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Have you ever heard of positive psychotherapy? What exactly is positive psychology therapy and what is its role in treating mental health conditions? In this explanation, we'll have a look at the assumptions of positive psychology (acknowledgement of free will, the authenticity of goodness and excellence, focus on 'the good life'), how the assumptions of positive psychology can be used to explain the formation of relationships, the therapies used in this approach and an evaluation of the approach.
Positive psychology is a psychological approach that has its focuses on the strengths and behaviour that allow people to build a life with purpose. Positive psychology focuses on feelings, emotions and behaviours. Instead of pinpointing the weaknesses of an individual, positive psychology concentrates on the strengths. Positive psychology found its values and principles in life satisfaction, well-being, gratitude, compassion, self-esteem and hope.
Positive psychology focuses on happiness and strengths, pxhere.com
But what exactly does positive psychology cultivate? The main focal points are positive life experiences and events, such as positive experiences (happiness lived), positive states and traits (gratitude, resilience and compassion) and positive institutions (application of positive principles in institutions such as schools). Why is positive psychology different from other areas of psychology? It differs from other areas because the main interest is in identifying and building mental assets to help people live a meaningful life, rather than focusing on the negatives. Positive psychology has three essential principles which all aim to develop happiness. Below is a list of the three essential pillars.
The founder of positive psychology is Martin Seligman.
Positive psychology finds its basis in three essential pillars:
Positive experiences
Positive personal traits
Positive institutions
These pillars of positive psychology focus on the positive emotion and character of the individual, which will help the person following the approach to develop self-efficacy and personal effectiveness, which are very important in order for the person to succeed. Positive psychology is based on a few assumptions, let us take a look at these.
This positive approach acknowledges that all humans have the power to choose how to react to certain situations and what they do in the future. Taking this into consideration, this assumption suggests that people have total control over their well-being and free will to enhance their strengths.
This assumption can be observed in mindfulness for example, where people are led to acknowledge their own emotions and thoughts.
Positive psychology points out how other branches of psychology have their main focus on the negative traits of personality (i.e. anxiety and depression). This is not a balanced view of reality because if humans would focus on the positive traits of personality and their own self-improvement, human behaviour could be observed in a positive way. In a few words, this assumption suggests that aspects of goodness and excellence deserve the same amount of attention as negative traits.
An example of this assumption is represented by Seligman's (2002) theory of signature strengths, which observes that there are 24 character strengths within an individual. Seligman also discussed in the theory how people should focus on and enhance these strengths.
According to Seligman there are three important dimensions to happiness: the pleasant life (which involves activities that bring us happiness), the good life (which involves activities that lead humans in reaching a state of flow) and the meaningful life (which includes a state of fulfilment created when we use our strengths for a more important purpose).
The 'good life' can be observed with the concept of 'flow', which was developed by
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The term 'flow' indicates being completely involved in an activity.
Now that we have explained the important assumptions of positive psychology, it is important to ask ourselves how these assumptions help in the formation of relationships.
When it comes to the acknowledgement of free will, we are all free to choose what to do with our lives. One intentional activity that can enhance happiness is nurturing social relationships. By using our free will to maintain and nurture our various relationships can enhance our well-being.
And in terms of the authenticity of goodness and excellence? In order to improve social relationships instead of focusing on what is going wrong, there needs to be a focus on what is going right in the relationship. In the case of a romantic partner, we could be aware of the strengths of our partner and most importantly, celebrate these. Kashdan et al. (2017) studied couples and found that when partners recognized and appreciated each other's strengths this led to stronger relationships, greater commitment and investment in the relationship supporting each other in goals.
What about the focus on 'the good life? How can applying focus on the good life help in creating relationships? If we take into account that one aspect of the good life is the positive connection with other people, creating positive relationships can improve the person's well-being and help the individual to reach the good life. One important element of the good life is therefore the positive connection with other individuals.
Diener and Seligman (2002) conducted a study on 222 undergraduates and found that the happiest were those that were highly sociable and had stronger romantic and social relationships compared with those less happy. They found that good social relationships were necessary for happiness.
Olsson et al. (2012) conducted a 32-year longitudinal study and found that social connections in adolescence were a better predictor of well-being in adulthood than academic achievement. Well-being is specified by a sense of meaning, social engagement, positive coping and prosocial values.
Friends together, pixabay.com
Positive cognitive behavioural therapy incorporates solution-focused brief therapy and positive psychology by including the cognitive behavioural therapy framework. The client will focus on their individual strengths. In positive cognitive behavioural therapy, the therapist will help the client to focus on what works, instead of focusing on what doesn't work. Positive cognitive behavioural therapy enhances skills on how to improve and increase happiness.
Quality of life therapy allows patients to figure out what areas of their life they want to improve in order to have a happier, more satisfying life. Patients fill out an inventory called the Quality of Life Inventory which contains concepts in different areas of life. From the Quality of Life Inventory, the patient can figure out what areas are important to them and what they would like to work on.
The positive psychology approach appears to shift all its focus to enhancing happiness and promoting the positive. But it is important to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this approach.
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