as challenging instead of threatening. Positive thinking can be learned. The brain is amazingly re-trainable. For example, the self-talk statement, "I don't really matter," can be redefined as "I have a lot to offer." The idea of self-limitations can be countered with, "What I can imagine, I can do." Positive psychology can have an impact on depression. Frankl viewed depression as "when the gap between what a person is and what he ought to be becomes so large that it can no longer be carpeted over." Positive psychology includes both the treatment of depression and teaching the individual how to create meaning and happiness. The care-givers at the Vance Mental Health Clinic, 213-7419, and the Behavioral Health Optimization Program, 213-7416, use positive psychology principles in their guidance to individuals.