ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of the book. The book focuses on the relevance of positive psychology to therapy such that therapy no longer restricts itself to the alleviation of suffering, especially as defined by psychiatric categories, but sees its purpose as the facilitation of well-being, human flourishing and optimal functioning. It argues that person-centred therapy is an original positive psychology because of its focus on promoting fully functioning behaviour. It also focuses on how person-centred theory and therapy is underpinned by the research and philosophy of self-determination theory (SDT) and other mainstream social and developmental psychology research. It explores how person-centred theory provides an integrative view of positive and negative experiences, in such a way to reconceptualize psychopathology as the thwarting of the human tendency towards flourishing.
