By Paul A. Henny, DDS 

How are you doing in your quest for a “positive” life? 

Martin Seligman PhD spent most of his career at the University of Pennsylvania advancing the concept known today as “Positive Psychology.” He states that Positive Psychology is “the scientific study of what makes life most worth living.” Along the way, Martin identified five core elements highly associated with psychological well-being and happiness. He believes understanding these five elements helps us to create more fulfillment, happiness, and meaning in our life. 

In Part 2 of this two-part series, we’ll pick up where I left off with the third core element in Seligman’s model. 

R – Relationships 

Relationships and social connections are essential for the creation of meaningful lives. Human beings have been social animals since the earliest of times, hence we are hard-wired to bond and depend on each other. That worked particularly well when we functioned in small social units or “tribes.” The tribal unit allowed us to easily ascertain who was friend or foe. It also allowed us to know who to pay attention to, ignore, and with whom we should invest our time and energy. 

In our modern-day world, the historical notion of tribes has largely been broken and replaced by sub-sects of people who are clustered together around common interests, agendas, and values, brought together in new and different ways. Social media now connects people from around the world in ways we never could have imagined 20 years ago. So, this has created a situation where we don’t know our neighbors, but we do know intimate details about our friends in Australia, Tampa, and Kansas City. 

Since we are less tribal in the historical sense, we have lost our ability to easily trust those who are around us, as we can no longer assume they share our values and priorities. That is WHY the relationship-based practice model is so valuable today.  

The relationship-based practice model is a vehicle of connection that can be used to co-discover our similarities as well as areas of disagreement. Alignment of values, goals, perspectives, and efforts are key to successfully advancing health. Strong interpersonal relationships are the key to the door which opens up all of those possibilities. 

M – Meaning 

Some people work to live, while others live to work, with the latter meaning that a person has been successful at merging their life purpose with their daily work. And when work becomes meaningful on a deeply personal level, it evolves into becoming much more than just a “job.” 

With the ever-expanding discovery of connections between oral health and whole health, dentistry now stands at the forefront of a huge new opportunity – the opportunity to help others to grow, develop, and maintain whole health over their entire life  

A – Accomplishments 

Living a values-driven, purposeful life, integrated with how we practice, aligns ourselves with the achievement of deeply meaningful accomplishments on a daily basis. Helping others in deeply meaningful ways, and then being rewarded with appreciation and appropriate compensation, establishes a self-sustaining cycle, and a successful model for living.  

That’s why you will commonly see relationship-based dentists practicing into their 70’s. Their sense of purpose as they continue to accomplish meaningful work is what motivates them to return to the office and continue striving to help patients, coach younger dentists, and create an-ever-happier positive environment. 

An Easy Acronym to Remember: PERMA 

A great to start your day might be to remember what each letter of PERMA stands for: 

• Positive Emotion 

• Engagement 

• Relationships 

• Meaning 

• Accomplishments 

How will these five elements of Seligman’s model fit into your quest for a sense of wellness and happiness today? How will these fit into your quest to serve and help others? 

Positive psychology and dentistry are closely linked, especially for professionals who own their own practices. Human beings are all too good at focusing on what’s going wrong at any given moment. But the key to experiencing maximum success is determining what’s going right, and how to take full advantage of those strengths. 

What’s the tie in with dentistry? Dental patients come in all stripes and shapes, and the success of dentistry is dependent upon understanding people and strategies for dealing with what happens in your practice and personal life. During my study of positive psychology, I focused on: 

• Understanding how and why people tick from studies on human behavior and how the brain and body are wired. I thought a lot about the implications for my practice of dentistry and personal pursuits. 
• How to effectively communicate with and lead/teach others. 
• Research-based tools for interacting with people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences 
• Understanding happiness through personal fitness, gratitude, cultivating relationships, mindfulness, and savoring what is going right. 

During my study, I found my personal happiness was increasing through greater feelings of personal and professional success, improved physical health, and stronger social networks. So much so, that I proceeded to earn a Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP). Having Type 2 Diabetes and having experienced significant treatment for cancer, living my life in the healthiest way I can physically, mentally, spiritually and socially has become of increasing importance, not for my career aspirations alone, but for me personally. I believe all four of these aspects of life go hand in hand for total wellness–and a life well-lived. 

Beyond Positive Psychology 

As many of you know, reading is one of my favorite pastimes, and I do it with alacrity and joy every day. Studies from the fields of positive psychology and emotional intelligence played heavily into my reading throughout my career, and lately, I have been immersed in studying the philosophy of Stoicism which, when rolled over with the above, has naturally taken my passion beyond the soft skills (behavioral skills) of life to a philosophy of “total wellness.”  

This philosophy and enjoyment of it have made my transition from practice to a “retirement” life outside of practice an enlightening and wonderful experience. I have not left Dentistry in total, because I have a lot more to share and say that I will be writing about in the future.  

For Every Problem…a Spiritual Answer 

Wayne Dyer used to say, “For every problem, there is a spiritual answer.” Now that I am retired with much more time to think about my practice, aging, longevity, and philosophy—and when I see young dentists online writing about their issues and problems, I am more convinced than ever that the answers lie in philosophy. And so, it has come to pass that all roads of my life have led back to philosophy, since my first consideration of it, when I began The Pankey Institute continuum almost 30 years ago.  

With a few exceptions, The Pankey Institute being a major one, the dental community continues to undervalue and neglect the role of philosophy in being the best health care provider and wellness influencer one can be. The fields of positive psychology, emotional intelligence, and success in dentistry are undeniably linked. There is scientific evidence to support this. Your philosophy of life and practice (or lack of this) impacts how you go through life and your career, how your life influences others, what you achieve, and how well you feel about the life you are living. To me, the fields of psychology, dentistry, and philosophy are inextricably linked. I’ll write more on this later.