A Positive Life

Abstract

IN MEMORIAM This special issue of the Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy is dedicated to the memory of Rick Snyder. I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to write this dedication to Rick, my graduate school mentor, colleague, and friend. Rick was one of the first pioneers of positive psychology. Although positive psychology did not exist then as a term, early in his career Rick had already realized that sources of strength play an immeasurably important role in defining humans as a species, and aid in effectively dealing with the vicissitudes of life. His earliest foray into positive psychology was to explore the meaning and role of uniqueness in adaptive functioning. Not only did his work uncover important insights into the meaning of uniqueness, his work was unique among psychologists-so much so that it even became the subject of a "Doonesbury" cartoon sequence. Few psychologists can add such a citation to their vitas, but it shows the widespread influence of Rick's work. Later, when positive psychology became more formally recognized as a substantive approach to human functioning, Rick did not jump on the bandwagon. In fact, the bandwagon was merely catching up with where he was already heading. His long-standing interest in the psychology of hope melded nicely with the developing concepts of positive psychology. Rick had begun thoroughly exploring the avenues in which hope could inform us about functioning. For example, in his own words, the "Hope Doctor" (as he was known in some parts) was passionate about the refinement of a cognitive theory of hope. I define hope as a thinking process in which the person perceives that s/he can: (1) conceptualize goals; (2) produce the routes to these goals (pathways thinking), and; (3) initiate and sustain movement along those pathways (agency thinking). Topics pursued have been the developmental antecedents of hope, measuring hope in children and adults, how hope operates in psychotherapy, how to increase hope-especially for persons who are low in it, the role of hope in sports, its relationship to health and coping, issues of attachment and hope in children and adolescents, spirituality and meaning in life as related to hope, hope and depression, how hope operates in reality negotiation and the maintenance of the self-concept, hope in work and business settings, and, perhaps most importantly, how hope can be used to help students from grade school through college. …