Discovering Positive Psychology

But can happiness be learned? “Of course it can be learned!” is the answer that psychologists Rebecca Shankland and Jean-François Marmion offer us in their book The Glass Half Full (Sonda, 2025, Euro 18.00, pp. 136), a comic book guide to discover positive psychology and apply it in everyday life.

The first step to take is to become aware that happiness can also become part of our existence , making it different from how we have experienced it now. Therefore, positive action is needed, we need to get involved. This is what the protagonists of Shankland and Marmion's book do, well graphically rendered by Aude Massot. Four people meet at a wedding party. Three of them, Pietro, Damiano and Rebecca, were classmates and have not seen each other for years. Sonia, Pietro's daughter, is a precociously disillusioned teenager. Despite their distances and differences, they begin to confront each other on a universal theme: what is happiness? Pietro is convinced that it lies in professional and economic success, Damiano in the ability to be content, while Sonia considers it a simple illusion. Rebecca, the group's psychologist, will help them see things differently, introducing them to positive psychology. Nothing magical, nothing esoteric.

Positive psychology is, in fact, a branch of psychology born in the United States in the 1990s that studies the positive aspects of the human experience. It focuses, therefore, on what makes life worth living, rather than on mental disorders. It focuses on the scientific study of well-being, positive emotions, character strengths and virtues that allow individuals, groups and institutions to thrive. In short, positive psychology moves away from the traditional psychological focus on pathology and suffering to explore and promote optimal functioning of the individual. With this in mind, Rebecca explains to her classmates that happiness can actually be learned. How? By training every day with simple tools such as gratitude, forgiveness, positive emotions and learning to recognize those thoughts that make us see everything wrong.

First volume of the LiberaMente series, this comic book guide shows you how to take care of your mental health and live with more serenity and confidence . This is the purpose of this series of comic book guides, focused on life, happiness, resilience and emotional balance. In a world full of problems and changes, just as we can prevent physical ailments and diseases, we can also develop resources and strategies to avoid becoming psychologically ill.