Happiness and Christian Counseling

In this paper, the study of happiness will be analyzed and the use of it in psychology and therapy will be discussed. Happiness as experienced by ordinary people has been one of the most important concepts in human life and the object in psychological studies. There have been earlier studies about happiness in psychological studies. The contributions to the field of ego psychology, humanistic psychology and existential psychology will be examined. Then, this paper outlines the concept of happiness in positive psychology, a field that has grown since 1998. The emphasis in positive psychology on positive emotion, positive character, and positive institutions has been a refreshing focus, breaking from a preoccupation with mental illness and psychological disorder in the mental health field. Positivepsychology, through its comprehensive classification of human virtues opens the possibility of dialogue between empirical psychology and religious virtue ethics. In particular, the concept of happiness used in the studies of positive psychology varies from subjective well-being, to the fulfillment of life goals. From the Christian worldview, however, positive psychology is too positive, by focusing too much on happiness. Since human beings are all created in the image of God, we have some positive strengths that reflect that image. At the same time, we have sinful nature which has been badly marred through sin. A limitation in secular psychology is to try to be happy, to have a well-lived life with flourishing, without God at the center of such a life. The genuine happy life is the abundant that is found in Jesus Christ.