The Gary Null Show - 01.02.15

Rethinking Positive Thinking – a close look at the ways we approach and deal with optimism and positive wish-fulfilling thoughts

Dr. Gabriele Oettingen is a professor of psychology at the University of Hamburg in Germany and New York University, where her research focuses upon how we think about the future and its impacts upon cognition, emotion and behavior. For the past 20 years she has investigated the role positive thinking and optimism plays in reaching our goals and achieving success, both its benefits and shortcomings.  Prof. Oettingen is the developer of Fantasy Realization Therapy and other strategies, such as Mental Contrasting, for people to achieve their goals and alter habits.  She has received her doctorate from the Lugwig Maximillian University in Munich and the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology. She has authored numerous peer reviewed papers, and is the author of a recent book “Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation.”  Her website is WoopMyLife.org