Positive Psychology is an approach to therapy that focuses on the positive aspects of human experiences, such as what makes us happy and content, how we can improve our well-being, and the best path to flourishing in life. It emphasizes the study of emotions, personal strengths, and virtues and aims to help individuals and communities thrive. While roadblocks and situational stress will be explored, the goal is to find new pathways and strategies to overcome these challenges. Positive psychology therapists follow humanistic psychology, a core aspect of my practice. This post provides an overview of this method, with a positive psychology example at the end.

Positive psychology therapists may use this method as a core approach or combine it with others. I welcome questions about this approach, how I use it, or how it might be part of your treatment through my contact page or schedule a consultation anytime.

Positive Psychology in Practice Positive Psychology Therapists

Positive psychology emerged as a distinct field in the late 20th century, with psychologists like Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi playing prominent roles in its development. It emerged as a response to psychology’s traditional focus on mental illnesses and dysfunction. Instead of solely addressing people’s problems and disorders, this new method was designed to promote the factors contributing to a fulfilling and meaningful life.

Positive psychology therapists shift the focus of individual therapy from talking about problems to instilling hope and energy. Instead of just addressing negative symptoms, this approach aims to explore and enhance experiences and qualities that contribute to a fulfilling life. We will find ways to improve well-being and deepen meaningfulness and connection.

What is Positive Psychology Therapy Used For

In my practice, positive psychology therapy is used for many purposes, all focused on enhancing well-being, happiness, and optimal functioning in individuals, groups, and communities. Here are some common applications:

Enhancing Happiness and Well-being

Positive psychology therapists aim to increase positive emotions, satisfaction with life, and overall well-being. We might use gratitude exercises, mindfulness practices, and fostering relationships as ways to accomplish this. In general, this type of therapy is helpful for anyone experiencing either a long-term or situational dip in their mood.

Improving Mental Health with Positive Psychology

Positive psychology therapy techniques can be used as complementary approaches to traditional therapy to alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. You can develop resilience and coping strategies by focusing on strengths. We might combine your treatment with any number of other humanistic approaches, such as narrative therapy and gestalt therapy.

Positive Psychology Treatment and Builds Resilience

Positive psychology treatment helps individuals develop resilience in the face of adversity. If you feel pleasant emotions, such as optimism and hope, you can better navigate challenges and bounce back from setbacks. Thus, this approach is very effective for anyone who has experienced a setback or a roadblock and wants to get back on track.

Positive psychology can serve as a preventive measure against mental health issues by promoting good emotions and well-being. Enhancing resilience and well-being can reduce the risk of developing mental health problems.

Enhancing Performance Using Positive Psychology Techniques

Positive psychology techniques enhance performance and productivity in various fields, including education, sports, and business. Cultivating happy emotions and strengths can help you achieve greater success and fulfillment in your endeavors. Thus, I often use this approach in my intensive therapy specialties, such as sports psychology, executive coaching, and college admissions consulting.

Positive psychology focuses on identifying and cultivating individual strengths and virtues. By leveraging these strengths, individuals can experience greater fulfillment and achieve their goals more effectively.

Promoting Positive Relationships

Positive psychology emphasizes the importance of relationships and social connections in promoting well-being. Techniques such as active listening, empathy, and forgiveness can strengthen relationships and foster a sense of belonging. For this reason, I use positive psychology methods in both couples therapy and family therapy.

Positive psychology therapy promotes flourishing and optimal functioning in individuals and communities by focusing on strengths and meaningful experiences.

The Role of Barriers

This is not to say that we won’t look at roadblocks and challenges; at times, we will look into the past to see where they originated and how they’ve progressed. However, the goal is always to find hope in your ability to overcome any challenges your history has brought your way. Our journey together will lead to a greater understanding of your reservoirs of strength and resilience and, in many cases, rediscovering pockets of self-esteem and competence that have been lost or clouded over time.

Positive psychology works well as an approach on its own and can be used as an adjunct to a more specific form of treatment. I weave these techniques and methods into most of my therapeutic approaches.

Positive Psychology Therapists’ Techniques

Positive psychology has been studied, refined, and empirically proven. We will use evidence-based strategies and interventions to help you lead a happier, more meaningful, and more connected life. This approach can make you feel more profound gratitude, hope, and power. Techniques outside of our sessions may include journaling, mindfulness practices, and strength assessments. Our sessions will explore aspects of your life regarding where things are bottled up, stuck, or blocked and how we can unlock your strength and happiness. You can see a positive psychology example below that shows these methods.

The Positive Psychology Therapists’ Toolkit

Here are some specific tools we may use as part of a Positive Psychology treatment course:

  1. Character Strengths Assessment: Identifying and utilizing your signature strengths is critical. Tools like the VIA Character Strengths Survey can help you see your character strengths and find ways to apply them in daily life.
  2. Positive Affirmations: Repeating affirmations regularly can rewire your thought patterns and boost self-esteem and self-confidence. These are statements about yourself and your abilities, and we will work on having you not just repeat them but believe them!
  3. Mindfulness Practice: Practicing mindfulness involves focusing on the present moment without judgment or overthinking. Regular meditation can reduce stress, improve focus and attention, and increase overall well-being.
  4. Acts of Kindness: Engaging in acts of kindness towards others can create a nice feedback loop of happiness and well-being. You will begin seeing the world through a different, more optimistic lens.
  5. Savoring: The practice of savoring involves thoroughly enjoying and appreciating experiences, making them more meaningful and memorable is a good positive psychology example. Sometimes, these experiences are quick and otherwise may have gone unnoticed.
  6. Visualization: Visualization techniques involve mentally imagining good outcomes, success, or achievements, which can increase motivation and self-belief. We will work on visualization that captures both the acts and the feelings behind them.
  7. Flow State Activities: Engaging in activities that challenge your skills can lead to a state of feeling of flow where you feel fully immersed and highly satisfied.
  8. Three Good Things Exercise: At the end of each day, you may be asked to reflect on three things that happened to you that day and why they made you feel good.
  9. Strength-Based Goal Setting: Many people stop creating new goals when feeling down or lacking confidence. We will work to align your goals with your character strengths and values to increase motivation and resilience.
  10. Reframing: Many people suffer from automatic thoughts that turn negative, so we will work on reframing negative situations by finding nice aspects or opportunities for growth. This is a positive psychology example that is closely related to cognitive-behavioral therapy.

How This Method is Different

Positive psychology is designed to assess potential, hope, and transformation. This does not mean that we would ignore barriers and challenges, but rather approach them with the idea of possibilities—that you may be able to overcome them using your strengths or by finding coping strategies that diminish their effect. It also does not mean that we will ignore challenges that have happened in the past, but we will not view them as anchors that make your goals in the here-and-now unreachable.

Many choose positive psychology therapists because they want to find or increase hope in progress. They want to work on what might hold them back while staying attuned to what got them there. Positive psychology can easily be paired with other forward-looking approaches, such as cognitive-behavioral and solution-focused therapy.

Positive Psychology Example

This fictitious positive psychology example focuses on an individual’s strengths and well-being rather than solely addressing problems. It shows how positive psychology therapists like me apply these concepts.

Positive Psychology Example: Building Resilience in a College Student

Background:

Maria, a 20-year-old college sophomore, has been overwhelmed by her academic workload, social commitments, and part-time job. She often criticizes herself for not meeting her expectations and worries about failing. Despite this, Maria has strong interpersonal skills, enjoys volunteering, and is passionate about creative writing.

Intervention Focus:

Using a positive psychology approach, I work with Maria to enhance her well-being by focusing on her strengths and fostering positive emotions.

Positive Psychology Steps Taken:

  1. Identifying Strengths:
    Through a strengths-based assessment, Maria identifies her top strengths as creativity, kindness, and social intelligence. She realizes these traits help her excel in creative writing and connect with others.
  2. Setting Goals:
    Maria sets meaningful goals that align with her strengths. For example, she decides to start a blog about student mental health, combining her passion for writing with her desire to help others.
  3. Gratitude Practice:
    Maria begins a gratitude journal, writing down three things she’s grateful for daily. This practice helps her shift her focus from stress to nice aspects of her life.
  4. Flow Activities:
    She learns about “flow”—being fully immersed in activities she enjoys. Maria schedules weekly creative writing sessions, which she finds both fulfilling and energizing.
  5. Resilience-Building Techniques:
    Maria practices reframing negative thoughts and focusing on solutions rather than dwelling on problems. She learns mindfulness techniques to stay present and reduce anxiety.

Positive Psychology Example Outcome:

After three months, Maria reports feeling more confident and optimistic. She can manage her time better, feels less overwhelmed, and is proud of her blog’s helpful impact on peers. Her improved well-being has translated into better academic performance and stronger relationships. While this is a fictitious positive psychology example, I see these kinds of outcomes.

This positive psychology example demonstrates how this method emphasizes flourishing by leveraging strengths and cultivating positive emotions rather than only addressing deficits. Positive psychology therapists focus on potential and possibilities.

Summary and Conclusions

As you can see from the positive psychology example above, this approach is part of an exciting and promising field that has the potential to transform your life in lasting ways. Even if we do a more focused kind of treatment, such as cognitive-behavioral (CBT), we will still do it within the framework of this approach. You can decide how much our treatment together will be wrapped in this framework – for some, this approach becomes the primary aspect of our work together, but for others, it becomes an adjunct to a more specific approach to therapy.

Here is an excellent article from Psychology Today about how positive psychology works.

Positive Psychology in My Practice

Like most positive psychology therapists, I incorporate all the basic pillars of this method into my work, even when we choose different approaches. We won’t ignore the past, but we will not see it as something that has to hold you back. We’ll explore what got you here, but only in the context of how you can move forward and reach new goals. As much as positive psychology is a fairly general approach, your specific treatment plan will have specific and measurable goals. I use it with individuals and couples and also in psychological testing.

I also use this method in several of my specialty services and intensive therapy services. For example, given that this approach is popular in organizational psychology, I use it in Executive Coaching. I also use it in my college admissions specialty to reduce stress and open up a feeling of possibility. This approach works virtually or I can refer you to positive psychology therapists in your area.

I welcome any questions about Positive Psychology and its use in therapy through the contact page or schedule a consultation anytime.

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Dr. Alan Jacobson Founder and President
Dr. Jacobson is a licensed clinical psychologist providing individual, couples, and family therapy for over 20 years. He uses an integrative approach. choosing from a variety of proven and powerful therapeutic methods.