THE NEW OPTIMISM ; Supporters of the Positive Psychology Movement Believe You Can Learn to Be Happy. the Usually Pessimistic Helen Kirwan- Taylor Put Their Methods to the Test

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PSYCHIATRISTS used to study misery. Then one day Martin Seligman, the (now very wealthy) father of the positive psychology movement, had the bright idea of turning things on their heads. Rather than study unhappy people, he thought, why not look at happy people? Better yet, why not deconstruct their thoughts and put them together again in someone else's head? This upside-down approach to mental health became the foundation for the biggest psychological movement of our time and the focus of the first world Congress on Positive Psychology in Philadelphia this summer.

This is also how Ben Renshaw, a "happiness" coach came to be sitting at my kitchen table. An indirect …