Positive psychology and positive psychotherapy: differences and common features

There are many methods for achieving inner harmony, but positive psychology is considered the most understandable and effective. Practical research has revealed a simple formula for happiness that underlies the method. Every person can achieve personal happiness by following simple rules. They will not solve financial problems, will not add material wealth, but will help change your worldview. By starting to change himself, a person achieves unprecedented success in everything.

Peculiarities

Positive psychology arose on the basis of humanistic psychology. The authorship of the term is attributed to A. Maslow, the creator of the pyramid of needs, the innovator of the humanistic approach to personal motivation. A creative approach allowed Maslow and his colleagues to come up with the idea of ​​stimulating mental health - as opposed to the idea of ​​​​treating pathologies. The active development of the direction occurred in the period 1950–1960. In addition to Maslow, G. Allport and K. Rogers studied the role of positive influence on personality.

The main directions in the study of positive psychology were proposed by M. Seligman:

1. Positive emotions. Form a subjective feeling of happiness. These include: self-confidence, plans for the future, pleasure, satisfaction.
2. Positive character traits. They are responsible for creating a healthy social environment. Traits that are humanistic and focused on general rather than personal well-being (altruism, generosity, honesty, empathy) create an atmosphere of goodwill and opportunities for personal growth.
3. Social structures. These include those forms of social associations that help strengthen a person’s positive sense of self: a democratic system, a healthy work environment, a prosperous family, independent media, local organizations.

Positive psychology research continues into the 21st century. The greatest contribution to the development of the direction to date has been made by: E. Diener, C. Snyder, M. Csikszentmihalyi, K. Peterson.

Seligman's research

Experiments with positive effects on the psyche began with Seligman, thanks to whom positive psychology became an academic discipline. At an American research center, he worked with volunteers to create a classifier of positive personality traits. Based on survey results, Seligman identified 6 groups of positive traits that combine similar character traits:

• wisdom and knowledge;
• courage;
• humanity;
• justice;
• abstinence;
• transcendence;

The list of traits was replenished and refined as Seligman conducted surveys of representatives of different segments of the population, and the highest values ​​for them were different. Comparing the results, he derived 4 main character traits that contribute to the achievement of happiness:

• Love,
• hope,
• Gratitude;
• curiosity.

To identify the dominant personality trait of the subject, Seligman created a questionnaire consisting of 240 questions and standard answer options. Based on the results obtained, you can not only identify character strengths, but also help a person develop them.

About abilities

Innate and acquired abilities are key concepts. Moreover, we are talking not so much about talents, giftedness or genius, but about universal human values. For example, from the point of view of the PP, from birth, everyone has two leading abilities (needs) - to know and to love.

The ability and need to know

This is the rational, intellectual essence of man. The left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for it. Firstly, it is more developed among mathematicians, physicists and people in other specialties related to the exact sciences. Secondly, given the integration of cultures, from the point of view of positive psychotherapy, this ability is a priority for residents of North America and Western Europe.

This is what becomes the main focus when resolving a conflict, for example, for a chemist or a German. The therapist invites them to eliminate it through logical thinking. Constant quarrels with your wife? Because of which? Doesn’t cook, doesn’t wash or iron clothes, doesn’t look after the children, demands a lot of money? Are there any positive moments in living together with her? What is more: advantages or disadvantages? With the help of such leading questions and recording clear answers, a comparative table at the end of the first session, the rationalist sees that there is no longer any point in being with such a spouse and the only way out of this situation is divorce (or vice versa).

The ability and need to love

This is the emotional, sensual spiritual essence of a person. The left hemisphere is responsible for it. It is developed among representatives of humanitarian and creative professions, as well as among residents of the East and South America.

If an artist or a Japanese man comes to a positive psychotherapist with a family problem (quarrels with his wife), it is useless to ask them those clear, rational questions that worked so effectively in the previous case. The answers to them will be vague, long and indefinite, which will only further confuse the client about what he wants and delay the session.

This requires other methods and techniques. For example, metaphors or parables. Seeing his own family life as a damaged canvas or dried out paints, the artist will be able to decide for himself whether to revive them or replace them with new ones. Having heard the story about the stupid wife, the Japanese will understand how to fix everything.

"Supermen"

The most difficult thing to work with is people who have a mixture of physiological abilities and cultural and historical predispositions. For example, with a Chinese computer scientist or an English musician. On the one hand, they are driven by the most developed hemisphere. On the other hand, ethnicity. In such cases, it is necessary to identify the dominant of these factors and work with an orientation towards it. In this case, it is necessary to eliminate the eternal internal conflict between these two entities.

This intercultural approach allows positive psychotherapy to work with a person of any nationality, taking into account his ethnic and cultural-historical predispositions. This gives excellent results.

What influence does direction have on the human psyche?

A positive perception of the world allows a person to mobilize internal resources. Directing your energy toward solving a problem rather than immersing yourself in a negative influence increases your chances of successfully overcoming a crisis situation. The ability to find positive moments helps to avoid despair and maintain a stable sanity.

Positivity contributes to another important component of human relationships - the creation of new social connections. People who have a positive attitude and overcome difficulties with a smile find it much easier to establish contacts. In a small social group (class, work team, sports team), an individual has a higher social status. He has a greater chance of creating a successful career and a prosperous family.

Methodology

The development of positive psychology has made it possible to identify 3 principles necessary for the full use of this method:

1. Hope. Allows you to take responsibility for your actions, and thanks to this, learn to look into the future with confidence and build realistic life scenarios.
2. Balance. It is necessary to organize key aspects of life: physical existence, psyche, self-awareness, plans for the future. Achieving happiness is possible through the desire for complete harmony.
3. Self-help. The principle of self-help helps to achieve personal integrity, the unification of individual views and principles into an overall picture of self-determination and vision of the world.

An important principle of positive psychology is accepting negativity rather than denying it. A person cannot overcome a problem if he ignores it. Negative perception plunges a person into stagnation, forcing him to constantly live through a traumatic situation and not being able to get out of it. Positive perception creates conditions for finding the optimal solution. Using the method of positive psychology, a person learns to avoid the traumatic effects of stress and find personal harmony.

Positive, constructive, receptive leader

If you've ever encountered positive psychology (for example, at school, at work, at staff development events) and been asked to talk about successes when you wanted to talk about an annoying problem, then you may have felt awkward, although didn't understand why. Who doesn’t want to be a productive and competent specialist and develop further? In any case, modern managers willingly evaluate and encourage their subordinates. […]

The modern leader no longer acts as a tough and strong authority who gives orders and makes decisions. He practices a form of soft power by “inviting” employees to talk about “success” in order to “achieve maximum enjoyment at work.” Forget that there is still a clear asymmetry of power between management and subordinates, and some goals are much more realistic than others. For example, recently at my (otherwise wonderful) job they asked me to formulate a “vision” for the development of our institute. When I said that we should strive to become a mid-sized institution, there was no excitement. I meant that this is a realistic and achievable goal for a small university in a Danish province. But now everything has to be “world class” or in the “top 5”, and the path there is undoubtedly only accessible to those who are focused on opportunity and success. This can be called forced positivity. Only the best will do, and to achieve it, you just need to not be afraid to dream and think positively.

Negativism of memories

Memory stores all events that had a negative or positive impact on the individual. Traumatic memories are hidden in the subconscious: a person may not be aware of them, but the influence of the memories does not stop.

Negative influence reduces cognitive functions: a person sees all events in a negative light and loses the ability to notice positive aspects. His life becomes empty, he loses the meaning of life, he is afraid to make plans for the future.

Positivist scientists are of the opinion that the development of depression occurs due to the predominance of negative memories over positive ones. Negativism prevents a person from focusing on living the moment. He gets stuck in negativity, and over time his adequate perception of reality is distorted. Failures are perceived as commonplace, self-esteem drops, and the person learns to live with depression, considering it a normal condition.

To relieve symptoms of depression, the patient should work with traumatic memories rather than avoid them. Positive revision of events that caused a negative perception of the world helps to create a new vision, focus on the present and not be afraid to make plans for the future.

Advantages

The “here and now” principle is actively used in neurolinguistic programming, psychodrama, client-centered psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy, and non-directive hypnosis. And yet, work in these areas takes too long, since they practically do not draw on a person’s internal resources, helping him with external methods. Most of them are focused on eliminating the symptoms rather than the conflict itself.

Given all this, it is not surprising that positive psychotherapy has had such success. Its advantages over other areas:

• conflict-centered rather than symptom-centered;
• short-term: on average, 20 sessions within the framework of psychology and no more than 50 sessions of psychotherapy (taking into account the final recovery from quite severe disorders);
• universality: specialists do not have to look for different methods, techniques and techniques - here everything works to eliminate the conflict almost instantly;
• internationality: this is cross-cultural psychotherapy that integrates the philosophy and intuitive wisdom of the East and the rationalism and science of the West;
• active involvement of the patient in the process of working through their conflicts;
• working with a person as an integral system, and not with his individual thoughts, experiences, conflicts;
• active use of parables and metaphors as a psychotherapeutic tool for working with patients;
• future-oriented, despite the “here and now” principle: positive psychotherapy teaches how to cope with problematic situations in the future.

In addition to all these advantages, this direction also offers methods for working with problems that arise for psychotherapists themselves. For practicing specialists this is a significant advantage. One of the most attractive points for patients is that short-term positive psychotherapy allows you to eliminate conflict in a minimum number of sessions. Where Gestalt therapy takes six months, PP is managed in one and a half months.

Specifics of positive thinking

Positive psychology works with personality traits acquired through development. Psychologists working in this direction are based on the idea of ​​properly coping with difficulties, rather than avoiding them. The concept of psychotherapy is based on the presence of basic abilities in each individual: the need to love and develop. They are interconnected; without the development of one, the full development of the other is impossible. A mentally healthy individual is from birth endowed with a desire for good. The positivist direction at its core contains a belief in the need for happiness as the main driving force.

Personal self-realization of an individual requires the search and enhancement of a positive resource that was initially inherent in the personality. These are not only the needs for positive transformation, but also hidden abilities, talents, and calling. Short-term psychological assistance courses help awaken them. The value of positive psychology is its accessibility. It can be practiced by people of any age, social status, financial status.

The practical use of positive psychology is impossible without taking into account the unique life experience of a particular person. Experiences are not disputed, do not lend themselves to criticism, but become the basis for the work of a psychologist. He must analyze the client’s experience, track his personal growth and help draw up an individual development plan.

Psychosomatics and positive psychotherapy

The life path of an individual is a series of events marked by the individual's personal participation, perception, evaluation and response. The response of an individual combines a certain set of actions in a specific situation, the experience of what happened. Life events represent modifications of circumstances or new configurations of relationships among others, disruptions in the implementation of life strategies and goals, unsatisfied desires and needs, unfulfilled dreams, and the collapse of hopes. Walking through stressful, conflict and problematic situations, getting into life crises, an individual can become a victim of prolonged states of psycho-emotional tension and social maladjustment. Since the body and soul of a person are an inextricable integrity, psychological distress quite often becomes the cause of bodily ailments. In turn, such violations have an impact on the individual’s psyche. In the realities of fast-paced modern life, the subject reveals many disorders of a psychosomatic nature, which can be eliminated only by understanding the bodily “language” of the psyche. Often the body, through the processes occurring in it, can express emotions using the language of feelings, for example, expressions of fear, despair, despondency, joy. At the same time, mental processes reveal themselves through the “language of organs.” For example, mental processes may be expressed by facial flushing, trembling, back pain or a rash on the face.

In such cases, there is no causal connection between what initially happened and its consequence. Physiological and mental reactions are various manifestations of an individual internal state.

Pezeshkian in his works substantiated the connection between psychosomatics (the bodily reflection of the subject’s mental life) and positive psychotherapy.

Pezeshkian's positive approach covers all mental illnesses, psychosomatic and somatic diseases. This approach aims to take into account the symptoms and dynamics of the disease along with the meaningful aspects for each individual.

How to improve your day?

It is very difficult for a person in a depressive episode to stop focusing on the negative aspects of life. Changing your worldview takes time and effort. It seems that the new day will be as gray and joyless as the previous ones, and nothing in the world can change that.

But the impact of positive psychology is impossible without the desire of the person himself. Lack of intrinsic motivation cannot be instilled from the outside. Therefore, you should try to start by trying simple techniques that can improve an ordinary day and make it special. Everyday techniques include:

1. Doing an unpleasant task. After completing an unpleasant task, a feeling of satisfaction appears. A small victory will set the tone for the day and set you up for success.
2. Adding serotonin. Depression reduces the level of serotonin, a hormone responsible for feelings of joy and satisfaction. You need to add it yourself by eating foods rich in serotonin: chocolate, bananas, green peas.
3. Water procedures. Water helps you cheer up and feel better. If you cannot take a bath or shower during the day, you should wash your face and wash your hands. And in the evening, try to organize complete relaxation using your favorite soap, shower gel, and flavored salt. Pleasant smells also have a beneficial effect on the psyche and increase overall tone.

Exercises can be used to improve your emotional state as soon as a feeling of apathy, psychological fatigue, or doubt arises.

Exercise to develop creative thinking

Try a simple exercise.

Assignment:
imagine in front of you the most ordinary brick, white or red.
Now write down on paper ten ways to use it in non-standard ways. What else can a simple brick be useful for, other than for construction? Write any answers that come to your mind. Example answers:

• you can sell it
• you can sit
• can be placed under a car wheel,
• use for self defense...

General goal:
In the future, also reflect on any negative situation that has happened or may happen in your life.
Instead of a brick, you can use any object that catches your eye for the exercise.

Ask yourself:

- What benefits will I get from failure in this case?

Over time, you will learn to find positives in seemingly completely negative situations, which will help you avoid negative thinking.

1. Active sports will help you throw out suppressed aggression and negative emotions.
2. Yoga promotes deep relaxation and healing of the body. Any physical exercise gives us a good mood and a boost of vitality. Try to be outdoors more often, in the fresh air.
3. The contemplation of flowing water, the feeling of a warm breeze and the sounds of birds singing heal the soul no worse than psychotherapy.
4. Try to combine walks in nature with deep, relaxed breathing.
5. It can be symbolically scattered to the wind. If you have been sincere with yourself, after this exercise you will feel freedom and lightness.

This will be a way to get rid of negative thinking. If you are worried about something, do it to the maximum!

In foreign psychological practice, there was a case when a man came to a psychotherapist who considered himself... a giraffe. He did not have any mental disorders, but nevertheless, the unfortunate man could not rationally explain why he felt this way. The psychotherapist used a trick, telling the client “in secret” that all people are actually giraffes, it’s just that no one has the courage to admit it. As a result, the man felt understood and calmed down, his life improved.

Based on this example, you can take your experiences to the most absurd form in order to eventually laugh and restore inner peace. It's good to have someone nearby who will laugh with you.

A physical way to combat negative thinking

The physical way to eliminate negative thinking is based on the method of negative reinforcement.

This method is as effective as it is difficult because you will have to constantly monitor your thoughts.

1. Put a thin rubber band on your wrist (they usually tie up stacks of banknotes).
2. As soon as you think about something bad, pull the rubber band to the side and suddenly let go.
3. The painful sensation will remind you that you are thinking incorrectly.

The main secret of success is that if you cannot change the situation, then you need to change your attitude towards it.

Developing new life attitudes requires constant monitoring of your thoughts, try to notice when you have negative thinking.

PS The result you get in the end will more than compensate for all your efforts. Make an effort to combat negative thinking, this will definitely help defeat it. About a healthy balance of positive and negative thinking here:

Exercises for every day

For most representatives of positive psychology, experiments were based on opposition. Starting from negative traits, psychologists selected a suitable positive analogue.

Based on generalized data, psychologists have created several exercises to help maintain positive character traits. These include:

1. Positive diary. Emotions arise as a response to an external stimulus. When its effect ends, the emotional response ceases. You can consolidate the influence of positive emotions with the help of a positive diary: you need to write down 3 events daily that caused positive emotions. From time to time the diary needs to be re-read.
2. Rituals. Repeating routine actions seems like a burdensome chore, but reinforcement helps you organize your daily activities and enjoy the repetition. You can use yoga classes, morning coffee, or reading a book for 15 minutes as a positive ritual.
3. Thanksgiving. A tool similar to keeping a positive diary, but working with more conscious things. If the client was unable to find 3 positive moments in the past day, the psychologist recommended finding 3 reasons to be grateful for his life. For example, having housing, work and a variety of food for a third of the world's population is an unaffordable luxury.
4. Incentives. The carrot and stick method, which promises a prize for every correctly completed task, helps to choose the right motivation. When working on a given task, you need to independently organize incentives that will motivate you to work productively. Incentives should be based on personal preference.
5. Request support. Since a person needs a social environment, providing positive attention from other people is the best way to emotionally reset. Regular satisfaction of the need for acceptance improves the emotional state and replenishes the internal energy resource.

Daily use of techniques to consolidate positive emotions helps to survive difficult periods of seasonal apathy.

Positive Psychology Methods

In general, in positive psychology there are two fundamental approaches to working with a person:

• Individual perception of happiness (everything that can make a particular person happy, for example, a positive perception of oneself and one’s life, self-confidence, enthusiasm and optimism, enjoyment, pleasure and other positive emotions).
• The highest psychological and individual qualities of people (everything that can be attributed to all people, for example, the search for the meaning of life, creativity, spirituality, love, sense of reality, etc.).

Positive psychology invites a person to work on developing these virtues and qualities (which form the basis of a positive attitude and positive thinking) using completely different methods. Among the most popular and widespread are:

• Affirmations method
• Afformation method
• Bracelets method

Let's figure out what their essence is.

Affirmations method

We will not go into detail about what affirmations are (if you don’t know, read our article “Affirmations”), but let’s say briefly: affirmations are short positive statements, the meaning of which is to replace negative attitudes with positive ones, as well as confident statements that place emphasis on what is desired (love, health, career, money, happiness and other things that are significant to a person).

Affirmations are designed to effectively reprogram the mind. This method of positive psychology sets a person up to achieve and attract into his life what he thinks is missing. Simply put - to fulfill desires. Considering that often what a person believes in and what he is convinced of, and his subconscious attitudes are at odds with what he wants. Affirmations allow you to find a balance between these opposites. This leads to the desired result.

Affirmations might look like this:

• “My life is filled with happiness and joy”
• “Every day I get only positive emotions from life”
• “I attract success and wealth to myself”
• "My body is absolutely healthy"
• "People like to talk to me"
• “I live in harmony with myself and the world around me”
• “Everything I do, I do with love and care”
• “I deserve only the best, and every day it comes into my life”
• “My brain is working one hundred percent.”
• “I achieve success in any business that I have to do”

As a rule, a person composes affirmations for himself, but there are also ready-made ones (you can find some in the article “Powerful affirmations for every day”). The most important thing is to pronounce such expressions as consciously as possible, and not automatically. Also, you should not use the particle “NOT”, which is not perceived by the subconscious, being negative.

Effective affirmation evokes positive emotions and sensations, thereby replacing negative attitudes with positive ones. The stronger the imagination works when reciting statements, the faster they reach the subconscious and begin to “work.” Read about why sometimes the effect is not achieved in our article “Why affirmations do not work.”

Afformation method

Afformations are analogous to affirmations. But if in affirmations a person formulates statements in a positive way, then in afformations he formulates a question. For example, the statement “People like to communicate with me” can be followed by the question: “Why do people like to communicate with me?” etc.

This exercise activates thought processes, because the brain begins to intensively search for answers to the questions asked. But the most interesting thing is that he himself will find them, i.e. will confirm the affirmation. This is precisely what makes a person and the reality around him change for the better.

The effect when using affirmations comes faster, and the rules for creating them are similar to the rules for creating affirmations. Even the most interesting books are being written on this topic - read the works of Hal Elrod, Alexander Sviyash and, of course, Martin Seligman.

Bracelets method

The bracelet method is effective for getting rid of bad habits, and not only at the body level, but also at the level of thoughts. It consists in the fact that a person puts a bracelet on his hand and wears it until the old habit is eradicated or replaced with a new one.

With the help of this exercise, people stop thinking negatively, complaining about life, judging others, using obscene words, etc. You can also take a different path - give compliments more often, read daily, call your family, do at least one action every day that leads to your cherished goal, etc.

As you know, a habit can be formed in 21 days, so the bracelet is worn for the same number of days (this period can be increased if desired). If some rule that a person has pledged to observe is not followed (for example, he blamed someone for his bad mood or did not read a book), the bracelet is put on the other hand, and the countdown begins again.

If we talk about professional positive psychology, then specialists often resort to various epics, epics and parables to help their clients rethink their problems and look differently at themselves, the situation and life in general.

Be that as it may, any methods and exercises of positive psychology and psychotherapy have the goal of forming a specific worldview in a person’s mind and consolidating its principles:

• Absolutely everything can be changed
• There are reasons for everything
• We can set the direction of our lives ourselves.
• The world is fair and generous
• There is enough in the world for everyone
• We alone are responsible for everything that happens.
• The reasons for all events lie in our thoughts.
• The life of any person is the greatest value

To understand and accept these ideas, you must do your best to cultivate a positive attitude towards life. This means that we must believe that everything we want will definitely come true. That is why you need to tell yourself as often as possible: “I can do it,” “I can do it,” “I am worthy,” and other similar words. The motto of a positive-minded and positive-thinking person is “By changing myself, I change my life.”

If we really want tangible positive changes in our lives, we must learn to choose our own reactions to what today throws at us, to live here and now, to understand the uniqueness of each moment. More and more scientific research confirms the fact that emotions affect perception, and through positive psychology we can ensure that positive emotions begin to predominate.

Finding new solutions, coping with complex tasks, difficulties and problems, adequately accepting criticism and the actions of other people, enjoying life and getting pleasure from it, having true friends and not conflicting with anyone - all this is possible. We just need to have the right mindset and make sure that this mindset stays with us and within us always. This is exactly what positive psychology teaches.

That wraps it up, but to help you get even more positive, take a couple of minutes to read and repeat a few cool affirmations. And be happy today!

We also recommend reading:

• Storytelling
• Behaviorism: basic principles, representatives and directions
• Abraham Maslow "Motivation and Personality" - summary
• Criminal psychology
• Learned helplessness
• Cognitive psychology and cognitive psychotherapy
• Charette procedure
• The best blog content in 2020: psychology
• Learned helplessness
• Pezeshkian positive psychotherapy
• Wundt's method of studying psychology

Key words:1Psychoregulation