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My Professional Philosophy

When you’ve been a psychologist for as many years as I’ve been it’s important to stay fresh by tuning in to new ideas or different ways of seeing things.  Being a psychologist is not an occupation for me, but a calling.  It is not just what I do but who I am, and how I approach life.  In these pages, including my newest article, "What is Positive Psychology?,"  I offer some of my perceptions and current interests so you can understand what I value and how I think.

The History of Psychotherapy Very Greatly Simplified

There was once a time when people who experienced personal troubles managed the best they could or consulted with their spiritual advisor for hope of some relief.  Then came psychotherapy, or talk therapy, as memorialized by Sigmund Freud and his associates and disciples. 

In the early days of psychotherapy’s evolution it was believed that through talking a person could and would surface painful childhood memories that impeded healthy psychological development.  It was believed that past suffering caused suffering in the present with an expectation of future suffering.  The goal of therapy was to help the person feel better, to not experience the painful thoughts, feelings and behaviors, or at least to experience less discomfort or unpleasantness.

Over the years new theories, methodologies and strategies emerged to provide additional tools to help people feel better, think less troubled thoughts and behave in ways that were more constructive.  Therapists aligned themselves with one or another of the “theoretical orientations” and applied their knowledge to help resolve their client’s troubles. Some therapists searched among various orientations for their “help” strategies based on the specific needs of their clients.  These therapists were called eclectic because they selected their tools from any theories that held promise of helping a particular client. I fall in this category.

Much has changed since the days when painful childhoods and repressed memories were perceived as the primary causes of distress.  Multiple etiologies and causes are available to explain why we are unhappy and most therapists currently have a big tool box from which to work. There is tremendous richness in both understanding what therapy clients need and in finding ways to attend to their needs. 

Even so, the goal of psychotherapy had not changed significantly; decreased suffering remained the emphasis.  It was still a goal based in the field of medicine, otherwise known as the medical model, to remove the disease, remove the symptoms or alleviate both.  Getting the person back to a level where they could function well enough was the end objective. To a significant extent, this is still the aim of psychotherapy based on the medical model.  This goal has always been too limiting for me.

While I certainly do not do justice to the hundred plus years of psychotherapy’s existence in the last five paragraphs, I’ve tried to sum up the basic intent of psychological healing until very recently.  During this time I’ve seen enormous growth in the field of psychology, in what psychologists know and in how psychologists serve their clients’ needs. I have professionally evolved as well, from a new Ph.D. with a narrower theoretical preference, which included a smallish tool box, to an eclectic practitioner who borrows from all orientations what is beneficial to my clients.  But the stopping point in “treatment” has not moved much beyond returning to “normal.”  This is my perception.

A New Paradigm 

Then, in the 1990’s a number of different psychological themes and ideas emerged with common threads that became woven together in a new paradigm promising more than relief and amelioration of symptoms.  The field of “positive psychology” was born.  Rather than a new theory or protocol, positive psychology was an attitude shift:  Why stop development with symptom relief?  Why not help individuals move beyond the artificial barrier referred to as “absence of pathology?”  What about the whole spectrum of human experience that is positive and happy? Could the goals of personal growth and development be extended into the “north of neutral”[1] territory?  These were some of the questions posed in the new model.

Positive Psychology makes the case that psychology can and should explore all of human experience, not just pathology, or “south of neutral.”  The father of this movement is Marty Seligman, Ph.D., psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania whose ideas have steadily evolved from his landmark book, Learned Optimism[2] which posits that people can develop a more positive internal dialogue, change the way they think about themselves, and learn to engage in more positive behaviors.   

Contributing Influences

Working in conjunction with Dr. Seligman, Chris Peterson, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Michigan, wrote the very interesting but research based book, A Primer in Positive Psychology.[3] In this text he develops the hypothesis that happiness is experienced through meaningful activity, pleasurable experiences and engagement, which, most simplified, means being so involved in whatever is meaningful or pleasurable that the passage of time is unnoticed.  This is obviously a very oversimplified description.   Other theorists and practitioners have greatly contributed including Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Ph.D., the psychologist who introduced the concept called “flow[4],” detailing how content people are fully engaged in whatever they do. 

An additional thread came from the Far East in the form of meditation practice with a focus on mindfulness in the present. Its application to therapy came through the study of pain management pioneered by psychologist, Jon Kabat-Zinn’s work at the University of Massachusetts, medical center. Then a unifying concept emerged from the field of Neuroscience with ideas about neural plasticity, or how the brain is capable of changing through observing the mind: paying attention to the present moment without judgment. [5]  This lends scientific creditability to the mindfulness meditation literature.

As a practitioner I am very excited about how the threads above have been joined into a unifying cloth that provides the framework for hope about our potential for learning how to be happier and more at ease (as opposed to reducing disease).  These aren’t exactly new techniques but they guide me in my thinking about people, their strengths and how they can be implemented – leading to greater meaning, engagement and pleasure, the cornerstones of happiness.