Positive Psychology: Recommended Reading

There are so many books published on positive psychology now that it is hard to keep up. All the more reason to note down books that I think are most useful. Please use the comments link to add any other recommendations or comment on any of these.

 

The first book in each section is my top recommendation

 

General

Boniwell, I (2007) Positive Psychology in a Nutshell (London: PWBC)

Compton W,C. (2005)  Introduction to Positive Psychology (Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth)

Seligman, M. Authentic Happiness (New York: Free Press, 2002)

Snyder, C.R . & Lopez, S (2002) Handbook of Positive Psychology. New York: OUP

Linley P. & Joseph,S Positive Psychology in Practice Wiley (2004)

Carr,A. Positive Psychology (Hove and New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2004)

 

Happiness and Well-Being

 

Lyubomirsky, S (2008) The How of Happiness (Sphere)

Gilbert, D (2006) Stumbling on Happiness (Harper)

Haidt, J. The Happiness Hypothesis  (London: Arrow, 2006)

Nettle, D. Happiness (Oxford: OUP, 2005)

Ben-Shahar, T (200) Finding Pleasure, Meaning and Life's Ultimate Currency  (McGraw-Hill)

Layard, R Happiness (London: Penguin, 2006)

Argyle,M. The Psychology of Happiness (London: Routledge, 2001)

Eysenck, M (1990) Happiness  (L.E.A)

Myers, D.M. The Pursuit of Happiness (New York: Morrow, 1992)

Keyes, C  and Haidt , J (ed) Flourishing: Positive Psychology and the Life Well-Lived

Weiner, E (2008) The Geography of Bliss (Twelve)

 

Flow

 Csikszentmihalyi , M.  Flow: The Psychology of optimal experience   (1990)

Csikszentmihalyi . M.  Finding Flow (1997)

Strengths

Rath, T. (2007)  StrengthsFinder  (New York, Gallup)

Bolt, M  (2004)  Pursuing Human Strengths: A Positive Psychology Guide (Worth)

Peterson, C & Seligman, M  (2004)  Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification (OUP)

 

Aspinall,L. & Staudinger, U. A Psychology of Human Strengths (Washington, APA, 2003)

 

 

Emotions, Emotional Intelligence and Resilience

Goleman, D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ New York: Bantam

Reivich, K., & Shatte, A. (2002). The Resilience Factor.  New York: Broadway Books.

Goleman, D. (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence: Bantam

Epstein,S (1998) Constructive Thinking: The Key to Emotional Intelligence (Westport, Praeger)

Barr-On, R & Parker, J (2000) The Handbook of Emotional Intelligence (Jossey-Bass)

 

The positive psychology of Buddhism and Mindfulness

Levine, M. (2000) The Positive Psychology of Buddhism & Yoga (LEA)

Goleman, D. (2003) Destructive Emotions (London: Bloomsbury)

H.H Dalai Lama & Cutler, H (1998) The Art of Happiness (London, Hodder and Stoughton)

Benson, H.  (1975)The Relaxation Response (New York: William Morrow)

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2005) Full Catastrophe Living (London: Piatkus)

Langer, E (1989) Mindfulness (Perseus)

Ricard, M  (2007) Happiness (Atlantic)

 

Hope, Optimism and Luck

Seligman, M Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life New York: Pocket Books

Snyder, C.R  (2000) Handbook of Hope. Orlando FL: Academic Press

Gillham, J The Science of Optimism and Hope Philadelphia, PA: Templeton Foundation Press (2000)

Wiseman, R.  The Luck Factor (Arrow, 2004)

Positive Relationships - Love and Friendship

Gottmann, J. & Silver, N. (1999) The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work  (London: Orion)

Sternberg, R, (1988) The Triangle of Love (New York: Basic)

Wisdom and Decision-Making

Sternberg,R.  & Jordan, J. (2005) A Handbook of Wisdom (Cambridge: CUP)

Philosophy relevant to Positive Psychology

Aristotle (2004) Nicomachean Ethics (Penguin)

Russell, B. (2006)) The Conquest of Happiness (Routledge)

Fromm, E (1995) The Art of Loving (Thorsons)

LeBon, T (2001) Wise Therapy (London: Sage)

Bellioti, R (2004) Happiness is Overrated (Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield)

Schoch, R (2007) The Secrets of Happiness (London: Profile)

Revel, J-F & Ricard, M (1998)The Monk and the Philosopher (New York: Schocken)

Self-Help books relevant to Positive Psychology
(Note: Many of these  are based on empirical research, but are included because they contain interesting ideas that may be the starting point for research)

LeBoef, M. (1980) Creative Thinking  (London: Piatkus)

Buzan, T  (2000) The Mind Map Book London:BBC

Buzan, T  (2000) Use Your Head London:BBC

de Bono, E. (1982) de Bono's Thinking Course. London: BBC Books

de Bono, E . (2000) Six Thinking Hats.  London: Penguin

Gelb, M (2004) How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci  Element Books

Harris, R. (1998) Creative Thinking Techniques

Osborn, A. (1953) Applied Imagination.  New York: Scribners

Rawlinson, J. (1986) Creative Thinking and Brainstorming. London: Gower

Hammond, J, Keeney, R & Raiffi, H (1999) Smart Choices (Boston: Harvard)

Paterson, R.  (2000) The Assertiveness Workbook (Oakland: New Harbinger)

Sharma, R (1997) The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari (Ontario: Harper Collins)

Popovic, N. (2005) Personal Synthesis. (London: PWBC.)

Branden, N. (2004) The Six Pillars of self-esteem (Random House)

Clegg, B & Birch, P  (1999) Instant Creativity Kogan Page

 

Positive Psychology Coaching and Interventions

Biswas-Diener, R & Dean, B Positive Psychology Coaching.  (New Jersey, WIley, 2007)

Frisch, M. (2006) Quality of Life Therapy (New Jersey: Wiley)

Shane J. Lopez (Editor), C.R. Snyder (Editor)  Positive Psychological Assessment: A Handbook of Models and Measures

 

Precursors to Positive Psychology

Levinson, D. Season’s of a Man’s Life (New York: Ballantine, 1986)

Maslow, A. Motivation and Personality (Longman, 1987)

Pervin, L & John, O.  Handbook of Personality. New York: Guilford.

Vaillant, G.E. Adaption to Life (Harvard University Press, 1995)

Bowlby,J. (1971) Attachment and Loss Volume 1: Attachment Penguin Books, Harmondsworth

Creativity and Creative Thinking

Sternberg, R (1999) Handbook of Creativity Cambridge, UK

Newsletter 6 - New Years Rules for Happiness and January courses

Regular readers may recall that in general I am not in favour of New Years Resolutions
(See last year's article New Years Resolutions? You must be nuts ...)
However, today's Times features a really interesting piece by none other than the Chief Rabbi,
Jonathan Sacks, entitled Count your blessings and begin to change your life
The apparent contradiction is resolved because Sacks isnt so much recommending unrealistic
resolutions as pretty wise-looking rules for living well. You can read Sacks's whole article online, but here's a list of his 10 recommendations.(the bits in brackets are my gloss on what he says)


Read more of this article .... including 5 more tips for living happily suggested by Tim LeBon

(The above article is the most recent article on Tim LeBon's Socrates Satisfied blog).

One of Sachs's tips is to engage in livelong learning - here are details of 4 courses that may be just the ticket ..

4 courses in practical philosophy and psychology starting in early January

If learning, personal development or well-being are amongst your new year's goals, then you might like to sign up for one of 4 courses I'm running in the next couple of weeks.
They are:
Frankl and the Search for Meaning
Friday 18th Jan 2008 1030-1730 Location: City Lit, Central London
Viktor Frankl's ideas can inspire everyone aiming to find more meaning and purpose in their life.
This lively and highly-rated workshop will help you start the New Year focusing on this important issue.
Call 020 7831 7831 to enrol or visit the City Lit website

Philosophical Life Coaching
Saturday 19th Jan 2008 1030-1630 Location: City Lit, Central London
" “Move over Carole Caplin. The new gurus of self-help are philosophical counsellors from beyond the grave” proclaimed the Independent recently.
Lead a more satisfying and meaningful life by using insights and methods from the great thinkers. This introduction will show you some of the most interesting ways it can be of help.
No previous experience required
Call 020 7831 7831 to enrol or visit the City Lit website


Personal Development through Philosophy

This 10 week course will show how studying philosophy can help you discover how they can be true to themselves, make wiser decisions and develop more enlightened values.

Course Information

Course Code:	CE1944
Course Fee:	£100
Start date:	Tuesday 15 January 2008
Class Time:	6.30pm – 8.30pm
Number of Classes:	10 weekly classes
Accreditation:	10 credits at level 1

To enrol call 020 7040 8268 between 9.30am and 5.00pm.or visit the City Uni website

Positive Psychology

Positive psychology is the growing branch of psychology that focuses on the positive, including strengths, positive states and well-being. This course will have a particular emphasis on how positive psychology can make you more effective in your working life in terms of your strengths, emotional intelligence, creativity, decision making, meaning and purpose.

Course Code:	CE1941
Course Fee:	£180
Start date:	Thursday 17 January 2008
Class Time:	6.30pm – 8.30pm
Number of Classes:	10 weekly classes
Accreditation:	10 credits at level 1

Call 020 7831 7831 to enrol or visit the City Lit website

Newsletter 5 - December 2007 - 3 new useful sites

Wouldn't it be useful to read  wise quotations, short articles about insightful books and films and news of relevance for personal development? I thought so too, and much as I like other sites, I decided a few months ago that they didn't give me quite what I wanted.
So I've been busy creating three new blogs in addition to Socrates Satisfied.
If you have visited my home page, http://www.timlebon.com recently, you'll have seen highlights from the 3 new blogs when you scroll down the main page. In case you haven't, here's what they offer.
The three new blogs are called Wise Quotes, Wise Books & Personal Development News.

Read on and follow the links to find out more ...


Wise Quotes

It's always good to hear wise words from great thinkers old and new. Sometimes they tell us something we didn't truely appreciate before. At other times, as Christina Feldman's quote below reminds us, the hardest challenge is remembering to put our knowledgeinto practice. Looking at wise quotes regularly can help you learn knew insights and remind you of how much you already know.

The Secret of Eternal Happiness (Robin Sharma)

Find out what you truly love to do and then direct all your energy towards doing it

Robin Sharma, The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari, p. 55

---

Remembering to be mindful is the great challenge - Christina Feldman

Mindfulness is neither difficult nor complex;
Remembering to be mindful is the great challenge

Christina Feldman

Keywords: Mindfulness, Meditation, Wisdom, Christina Feldman

Read On: Christina Feldman on Stillness and Insight and Dependent Origination

Read more Wise Quotes at http://quotes.timlebon.com

---

Wise Books -and Films 

This is probably my favourite of all the blogs I write. Although Plato's Republic is shown above, you are just as likely to read about films like It's a Wonderful Life here. Whenever I see a film or read a book which I think helpful for wise living, I add an entry. You'll find plenty about recent philosophy and psychology books - as well as some more off-beat entries, like the one below ..

Monday, July 30, 2007

Blink - Doctor Who and the Existentialists

Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink.

The first time I watched this stand-out episode from the latest season of the British children's science fiction programme Doctor Who, I didn't think too much about philosophy. I was far too busy consoling my terrified children. For some reason weeping angels who send you back in time, ageing or killing your present-day self, were much, much scarier than Daleks or Cybermen.

The second time I saw Blink I couldn't understand how I missed the existential theme the first time around.

The episode's title - BLINK - as in " blink and life will pass you by" - is the first hint.

Then there are the experiences of the characters. After a visitation by the time-stealing angels, all that is left of Sally's friend Kathy are her remains in a graveyard. Billy, a young and sassy policemen, fares little better. One moment he is chatting up Sally Sparrow with the immortal line

Life is short and you are hot.

The next time we see Billy, he is an old man in hospital, about to die. As he catches sight of young Sally he laments

Look at my hands. They're old man's hands -- how did that happen?

We know that Billy and Kathy's fate await us all - weeping angels are but an exaggeration of the human condition.

Generally Doctor Who reminds us of the downside of immortality. The Doctor lives for hundreds of years and regenerates when his old body gets damaged beyond repair. The Doctor can help us be aware of problems with life going on too long - boredom, too much knowledge, too many memories and the loss of loved ones being some of the afflictions associated with extreme longevity.

BLINK firmly reminds us of the opposite reality. Life is short - and we have no idea just how short. Life is short -so we need to make the most of it. Life is short - so treasure every moment.

And remember:

Carpe Diem.

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.

And - whatever you do - don't blink.

You can read more about wise books and films at http://wisebooks.timlebon.com

---

Personal Development News

This blog, which lives at http://news.timlebon.com, announces interesting events and courses - as well as news relevant to personal development and featured in the press.
Here's news about an free event in London in a couple of weeks time - maybe you would like to come along.

Free talk on Philosophy in Schools, London Friday, Dec 14th 2007 630pm

Talk on Philosophy in Schools

Peter Worley is giving a free talk on "Philosophy in Schools" at 630pm on Friday December 14th in Central London

Peter studied philosophy at University College London and Birbeck College, London. He is a philosophical practitioner who for the last four years has been developing his own approach to teaching philosophy to London primary school children.

Venue: David Wynter Room 2nd floor Swedenborg House 20-21 Bloomsbury Way London WC1A 2TH

The entrance to Swedenborg House is in Barter Street and doors are open from 6.00 p.m.

The nearest underground stations are Holborn and Tottenham Court Road

Please e-mail spp@timlebon.com in advance if you would like to come.

---

Very best seasonal greetings -

Hope to see you soon

Tim

Issue 1 - Life Regrets, Mill & Serenity Prayer

Personal Development Through Philosophy and Psychology
Newsletter  Issue 1

By Tim LeBon  

Welcome to issue 1 of
a newsletter designed both to entertain and inform. Today we discuss a
new survey on pensioner's regrets, J.S. Mill, whose bicentenary fell
this year and the Serenity Prayer, the wisdom of which originates in
Stoic philosophy. I hope you find these articles interesting and useful
in your own journey of personal development. 

Personal Development in the News
- Looks
like Betjeman wasn't alone ...

Featured Personal Development Thinker
-  J.S.
Mill

Featured Personal Development Quotation - The
Serenity Prayer

---

Personal Development in
the News 

Looks
like Betjeman wasn't alone ...

Sir
John Betjeman, late in life, said his one regret was that he
had not had enough sex.


A UK poll published in October 2006 suggests that he was not alone. 70%
of pensioners included "more sex" as one their top ten wishes if they
could have their time over again. In comparison, many 20-30 year olds
actually wanted to sleep with less partners (23%) and seemed a lot more
bothered about material concerns -


their main regret was that they hadnt bought property earlier (77%)





Unfortunately, the results don't reveal gender differences, which I am
sure would have made fascinating reading. Are women pensioners
regretting not having more sex to the same extent as men, or is the
story like it is in Woody Allen's Annie Hall?

When their respective
therapists ask Annie (Dianne Keaton) and Alvy (Woody Allen) how often
they sleep together, they give strangely similar yet different answers.


"Hardly ever" laments Alvy, "Maybe three times a week."


"Constantly" compains Annie. "I'd say three times a week."

So what are we to make of the findings? James Newton, of UKTV Gold, who
commisioned the survey, commented :-

"Who would have thought
that pensioners would be so fixated on having missed their opportunity
to have more sex and travel the world, while twenty-somethings are more
concerned about property?"

Well, maybe that old
sage, Abraham
Maslow, who long ago in his hierarchy of human needs
postulated that we are most motivated by what we are lacking. From
Maslow's perspective, it's hardly surprising that 20-somethings,
probably in debt, value money and that pensioners, many whose sexual
needs are not met as they once were, value sex. If that's true, then
the poll results shouldn't be interpreted as providing universal
answers to the question "what matters most". It's even possible to turn
Maslow's ideas round and ask "is what is motivating me most now just a
symptom of my not having it?. Would I be really happy if I did have
it?".

Or am I being too sceptical about the poll results? Maybe we should
leave the last word on that to Woody Allen.





Sex without love an empty
experience, but as empty experiences go, it's one of the best.





The results of the UKTV
Gold poll in full:

Pensioners  "If I could turn back time I'd like to" Top 10	%	20-30 year olds "If I could turn back time I'd like to" Top 10	%
1.Have more sex	70	1. Buy property earlier	77
2. Travel more	57	2. Not waste money	56
3. Change jobs	45	3. Vote differently	45
4. Save more	50	4. Be famous	44
7. Spend "frivolously"	19	7. Study harder	30
8. Set up business,	16	8. Booze less	28
9. Study harder	12	9. Take vocational courses	25
10. Be famous	7	10. Sleep around less	23

1500 over-65s and 20-30
year olds were interviewed for the poll, conducted by UKTV Gold

External Links

Pensioners
regret not having more sex -survey

More
sex please, we're old and British

Pensioners'
wish: to have had more sex

 

---

 

 Featured
Personal Development Thinker
 





1. J.S. Mill

"Tis  better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied"

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

John Stuart Mill
was arguably the most important British philosopher of the 19th
century. With an estimated IQ of 192, he was way ahead of his time in
his advocacy of women's rights and his principle that we should be free
to do what we like as long as it harms no-one else is still often
quoted in many a modern debate.





For personal development through philosophy, Mill can help in three
ways.





1) Consider the Consequences


Consequentialism
is the idea that you base your decision-making on the consequences of
your actions. Should you say the kind thing or the unkind thing? Should
you give to charity or not? Should you continue to smoke or give up? If
John Stuart Mill were here to advice you , he would say "consider the
consequences". This is a very simple, forward-looking and helpful piece
of advice- try it and see!





2) Value  happiness - both your own happiness and other
people's happiness


Everyone
wants happiness, and, Mill tells us, they are right to do so. Mill
considered happiness to be the good, but his philosophy was more subtle
than the old Epicurean ideal of just valuing pleasure. First, Mill and
his fellow utilitarians thought that it is everyone's happiness that
should be improved - not just your own. Try to make other people and
yourself as happy as possible. Secondly, Mill did not think all
pleasures equal - hence his famous "better Socrates dissatisfied than a
fool satisfied" adage, This brings us to his third idea.





3) Ask "What would a well-informed person say and do in this situation?"


Mill disagreed
with his godfather, Jeremy Bentham, that "pushpin was as good as
poetry". He thought that any competent judge - someone who had
experienced both - would prefer certain "higher" pleasures to "lower"
ones. You don't have to agree with Mill about poetry to find value in
his general idea - that we can benefit by asking "what would a
well-informed person say about this situation?".  Wondering
whether to become a teacher or a lawyer? Mill's idea suggests you
should speak to someone who has experienced both - or better still, try
out both yourself, before deciding.

---

External
Links





Full text of Utilitarianism and Autobiography
at www.utilitarianism.com


Prospect
article
for Mill bicentenary by Richard Reeves


Wiki article on J.S. Mill


Article in The
Times
to celebrate Mill bicentenary


Radio 4 "In
our Times"
on John Stuart Mill

---

Featured Personal
Development Quotation 





The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

You may
have already encountered this saying, the Serenity Prayer, perhaps on a
tablemat in a souvenir shop or as the prayer associated with AA
(Alcoholics
Anonymous).  You may have written it off
either as a clichéd truism or as applicable only to
alcoholics. If so, can I
ask you to now reread the Serenity Prayer, now, slowly, as if you were
reading
it the first time? You may end up believing, like me, that far from
offering
trite advice it contains the seeds of great practical wisdom. Why do I
say
this? Let’s look at each of the three parts of the Prayer in
turn.

First,
have the serenity to accept what you can’t change.  Think about some things
that you really, really can’t
change.   Perhaps
the fact you weren’t
born a millionaire, or that the world is not always a fair place. What
is the
best attitude you can take to these realities? To get angry? No,
you’ll only
make a bad situation worse. To try to put things right? By definition,
no,
because these are thing that you can’t change, so it will
just be wasted
energy. Accepting the situation and not letting it disturb your peace
of mind
is the only appropriate response.

What
about things that you can  (and
should)
change? Although by definition these are things we can change, this
doesn’t
mean it’s easy, popular or risk-free to do so. It’s
not easy to change oneself
into being a more patient person (but it can be done). It is not always
popular
to campaign for something you believe in (but things can change as a
result).  We can
change these things,
but we need courage to do so.

Finally,
and above all, we need the wisdom to tell the difference between the
things we
can change and the things we can’t change. We can’t
change the fact that we
were not born a millionaire, but we can put effort into becoming richer,
or
change our attitude to not being so wealthy. We can’t make
the world a
completely fair place, but we can make the world a fairer place.
Usually there
will be some aspects of a situation we can change, and some aspects we
can’t.
We need to distinguish which is which and then change courageously or
accept
serenely as appropriate.
What I like most about the Serenity Prayer is how easy it is to recall and
apply in
difficult situations. Such a situation happened to me a while ago, a
few days
before I was due to go abroad to a conference I really wanted to go to.
Having
finished lunch in a restaurant, I checked in my trouser pocket for my
wallet
–only to discover that it wasn’t there. I looked
next in my jacket pocket – no
wallet. Neither was it in my briefcase or anywhere else.  I
tried to think back to when I last saw it,
and recalled having it on entering a train station a few hours before.
I also
remembered someone bumping into me rather carelessly (or so I thought
at the
time) soon after. I guessed the rest. What to do? It must have been
several
hours ago that he stole my wallet. Thoughts began to race through my
mind. What
else did I have in my wallet? Had he already bankrupted me by using my
credit
cards? If only I’d taken a different journey…. If
only I’d checked my pocket
after he’d bumped into me… Maybe I’d
have to cancel my conference trip …

Luckily,
before these thoughts got completely out of control, I remembered the
Serenity
Prayer.  I had to
accept with serenity
what I could not change. Well, I could not change the fact that my
wallet had
been stolen. There was no point beating myself up or fretting about
these
unchangeables – that would cause me to be even more upset and
also stop me thinking
about what I could change. So, what
could I change? Well, obviously I could limit my liability –
first thing was to
phone the bank.  Then
I could arrange
for the credit card company to see if they could send me new cards
before my travel
– there was just sufficient time for them to do so.   In future, I
resolved, I would be more alert to people bumping
into me.  Using the
Serenity Prayer
helped me deal constructively with this mini-crisis, and it has helped
me many
times since.  Forget
the table mat image
and AA associations and focus on the underlying message and it can be
of great
assistance to you too. 

---

Tim LeBon's Personal Development Through
Philosophy and Psychology Newsletter    
© Tim LeBon 2006

 For
more, see Tim's Personal Development
through Philosophy and Psychology website



To book your own personal coaching session with Tim in Central London, e-mail him now