At the center of this introduction to the new field of positive psychology is New York Times best-seller Paul Pearsall's work with the people he labels thrivers: rare individuals who face life's challenges head-on and only grow stronger. Crediting the success of these people to a phenomenon he calls Stress-Induced Growth, Pearsall explains that we all have the ability to not only recover from life's blows, but to become better people as a result.