The current research in positive psychology reveals that happiness and pleasure are not sufficient for well-being and self-actualization. Well-being requires the integration of positive feelings with an empowering purpose, engagement, meaning, and positive relationships.

The Humanistic movement of the 1960s aimed to help individuals flourish; however, in the 1960s we did not understand what people really needed to help them reach their full potential. At that time, an inadequate understanding of the psychology of happiness allowed the Humanistic movement to regress into a crude Epicureanism, promising that pleasure would lead to happiness. Building on the Humanistic Psychology of the mid-twentieth century, Positive Psychology is revealing the tools we need in order to actualize our full potential.

According to Martin Seligman,

“I used to think that the topic of positive psychology was happiness, that the gold standard for measuring happiness was life satisfaction, and that the goal of positive psychology was to increase life satisfaction. I now think that the topic of positive psychology is well-being, that the gold standard for measuring well-being is flourishing, and that the goal of positive psychology is to increase flourishing.”

The basic elements of Well-Being:

• Positive Emotion
• Engagement
• Meaning
• Accomplishment
• Positive Relationships

Well-being is not a single thing, it is like Health, a construct that describes a condition resulting from numerous, often definable, elements. These elements are interconnected, just as the elements of being healthy are interconnected. Each of the elements of Well-being can be cultivated and developed, and by understanding more of the interrelatedness of these elements we can better understand the depth of our nature, and what we all need to Flourish.