Hello there!
Greetings from Peru! I have been enjoying the incredible sites of Machu Picchu and the Amazon for the past few days and wanted to share a photo of some squirrel monkeys that Marcos Farfan, our tour manager, captured with my camera!
Over the next few episodes, I’ll be sharing more photos captured in Peru. I hope you’ll like them.
Today, Emily and I created a podcast out of our desire to read a foundational textbook on Positive Psychology called Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification, Volume 1 (Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman, 2004).
We didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into, because reading the book is like reading a DSM or ICD classification textbook, but we were determined to wade through this 800-page tomb and entertain you with its valuable insights on our podcasts.
This podcast covers one character strength: creativity, which was listed first. The other character strengths will be discussed in our next podcasts.
At a minimum, Emily and I are discovering, chapter by chapter, how to create the “good life” for ourselves. Hopefully, you will be curious (another character strength) about how character strengths help us get beyond treating mental illnesses with pharmaceuticals and towards building a fulfilling, stress-resilient, and enjoyable life.
By reading and sharing this chapter on creativity, we’ve learned to appreciate creativity as an aspect of ourselves that we can nurture. By encouraging creativity as an inner strength, we can face life’s many challenges with a free and powerful tool that transforms and empowers us.
We want to add a new part to our podcast: answering questions you are interested in having us discuss. If you have any question, not just a question that fits with the podcast, feel free to click on the contact link, and it will directly submit your question(s) to Alice W. Lee, MD’s email. Emily and I will take time at the beginning of our podcast to answer them, or we might want to create a whole podcast around answering your question!
To those who have made financial contributions to my writing and podcasting, thank you so much for your kindness and faith in my creative work. Your contributions motivate and encourage the writer and creator in me more than you can imagine. I am truly grateful to you for your support. Have a spectacular week!
Positive Psychology and Creativity: How a Character Strength Shapes Mental Health and the Good Life
Improving mental health involves not only addressing illness, but also identifying and developing the positive qualities that help us flourish. In search of more information about what these qualities are and how to develop them, Emily and I will be studying a foundational textbook on Positive Psychology.
The book is called Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification, Volume 1 (Christopher Peterson and Martin E. P. Seligman, 2004). In this podcast, we discuss how creativity may contribute to fulfillment, resilience, and what positive psychologists describe as “the good life.” Other character strengths will be covered in future podcasts.
Our conversation takes a closer look at creativity as a character strength—and how it’s much more than being artistic. From problem-solving and divergent thinking to writing, photography, and everyday ingenuity, creativity appears in many different forms.
We also discuss how childhood experiences, education, stress, external criticism, intelligence, and personality may influence how creativity develops and is expressed.
In this episode, discover:
1. What is Positive Psychology?
2. Character Strengths and the idea of “the good life.”
3. Creativity as a positive character strength.
4. Everyday creativity vs. the “Big C” creativity.
5. Divergent vs. convergent thinking.
6. Creativity’s relationship to intelligence and personality.
7. How childhood and environment can influence creativity.
8. Creativity as a coping skill.
9. Why creativity goes far beyond just being artistic.
10. How to recognize and nurture creativity in yourself and others.
This episode ultimately encourages listeners to value their own creativity, give it room to develop, and appreciate its importance in one’s holistic approach to wellness.
Be sure to subscribe to my podcasts and updates!
To sustain my work as a holistic psychiatrist and support my efforts to improve psychiatric treatment for all through my podcasts, articles, website, and YouTube channel, please show your appreciation and help champion holistic psychiatry.