Published on 03 October 2021

Positive Psychotherapy: Types, Techniques, & Efficacy

Psychological Therapy positive-psychotherapy
Table of Contents

Tried of a monotonous life? If you discuss this with anyone, they might have the same feeling or have had the same sense at some point in their life. One needs to overcome such unnecessary feelings in life to be happy, contented, and prosperous. Positive Psychotherapy helps one appreciate life by acknowledging its positive qualities, and you should probably consider welcoming entertainment. 

The positive attributes shall include happiness, well-being, satisfaction, and the ability to sustain in one daily life. These aspects of life, such as joy, optimism, hope, and happiness, are emphasized to build confidence and persona. But this is not all. 

What Is Positive Psychotherapy?

Positive Psychotherapy is a psychotherapeutic method developed by the german Psychiatrist Nossrat peseschkian in 1968. Positive Psychotherapy's primary focus is on improving well being of humans, building positive emotions, relationships, and strength, and moving a person away from harmful things. 

Positive Psychotherapy means satisfaction, not just happiness but also some other factors. The famous American psychologist Martin Seligman described multiple visions of the true meaning of happy life, such as the Good life (focusing on yourself), the pleasant life(true happiness), and the meaningful life.

The branch of psychology also covers character attributes, self-esteem, and how all these can be applied to our work, interpersonal relationships, and life. Positive Psychotherapy has not only to do with individual well-being; it is a science and is referred to as three-level or three stages of study.

Three Levels Of Positive Psychotherapy

Subject Level: The subject-level deals with daily life feelings and emotions such as feelings of happiness, well-being, optimism, and similar feelings.

Individual Level: The individual level is wider than the subject level and embraces the subject level's feelings of happiness, well-being, and optimism in it. It combines the subject-level feelings of joy, well-being, and so on with principles of forgiveness, love, and courage. The individual level makes you a well-rounded person. It encourages self-growth and a feeling of empathy for your near ones and society at large.

Group level: The group level concentrates on actual interaction with your community and incorporates traits like altruism, social responsibility, and other virtues that establish social bonds.

Frequently Asked Questions

The main three pillars of positive psychology are positive experience, positive individual traits, and positive institution. Understand the positive emotions and study the things that make you happy in the past, present, and future.
Martin Seligman is known as the father of positive psychology. His hard work and dedication to psychology made him one of the most respected researchers.
Here are some examples of Positive psychology. Focusing on your strength, maintaining a journal for recording the daily experience, being grateful, and learning a new skill for positivity.

What Can Positive Psychotherapy Treats?

Positive Psychotherapy has been used for a wide range of applications which is not just restricted to mental illness. People can also use it for:

  1. Depression 
  2. Anxiety
  3. Building flexibility
  4. Enhancing overall psychological well-being
  5. Schizophrenia.

Positive Psychotherapy Techniques

Positive Psychotherapy can be included as psychotherapy that uses different Techniques.

Making a journal: Everyone focuses more on the negative things happening in their life rather than the positive things. If you receive bad feedback at work or you missed an important question on the test. It doesnt matter if you received 95% of positive feedback then 5% of negative feedback, it can affect you very badly. Maintaining a journal will force you to write what went well and bad. At the end of the day, instead of spending time thinking about what is going wrong, you can think about what went right.

Act of kindness: Being kind doesnt only help other but also boost your own happiness. Kindness includes buying a coffee for a stranger, offering directions to a lost person, helping older people, giving a left, etc. It might be difficult to recognize the opportunity for an act of kindness. But you improve with practice.

Make a day beautiful: Plan your day and make it perfect as possible and executed.

Why Is Positive Psychotherapy Essential?

Positive Psychotherapy’s primary purpose is to inspire people to discover and nurture their personality strengths rather than directing their efforts into correcting shortcomings.
Positive Psychotherapy highlights the requirement for one to shift their negative outlook towards life to a more positive view of life. 

This enhances the quality of life and personality dynamics of a person. According to the principles of Positive Psychotherapy, positivity is the whole of the driving energies of life. All of us experience daily both good and bad outcomes. In both these outcomes, it often feels easier to focus on the adverse consequences, overlooking how we could tackle the effect of good things to remedy the bad. 

For much of its antiquity, psychological research focused on psychological weaknesses and anomalies that make some of us different from others. These diagnoses explain negative behaviors and models of behavior. These analyses include the mental health difficulties many of us struggle with, Anxiety and depression.

Effectiveness Of Positive Psychotherapy

However, a study into Positive Psychotherapy focuses more on precise explanations for positive feelings and actions. Positive Psychotherapy does not negate the dwelling of flaws and quirks in our thoughts and actions, but it explains that equal attention should be given to people’s strengths and virtues.

Psychology highlights the requirement for one to turn their negative outlook to a more sanguine view to elevate the quality of life. According to the principles of Positive Psychotherapy, positivity is the main ingredient of the driving forces of life. We routinely encounter both good and bad results, but it often feels more natural to focus on the negative outcomes, neglecting how we could harness the impact of good things to remedy the bad.

Are There Any Limitations Or Concerns With Regards To Positive Psychotherapy?

Positive Psychotherapy has gained a good amount of acknowledgment from the media fraternity. However, there have been questions and concerns arising from some psychologists also. There have been questions about whether Positive Psychotherapy is practical or has only a theoretical approach.

Million-dollar businesses such as IBM, FedEx, and Adobe have taken the initiative and hired coaches in this regard. Schools have taken steps to implement this concept in their curriculum. Apart from these, the US Army is developing a program known as the resilience program to increase its personnel's well-being.

Psychologists and analysts against the theory agree Positive Psychotherapy may lead to rewarding mental health in many situations. But they argue that the field lacks observational evidence to support the assertions made regarding its benefit. 

More accurate testing is demanded to determine how long any beneficial effects last. Positive Psychotherapy has also been scrutinized for rejecting, denying, or devaluing initial work closely related to the study.

One potential issue with Positive Psychotherapy is the potential to take positive applications to heights of impracticality. For example, some people in therapy think they can withstand the effects of severe physical and mental health problems by being positive in approach.

Also, read

Bottom Line From Practical Anxiety Solution

Positive Psychotherapy is a treatment that approaches individuals to look at positive and negative things in their lives. Positive Psychotherapy tends to be short to medium-term and takes around 10 to 12 sessions. 

Inferences with a positive approach toward life through a shift in perception. Through criticism, the concept has emerged as a requirement of the modern era. Positive Psychotherapy techniques are sometimes also used with cognitive behavioral therapy, Mindfulness practice, Acceptance, and commitment therapy.