International Conference on Positive Psychology

JAIPUR: The second day of the three-day international conference on Positive Psychology: A new approach to mental health' saw a series of discussions and paper presentations on the role of positive psychology on people from various walks of life at the Amity University campus on Saturday.
Pui San Whittaker, a senior consultant with mental health commission in western Australia presented a research paper on music threapy."Music is a medium that can effectively change a person's mood," said Whittaker.
She is running a campaign in Australia that encourages people to participate in music-related activities to improve their well being. Whittaker feels that a similar programme can be developed in India, where people are inclined towards performing arts such as dance and music.
Another speaker, Shiv Gautam, former head of psychology department, SMS talked about the challenges for psychotherapy in India. He said most of the psychotherapeutic techniques taught in India are developed by the West. "Some of these foreign techniques need to be tried and tested in our society, before being applied," said Gautam.
Scarce manpower, and lack of psychotherapy training centres and inadequate research modules have led to a limited use of effective psychological techniques for enhancing individual and social well being.
He suggested training programmes of varying duration on psychology could be developed for various categories of professionals and counsellors.
Speaking on the role of positive psychology in the life of students, Aseem Chauhan, university chancellor said, "Students, irrespective of their streams, need to develop a positive attitude towards life that will improve the quality of life."
The focus of this conference is to promote Positive Psychology and also to provide a platform to gain knowledge and discuss the various explorations going on in the field of Positive Psychology. The conference brings together positive psychologists, mental health experts, behavioural social scientists, spiritual thinkers and academicians of repute on one platform.