[Commpsych] FW: Announcing the InternationalPositivePsychologyAssociation
Lauren BREEN
l.breen at ecu.edu.au
Thu May 8 09:38:13 WST 2008
I also have serious reservations about positive psychology. With its individualist and 'blaming' ideology (in that people who remain distressed are just not thinking positively enough), it is part of the problem rather than part of the solution (to use a cliché). It doesn't actually do anything to tackle the structural causes of factors that leads to distress - things like poverty, abuse etc etc.
It reminds me of something I hear Rod Watts say when here was here in Australia about 8 or 9 years ago. He said you can throw a tennis ball at the wall and it bounces back, but if you took a phot of the ball as it hit the wall you could see how distorted the ball becomes on impact. He said we should stop focussing on resilience (the things that help us bounce back) but we should stop throwing the balls at the wall in the first place (that is, stop causing the distress).
Lauren
---
Lauren Breen, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
Centre for Social Research
&
Sessional Lecturer
School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Sciences
Edith Cowan University
Room: 4.234C
Tel: (08) 6304 5162
Fax: (08) 6304 5866
________________________________
From: commpsych-bounces at lists.curtin.edu.au on behalf of Darrin Hodgetts
Sent: Thu 8/05/2008 4:17 AM
To: Heather Gridley; Amiee-Jade Pember; commpsych at lists.curtin.edu.au
Subject: Re: [Commpsych] FW: Announcing the InternationalPositivePsychologyAssociation
I couldn't agree more Heather :-)
Darrin
________________________________
From: commpsych-bounces at lists.curtin.edu.au on behalf of Heather Gridley
Sent: Wed 7/05/2008 8:50 p.m.
To: Amiee-Jade Pember; commpsych at lists.curtin.edu.au
Subject: Re: [Commpsych] FW: Announcing the International PositivePsychologyAssociation
Hi AJ and everyone
A bit belated, but I have just responded to a query from a Social Work student about the legitimacy of this same invitation, so I thought I'd post my thoughts on CommPsych and see how others respond:
Dear xxxx
I have seen this invitation to join IPPA in a few places, and it's quite legitimate as an organisation that is gathering lots of interest internationally, especially while one of its founders, Martin Seligman, is here in Victoria spending time at Geelong Grammar (for a huge amount of money, I understand). It is refreshing to see a countervoice to psychology's tendency to pathologise and subdivide human experience into categories of disorder and dis-ease. I like Seligman's emphasis on what we do with our lives, as a basis for 'authentic happiness', rather than worrying excessively about how we feel from one moment to the next.
Personally though, I have reservations about the Positive Psychology movement. Some of them are encapsulated by the very fact that Seligman spends time at Geelong Grammar and not, say, Braybrook or Broadmeadows or Frankston (or Wadeye or Yuendemu, for that matter) where a few realities would make 'learned optimism' a much more difficult task. I think the best way to 'teach' someone to be optimistic is to give them a real experience of success; otherwise it's a false promise. There have been links made between positive psychology and life coaching, a concept that I think is designed to market psychological services to people who have the least need of them but the greatest capacity to pay exorbitant fees.
There have been other criticisms of the movement from those who see it as masking or denying 'negative' human emotions such as sadness, pain and anger. Our VU head of psychology, Jenny Sharples, wrote a paper in the Australian Community Psychologist a couple of years ago that included some references to these critiques - you can access it at: http://www.groups.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/ACP_18(3)a.pdf <http://www.groups.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/ACP_18(3)a.pdf>
Despite the theme on the IPPA website "Positive psychology is the scientific study of what enables individuals and communities to thrive", another concern of mine is that the movement is very much focussed on individuals rather than communities. There is very little reference to power dynamics or the structural/global causes of human misery.
I hope this is helpful - I'd be interested to know what caught your attention about the invitation, and where it fits with your own work and life experiences.
Heather Gridley
School of Psychology
Footscray Park Campus
Victoria University
PO Box 14428
Melbourne
VIC 8001
Australia
TEL +61 3 9919 5224
FAX +61 3 9919 4324
MOBILE: 0419 113 731
Email: heather.gridley at vu.edu.au
________________________________
From: commpsych-bounces at lists.curtin.edu.au on behalf of Amiee-Jade Pember
Sent: Fri 7/03/2008 12:15 PM
To: commpsych at lists.curtin.edu.au
Subject: [Commpsych] FW: Announcing the International Positive PsychologyAssociation
Amiee-Jade Pember
-----Original Message-----
From: Louisa REHAK [mailto:l.rehak at ecu.edu.au]
Sent: Friday, 7 March 2008 8:57 AM
Subject: FW: Announcing the International Positive Psychology Association
FYI - Positive Psychology
Louisa Rehak
Postgraduate Support Officer
School of Psychology & Social Science
Edith Cowan University
100 Joondalup Drive
Joondalup, Western Australia 6027
Telephone: +61 8 6304 5301
Facsimile: +61 8 6304 5834
________________________________
From: Kathryn RUSSELL
Sent: Fri 07/03/08 8:24 AM
To: Louisa REHAK
Subject: FW: Announcing the International Positive Psychology Association
Louisa,
This new organisation may be of interest to postgrads and staff interested
in positive psychology
Kathryn
Kathryn Russell
Phone: 0419 807 142
Email: k.russell at ecu.edu.au
________________________________
From: Authentic Happiness [mailto:announce at authentichappiness.org]
Sent: Fri 7/03/2008 6:17 AM
To: Kathryn RUSSELL
Subject: Announcing the International Positive Psychology Association
Dear Kathryn,
We are delighted to announce the founding of a new organization: The
International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA). The purpose of this
organization is to promote the science and practice of positive psychology
and to facilitate communication and collaboration among researchers and
practitioners around the world who are interested in this new field.
This is a brand new organization, and we would like to extend a cordial
invitation to you to be among the very first to join. We have been hard at
work developing the infrastructure for what will without question be a major
international organization. Here are some highlights we wanted to share
with you:
-We have set up a website where you can find out more about IPPA and where
you can join today. Please visit www.ippanetwork.org
<http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=7031470&msgid=88104&act=&c=174806
&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ippanetwork.org> to sign up as a
Charter Member, Charter Associate, or Charter Affiliate.
-IPPA is run by a Board of Directors comprised of leading positive
psychologists from around the world. Visit the website for a full list of
the members of the Board, which includes such founding figures as Martin E.
P. Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
-On the website, you will see the categories of membership developed by the
IPPA Board of Directors. We're excited that there is a category available
for everyone, whether you are a researcher, a practitioner, a student, or
someone who just wants to keep abreast of the latest developments in
positive psychology.
-You will also see the various membership benefits, including journals, an
IPPA Newsletter, and quarterly conference calls with leading figures in
positive psychology.
-The First World Congress of Positive Psychology has been scheduled for June
18-21, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. IPPA members will receive a
discount on their Congress registration.
-In the coming days, we will be adding more content to the website, so be
sure to check back often.
If you have any questions about IPPA or your membership, please send them to
info at ippanetwork.org.
Please help us spread the word about IPPA by forwarding this email to any
groups or individuals you think might have an interest in joining this
exciting new association.
We look forward to having you join IPPA and to welcoming you into this
global positive psychology community.
Very best wishes,
Ed Diener, President
International Positive Psychology Association
James Pawelski, Executive Director
International Positive Psychology Association
This message was sent from Authentic Happiness to k.russell at ecu.edu.au. It
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