Chapter 13- Positive Psychotherapy Flashcards
Confucious
We can be disciplined in seeking our education
We should be looking to develop harmonious relationships
Virtue should be necessary for happiness
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Identifying and nurturing talent
Making lives more productive and filling
Psychology’s Mission changed after WWII
Soldiers returning home with now-known PTSD
Something wrong → how do we fix it
DEFICIT-ORIENTED APPROACH
Traditional psychotherapy is…
Deficit-oriented
We were publicizing about negative emotions ___ the amount we were publicizing about positive emotions
14 times
1998- Seligman main idea
‘life worth living’
Idea of 51
In the year 2051, 51% of the population will be fourishing
Nature vs. Nurture
Personality is independent of childhood experiences
Traits are not necessarily stable or permanent
Both have a role to play, but there is an emphasis on our ability to change for the egood
Formula For Happiness
Personal Set range + circumstances + factors under volitional control = happiness
Personal Set Range
40/50%
Range in which we would fluctuate based on what we have inherited
Some people are predisposed to be happier people, but that’s not all happiness is
Circumstances
10/15%
What is happening around us
Factors under volitional control
What can we do to cultivate happiness or not
cultivation of wellness above and beyond simply alleviating distress
Taking distress away does NOT equal more happiness
Strengths
Come out in certain contexts
Characteristics/qualities that often take on a moral tone that are valuable
We all bring them, and we should value having those strengths
Wisdom
Being smart in some situations
Courage
Face a goal in the face of opposition
Humanity
Tend to others
Justice
Desire to live a healthy and just community life
Temperance
Protects ahgainst temperances and vices
don’t overindulge
Transcendence
Making meaning/connecting with the larger universe
Distress in relation to strengths
The absence of some strengths while in excess of others
Positive emotions and strengths are real and valuable
Uncommon to ask someone to rate on a scale of 0-10 how fulfilled they are or how happy they feel
Effective therapy relationships can be built on exploration of positive personal characteristics
Should be using these explorations of strengths as a way to build an effective therapeutic relationship
Look at it not from what’s wrong with the person, but where do their strengths lie, and how to build that positive relationship - don’t just focus on symptom reduction
Perma Model
Theoretical Model for happiness
We can measure and promote each idea in therapy
Positive Emotion
Engagement
Relationships
Meaning
Accomplishments
Positive Emotion
In the past, present, and future
Optimal ratio of positive : negative emotions (3:1)
Example- Bridge with pillars
It is possible to experience positive emotions in negative situations, and the resilience in positive emotions is something that can be experiences alongside the pain
Range of positive emotions we can feel and cultivate
Engagement
Idea of Flow
Use signature strengths to encourage people to do activities towards flow
Goes beyond sensory pleasure
Looking to find a way people can genuinely engage with something right in front of them, and if we do it in a way that brings in an optimal level of challenge, we can build an accomplishment and have positive emotions from the past and will help us flourish
Flow
Csikszentmihalyi
Idea that we can get into an intense concentration
You become so absorbed in the task that there is a sense that you are one with it-
don’t realize how hungry you are or that you’ve had to pee for an hour. What are these an example of?
Flow
We need a little challenge in life; we need to find things that will help us not fall into boredom to avoid habituation; thinking critically, solving problems, etc.
What is this an example of
Engagement
Multitasking
Humans are bad at it
When we split our attention, we lose something from each of the things we are splitting against
Good book, Painting, Puzzle, Baking, Sports. What are these examples of?
Engagement
Relationships
Facilitate happiness
Other components become more effective
When we experience something positive and share it with others, it capitalizes on the positive and it will increase
Being a member of a team would fall into which PERMA category?
Relationships
Meaning
Bigger than oneself
Where we can use our strengths - gives us a reason to go for our goals, set goals, and achieve them
Provide motivation, persistence, and resilience
Without meaning, we will be missing pieces that drive us towards our goals and we would need to build it up
Accomplishment
Flow
Motivation
Building a sense of accomplishment will encourage flow and pursue activities that are meaningful
The cherry on top that makes us feel good about ourselves and helps us continue being motivated
PERMA can be pursued simultaneously and interrelatedly
provides different pillars with things therapy should be cultivating
Each piece of the PERMA model isn’t independent
Can’t do one without the rest
If we do all these things, we can live a full life (goal of positive psychotherapy)
Engagement and meaning most correlated with life satisfaction
Need engagement and meaning
They involve some sort of challenge
Habituating (doesn’t feel good to watch tv on the sixth day of break but good on the first day)
Having people think about what matters to them
Non-specific factor
Harder to measure
Something that will happen over and over again in a nonspecific way
What kind of environment is the therapist trying to create
Warm, inviting, authentic, collaboratuve and egalitarian
Personality in Positive psychology
Absence of some strengths or an overuse of others to be honed and used in the right amount (gold standard)
Therapist wants to understand…
Clients values
The client’s strengths
Identify signature strengths
Tonic and phasic strengths
Tonic Strengths
One’s peoplen use consistently in all situations
Phasic
Strengths people only use in some situations
Obstain narratives about their use
Use a survey to quantify the different strengths and incorporate them into the treatment plan
Gratitude
Example- gratitude journaling
Encourages a focus on the positive
Helps the buffering the negatives with the positives
Ensuring to look at the positive
Begin to learn other skills that will be important
Gratitude and positivity will come more easily to them and allow them to be more in the moment with the positive
What PERMA section is ‘gratitude’ an example of?
Engagement
Savoring
Taking time at the end of the day to write down and savor the positive things can have an additional benefit
What PERMA section is ‘savoring’ an example of?
Meaning
Manage negative emotions
When people have undergone negative things, the exercise can have a little space from the negative so we are not so fused with it
Negative emotions will happen - just about managing them and having buffers
What is “lose sight of the forest with the trees” an example of?
Managing negative emotions
Unable to see the big picture of the forest when all you see is a tree right in front of you
Tree is the bad thing that just happened
Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture of the forest
Buffering comes in where we understand the tree isn’t good, but remember the whole landscape of the forest
14 Session Model
Positive Psychotherapy Model
Sessoin 1-3
orientation to PPT; client writes “positive introduction” of self; assess signature strengths; develop action plan to incorporate strengths (tonic and phasic) and fix the imbalances
Want people focused on the exercise with a pen and paper and write it out could facilitate engagement and focus
People think about themselves from a strength-based perspective
Specific actions that they bring to the model - every patient will do something for the positive emotion
Session 4-6
reappraisal of bitter memories; forgiveness; gratitude letter
Look at things from a different perspective
When we carry things with us, we are savoring the negative → work to reappraise/think differently about the negative memories
Places where people need to offer forgiveness and what it means for them - what are they letting go of
How can we make a conscious choice to look at the positive
Session 7
Feedback/check in
Therapist doesn’t come in with an agenda other than to open the floor to feedback
Session 8/9
Cultivate positive emotions and growth from trauma
Session 10/11
Communication skills and strengths of others
Using assertiveness
Asking people to develop a strength-based approach and instead of seeing the deficit, we see the strengths
Session 12
Savoring
Session 13
Altruism/helping others
Session 14
Integrate treatment gains - full life
End of treatment is planned from the beginning or more go with the flow?
Planned from the beginning
Mechanisms of Psychotherapy
Broaden and build resources for coping
Reappraise negative memories
“reeducation of attention” (negative –> positive)
RCTs support effectiveness for…
Reduced depression
Increased well being
Adolescent substance use/behavioral challenges/social skills/well-being
Cardiovascular disease
Benefits of group PPT
More opportunities to reinforce treatment gains
Cultural Considerations
Different definitions of happiness in different cultural contexts
To consider for cultural considerations, the therapist must…
- Understand manifestations of strengths
- Discuss culture
- Understand the meaning of strengths and how they differ across cultures
