Positive Psychology Coaching - Book Review
September 28, 2007
Positive Psychology Coaching – Putting the Science of Happiness to Work for Your Clients by Robert Biswas-Diener & Ben Dean
A Review in Progress by Linda Lawless LMHC LMFT
www.ProfessionalPracticeInstitute.com
Many of us have already been using Positive Psychology in our therapy and coaching work. I believe this new book will help you put things in a clear context of what to use and why.
I am finding this new book very easy to read and organized well. The first chapter is really an overview of what and why the book is about. I’m eager to move on to the next chapter. Here is an overview of the overview, using quotes from the chapter.
“This book describes ….the many ways in which positive psychology can inform coaching practices of all kinds.” (p. 2)
“… coaching is about harnessing the best in people and inspiring them to live out their potential.” (Pg. 2)
“… challenging folks to tap their inner abundance.” (3)
There is a discussion of the field of coaching and a determination that coaching has been around for decades, yet is really in its professional infancy in terms of theoretical coherence. They believe “the discipline needs to grow through the development of explicitly defined theories of human development and research on coaching effectiveness.” (Pg 4)
They are proposing the new field of positive psychology as a branch of science that “shows tremendous potential as a natural interface with the profession of coaching.. It is grounded in sophisticated scientific methodology,… as an applied science…” (Pg 5)
They have identified three areas in which coaches can easily employ science: 1 – Survey readings of relevant background material, i.e., A. Maslow and R. Quinn; 2 – Using well-validated measurement tools; 3 – Research to provide a basis for evaluating interventions.
They encourage coaches to continually evolve their own theories of change and human nature and to keep asking the question “What is the best way to help clients achieve their goals?” (Pg. 10)
Now on to Positive Psychology. “Seligman made the bold claim that psychology, in its present form, was really only half a discipline.” (Pg. 11) “Positive psychology is psychology’s answer to the other crucial question: “What is going right with people?”
The value of happiness is explored with some amazing data. “…happy people make more money, take fewer sick days from work, get along with their colleagues better, spend more time volunteering, are more likely to help strangers, receive better supervisor evaluations on the job, are rated more highly by customers, and exhibit less work turnover than less happy individuals.”
The book is structured into parts I, II and III.
I – Foundation I: Happiness and Positivity; II The development and use of character strengths and virtues; Part III The application of positive psychology coaching to the workplace. This chapter gives an overview of each part and I’ll skip that part and review each section in detail as they unfold.
Special Topics in Positive Psychology Coaching: They discuss the differences in how people approach their work or job, there are those to dislike or dread their work and are motivated only by their paycheck; others who enjoy aspects of their job but see it only as a stepping stone to other benefits; and finally those who “feel that they are in a calling, spontaneously modify their work to make it feel more meaningful.” (Pg. 21) The last approach resonates with how I feel about Positive Psychology. It is a calling and I may even be becoming evangelistically about it. Now where’s that soapbox?
On to the next chapter. Please take a look at this great book, and let me hear what it brings up for you. I’ll be posting another chapter this month or before.
Onward
Linda
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