Altamash Memon/Sandra Joseph
Bangalore) on Brain Interface of Free-Will, which was explicated as-“If you are a driver, and you know how your car works, then you’ll drive the car well”. Citing man as a rational animal in aspect of neuro-cognitive evaluation, he further stated quotes of Sir William James, as “When murders and treacheries cease to be sin, regrets are theoretical absurdities and errors”.
Divulging further intricacies, he highlighted certain aspects of Preattentive emotions and stimulus, Free Will, etc. Recognizing Response Inhibition as an extraordinary ability, and an effective way of improved stimuli, he defined it as “terminating, delaying, and finally executing the response, at the right time”. On an optimistic note, he concluded, that creating a better future, in the present is a sign of true learning.
Bringing theory to actual lifetime experiences was Prof. Rajbir Singh(Ph.D, Dept.Of Psychology, M.D.University, Rohtak).Defining positive psychology, from past experiences, as scientific study of virtues and strengths, and using it as an umbrella term for study of positive emotions, character traits, and institutions enabling them. Throwing light on strengths, and their role in success, he explained how to own, and express signature strength, which is a vital attribute of every individual.
Having a graduate’s degree in Psychology, Dr. Sanjay Srivastava(Amity Business School, Noida) pictorially represented the “Diminishing returns in Pursuit Of Happiness”. He defined all aspects of well being, with the universal truth that, an auto locus (“Swastha”) person enjoys harmonious life. He wrapped up the session with the fact that true happiness lies in the learning of our virtues.
At this juncture, all the speakers were presented with a token of gratitude, and a momentum of rememberance.
SUCHARITA BASU ROY
7th August, 2010: While speakers spoke in the concurrent sessions, there was also a poster presentation conducted. The aim of this Presentation was to create an atmosphere of positivity all around which it did with utmost conviction. The posters presented came in all possible sizes and colors and aptly depicted the principles of “Positive Psychology”. Few of them consisted of studies conducted on topics like “Mental Disorders in Students, Spiritual Intelligence among students, Dialectical Thinking and their practical use while there were others which contained brilliant quotations on psychology in vibrant colours. In a nutshell, the presentation proved to be highly informative and motivating.
AUR NEWS DESK
7th August, 2010: After the lunch break, the concurrent technical sessions began that got eminent speakers to speak on various topics of Positive Psychology.
Session-IV had the speakers talk on “Current Therapeutic Practises in Counseling”. Chaired by Prof. T. B. Singh and Mr. Vinod from AUR, psychotherapists and scholars from different parts of the country briefed the audience about the practices that have helped their patients to bring about a change in their lives. An impressive presentation was made by Prabhasini Appalsamy from Rhodes University (South Africa) where she spoke about a patient Megan, who came over her depression by connecting herself with quantum physics and Buddhism. While Megha Pushkarna emphasized on the role of family members in the lives of drug abused and alcoholics, Atasi Mohanty spoke about her case study on the poor mental health of the Tea-garden workers in north-east India. The session ended with the chairpersons congratulating the speakers on their work and presentin them with certificates.
The parallel session-V chaired by Prof. Ghalib Hussain and Dr.Soundarm Arul had the speakers expressing their thoughts on various topics like Positive psychology in Context with Spirituality and Indian Heritage, Education: Challenges and Expectations in New Millennium, Positive Psychology at Work to Reiki and Happiness and Ecological Attitude of Village and City Dwellers. The common conclusion of the session was the need to explore all the facets of positive psychology to help improve the quality of human life. At the end of the event certificates were handed out by the chairperson to the speakers.
Session-VI was chaired by the eminent Prof. M. P. Sharma and Prof. R. M. Dungawat and had the presenters speaking on psychiatric illness. Mrs. Usha Rani talked on the sensitive topic of social acceptance of mental retardation and said that social integration can be made possible through positive psychology. The presentations varied from talking about depressed Nepalese women to teenagers in slum.the session ended with Prof. Dungawat talking about positive psychology from the legal point of view. Mrs. Shashi Singhal thanked the chairpersons for their presence and asked them to hand over the certificates to the participants.
Session-VII had Dr.Prashant Bhimani as the Chairperson and was coached by Dr. Sharda, heads language cell in Amity University. Researchers and Scholars from various organizations discussed on the major topics of research like Gender Differences in Evaluation of Characteristics; Impact of Androgyny and Self-Esteem on Happiness among Working Women; Subjective Well-being, Locus of Control and Self-Efficacy among University Students; Is Self-esteem related to marital relationship in IT professionals with a working spouse became the highlights of the session.
Dr.Bhimani expressed his viewpoints on the basic needs of a common man and also mentioned that in the era of Nanotechnology, no one should follow the old orthodox methods relating to the facts and ideas, humorously adding further to conclude-“Believe in God because everything cannot be believed on google.com.”
SANDRA JOSEPH/SUCHARITA BASU
AUR, 7th August, 2010: The plenary session was headed by Prof. S D Sharma (IHBAS, New Delhi) where the keynote speakers expressed their views on topics related to Positive Psychology and Well Being. Prof. Shiva Gautam started off the session by a Sanskrit shloka conveying the message : “Let all be happy, let all be without an ailment and let all be without any misery in life.” His presentation revolved around Psychotherapy in India and threw light on the rich history of India wherein he described Lord Krishna as the First Psychotherapist who guided Arjuna in the battle of Kurukshetra. The next speaker Prof. Uday Jain spoke at length on well being in the current Psychological thoughts. He introduced the theory of Rasa which is a non-ego state in Meta -emotions and Bhakti- a way to experience bliss. He lastly stated that the concept of well being is rooted in our culture and that positivistic psychology is a medium to attain happiness. Finally Prof. N.K Chadha took over and discussed the impact of maintenance bill on family and society. The main objective of his presentation was to provide a sense of security in elderly people and responsibility for a younger generation. At the end of the session Prof. S.S Nathawat presented mementos to the speakers of both the plenary sessions.
SARIKA NAIR
AUR, 7th August, 2010: The second day of the International Conference commenced with the Plenary Session-2: Perspective of Positive Psychology initiated by some eminent personalities of Psychology. The session was chaired by Prof.C.R.Mukundan, Former Head of Dept.: Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Bangalore.
Prof.Manas K.Mandal, Director, Defence institute of Psychological Research, DRDO, Delhi, shared his views on the topic: Envisioning Positive Psychology for Tomorrow. His primary motivation was to see how he could gather inputs from the services for Indian forces and to maintain the morale of these forces. He highlighted the major points related to Operational Psychology and Clinical Psychology, emphasizing on the fact that although Ayurveda is far more effective than the modern medicine yet it lags behind since it isn't promoted much. He also discussed the advantages of meditation, where he informed that a person who is involved in meditation has activation in the front end of the brain where he/she is more concentrated. Amygdala responses to fearful and happy faces in normal humans. He concluded his speech that” People are identified on the basis of attitude rather than aptitude”.
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| Dr. S. D. Sharma Speaking on the Psychology (Photo:ABHISHEK/ASCO) |
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| Prof. Manas Mandal Speaking on the Occassion (Photo:ABHISHEK/ASCO) |
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| Ms. Pui San Whittaker, Dr. Ashok K. Chauhan, Prof. Girishwar Misra, Prof. S.K. Kiran Kumar (Photo:ABHISHEK/ASCO) |
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| Audience at the international Psychological Conference (Photo:ABHISHEK/ASCO) |
The next speaker, Ms.Pui San Whittaker, Senior Consultant, mental Health Commission, Western Australia expressed her viewpoints on the topic: Promoting Mental Health through Living Libraries. She introduced the audience to the Western Australia (WA) Mental Health Commission’s background and history. She defined LIVING LIBRARIES as “a library that facilitates one-to-one conversations with people from all walks of life, hence helping in breakdown stigma and discrimination. It has a partnership with the local libraries and local government.” People are highly satisfied with the event from the books and readers.would represent a human. Ms.Whittaker winded up her talk with a short documentary video where she showed the strategic ways to develop an individual’s mental health and the changes after inculcating living libraries in their lives.
After the living libraries, Prof. S.K.Kiran Kumar, Prof, University of Mysore, Mysore, shared his ideas on the topic: Indian Traditions and positive Psychology-Research Possibilities. He said that the conference would give a new approach to the outlook into the context of Positive Psychology. According to Upanishads, state of consciousness is a state of waking up. Indian thoughts have different perspectives than Modern Psychology. He emphasized on the Indian thoughts that are still surviving in this world. He further proceeded his lecture with the postulates of Indian Traditions, where he explained various terms like Adhakara, Atman, Svadharma, Ashrama Dharma and Varna dharma, and gave real life examples. He also stated that within the framework of Santana Dharma, attainment of well being through spirituality can involve hardships and emotional states. . He concluded his talk and the session with the thought that “Life is not about only being happy...it is a mixture of happiness and sorrows which has to be handled with pride.”
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| Prof. (Dr.) S. D. Sharma speaking on the Conference (Photo: Abhishek/ASCO) |
AUR, 6TH August, 2010: Prof. (Dr.) S. D. Sharma, Ex-Dir, IHBAS delivered a very informative, encouraging and impactful lecture on Spirituality and Mental Health. He made it pretty clear that spirituality is all about psychology. Adding to that, he vividly put forth an idea that religion and spirituality are not the same; while religion paves way for doubts, spirituality with its autonomy soothes minds and souls without any false thoughts.
Citing the famous quote of Plato “Man is not only conscious but he is conscious of his consciousness”, consciousness is the very window tool where we perceive reality. Dr.Sharma added humorously that scientists believe that there is no spiritual source for mystical experiences. Body and mind are inseparable and interlocked. For a healthy living and mental health, balance of both is necessary and essential. Satisfaction leans towards the pleasure of the hedonists. Being self actualized is more important than anything for a human, saying this he quoted -“Better is Socrates dissatisfied than being a fool satisfied!” Social emotions help to break the out the ego cage of Iand MINE. Sigmund Frews quoted that “Religion is related to people’s psychological makeup.” Spirituality is concerned with soul and it is directed towards the pursuit of personal meaning that gives purpose & meaning to life.
In the end, Dr. Sharma concluded that spiritual experience is eternal and permanent. In spiritual life, a person develops his power of concentration through self actions, gains, discrimination between the spirit and humans.
AUR, 6th August, 2010: The agenda
of the 1st session:Paper Presentation on Spiritualism, Meditation
and Well-Being was to make everyone aware of psychotherapy and the discussion
of the conceptual and empirical issues regarding the relationship between Yoga
and Quality of Life.15 speakers presented their study on various topics like
positive psychological effects according to Al Ghazali, improving quality of
life through Yoga, Changes in Life by Sudarshana Kriya Yoga, Meditation and
Mental Health and Reformation through Self-realization in Criminal Youth. The
resounding conclusion of the event was: Cognitive therapy is efficacious as a
medication in treating depression and stress hence improving the quality of
life. At the end of the session certificates were handed out to all the
speakers by the chairperson, Prof. Manas. K. Mandal, Director-DIPR, DRDO, Delhi
and the co-chairperson, Dr. S. Sitaraman.
Simultaneously
another session; Paper Presentation on Value Based Quality of Life and Happiness
was held in which the speakers spoke on the various aspects of positive
psychology, especially on adolescents’ lives.The chairpersons for the event
were Dr. S. P. Bhatt and Dr. Jitendra Mohan. Topics like changes in adjustment
level of teenagers, the happier way to total living, mood state and quality of
life of hostellers etc. were talked about extensively.
“Man is the only animal to whom his
existence is the biggest problem.”
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| Mr. Aseem Chauhan felicitating Prof. Henrich (Photo: Abhishek/ASCO) |
AUR, August 6th, 2010: Prof. Christian Henrichs, International Trainer of positive Psychotherapy & Board member of the World Association of Positive Psychotherapy and, Peseschkian Foundation, Germany, discussed the perspectives of Psychotherapy in the 21st century. Peseschkian’s Approach to Psychotherapy in the Time of Globalization. He said, “Positive Psychotherapy will enable a person to relate himself to the past and connect him with future.” According to him, today a person can only be successful if we are connected to the future. If we want to do something we never had before, we will have to do something that we have never done before. According to a renowned scientist, Prof. Peters, “To be successful today, we need to connect ourselves with our brain.” We should be able to relate ourselves to the future rather than our present or past.
It’s very important that we relate to facts. It’s not only important to ace but also very important to look back and learn from our mistakes. Prof. Henrichs conveyed that if anybody goes up to the mountain and decides to climb; the foremost thing needed is the will power and courage. In every problem, learn new depths and new solutions for it. Main idea is that we not only relate ourselves to the problems but also relate to the ability of solving them.
Prof. Henrichs introduced to people the basic capabilities, like to grow or to develop, are required to have in an individual. They are continuous process that helps an individual to move forward and to be concrete. He also highlighted the facts of being an obedient individual. Obedience to oneself and God is one of the highest station that human can ever acquire. For instance, being obedient to an unjust ruler is wrong. We actualize basic capacity at various levels and we are the victims of relationships. Having secondary capabilities like honesty, punctuality, honesty, sincerity and fidelity are needed to cope up our anxiety. He gave an example on how Illness and death of a person is considered in east and west. In west when a person is sick, he would like to rest. He is visited by a few people. Visits are perceived as social control. In east, when a person is ill, the bed is put in the living room. The sick person is the center of attention and is visited by family members, relatives and friends. For visitors to stay away is seen as lack of sympathy. Where in case of death; in west, people ask you to abstain from sympathy calls. They have to deal with very own fare by themselves. Now they must bear so much suffering alone. In east, for between 8-40 days, all the relatives, friends and acquaintances visit the survivors, thus giving a feeling of sincerity “Shared suffering is half the suffering”.
On a visit to China, Henrichs told his students that-“It’s not even enough to give knowledge but it’s also important to use wisdom.” Different people have developed different strategies to cope up with the problems. Balanced model is not only related to concepts but also deals with the basic areas of life.
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| Mr. Aseem Chauhan with Prof. S.D. Sharma launching a Journal of Applied Psychology (Photo: Chirag/ASCO) |
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| Mr. Aseem Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University Rajasthan speaking on the conference (Photo: Chirag/ASCO) |
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| Prof. (Dr.) Raj Singh, Vice Chancellor Amity University Rajasthan and Prof. S.S. Nathawat lighting the lamp (Photo: Chirag/ASCO) |
SUPRIYA BOHRA/MOHAMMAD AFROZ
AUR, August 6th, 2010: It’s the day all of us have been waiting for. The first International Conference on Positive Psychology: a New Approach to Mental Health begins today in Amity University Rajasthan amongst great excitement and fervor. The program commenced with Mrs. Jayati M. Sharma welcoming the delegates and participants and thanking them for their immense support and zeal for the conference, followed by a presentation on the Amity universe by Dr. Shashi Singhal. The hon’ble Chancellor Aseem Chauhan, Vice Chancellor Dr. Raj Singh and Prof. S.S. Nathawat welcomed the eminent guests, Prof. Christian Henricks and Prof. S. D. Sharma with floral greetings. With the welcome note delivered by Dr. Singh, Prof. Nathawat expressed his gratitude towards all the guests present and was indeed glad to see such a huge crowd turning up for this conference. The honorees then officially launched the Amity Journal of Applied Psychology, along with the Abstract and the souvenir for the Conference. Mr. Chauhan then shared with the audience his views on positive psychology and how is it such an essential part of the current scenario. He also applauded the efforts of Prof. Nathawat and everyone involved who brought this conference into existence. With his words of wisdom, he officially declared the conference open.
