Psychologists focus on boosting New Zealand success

Psychologists focus on boosting New Zealand success

How can New Zealand and New Zealanders be more successful?

That will be the focus for more than 100 psychologists, counsellors and business and personal coaches who gather in Auckland next week for the country's first positive psychology conference: 'The Science of Wellbeing'.

The New Zealand Association of Positive Psychology Conference is being held at AUT's North Shore Conference Centre on September 9-10. Presenters will cover topics such as:

How to measure business wellbeing

How to catch up with Australia by 2025

How positive psychology can help the residents of Christchurch deal with the effects of the earthquakes

Whether mobile apps to improve happiness actually work and

How to measure happiness.

Conference chairman Dr Aaron Jarden says the conference, like positive psychology itself, will give delegates many practical, useful tools they could apply in their practices to boost wellbeing and happiness.

"Unlike traditional psychology, which focuses on why people are unwell and aims to fix the causes, positive psychology focuses on why people are happy and successful, and teaches tools for achieving happiness and success.

"Businesses can apply the principles of positive psychology to improve their business results, schools can use the principles of positive psychology to improve educational outcomes for their pupils, and individuals can use the principles of positive psychology to get more enjoyment out of life.

"Even sports teams can use positive psychology to improve their competitiveness and become real world-beaters."

Dr Jarden said the conference had attracted international presenters such as Dr Lindsay Oades from the University of Wollongong's Australian Institute of Business Wellbeing and Dr Suzy Green, co-founder the of the Positive Psychology Institute in Australia.

The conference is sponsored by The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, AUT University, the University of Auckland, the Mental Health Foundation and the Foresight Institute. Registrations are open at www.positivepsychology.org.nz/conference

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