I was fortunate enough to watch a ted talk in one of my other courses that had Seligman talking about positive psychology. I was very interested when I found out that he only recently started studying positive psychology, and that most of his work has been working with the disease model within psychology. It made me think about how positive psychology is just now emerging as a field in terms of popularity. Referring to the video we watched in class on the hidden influence of relationships, I have come to see how important not only our relationships are but the way we perceive our everyday life. For instance, medication might lower the amount of symptoms, but that does mean an increased value of life. A focus on positive psychology, regardless …show more content…
The article also explains that at the individual level, positive personal traits are the focus. Seligman, I think, makes a great point when he talks about the shift of thinking in the field and the focus of treating individuals in a more holistic approach. While an individual may be functioning poorly in their life with jobs or drugs, there is more to the story. Focusing on an individual’s strengths and building up the skills or traits that the individual possess is essential for improving lives. The idea of positive psychology reminds me a lot of the Recovery Model that I learned from another course. Instead of focusing on deficits, individuals are treated based on their strengths and ways to bring satisfaction and meaning to an individual’s life despite their disorder or condition. Thinking about the whole topic of positive psychology makes me what to implement this into whatever career I find myself in. This approach could be applied to behavioral techniques used to treat mental illness. If more people were aware of the power of concepts within positive psychology, I believe we could see a large impact in …show more content…
Throughout my college career, I have learned many concepts, techniques, therapy styles, and disciplines within the field of psychology. It is really refreshing to read something that gives another perspective. Related to positive psychology, I feel as though implementing the concept of well-being therapy would be very beneficial despite any career I choose within this field. An interesting point the article made in regards to recovery was not only decreasing the negative symptoms, but building and increasing the positive ones. The concepts presented in the article (environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life, autonomy, self-acceptance, positive relations with others) really highlight some of the important ways to positively impact the lives of those being treated. It is unfortunate that there are still barriers that prevent these concepts from being incorporated into every clinician’s treatment plan. It makes sense when you look at the history of psychology and the system which has formed what we know as psychology today. It was nice to see a breakdown of the different sessions and the guidelines for each stage of the therapy process. It was also interesting to have the case study of the 23-year-old, to give a tangible example of how this process might be carried out. Reading this article made me think back to my volunteering work at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. As a peer
In B. L. Duncan, S. D. Miller, B.E. Wampold, & M.A. Hubble (Eds.), The heart and soul of change: Delivering what works in therapy (2nd ed., pp. 143-166). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Heitler, Susan. Ph.D. “8 Reasons to Cheer for Psychotherapy and to Broaden Its Availability.” Psychology Today. N.p. 10 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2013
...ment. The therapists would seek out all strengths they use to effectively deal with their life, while building upon their assets they already posses. The Hoovers may have “strengths and positive human qualities that are often unrecognized, unnamed, and unacknowledged, both in therapeutic and school settings” (Bernard, 1991). Teaching each individual techniques that identify strengths in themselves as well as using positive language to reframe how how they see their current circumstances will promote a more resilient perspective for the Hoovers. Also, an optimistic thinking style when life problems arise will increase the chances of a successful outcome. Richard Hoover shows that he is capable of this but anger and frustration impede further attainment of this techinique. The positive psychology approach would be usefull when working with each person, individually.
...ential impediment to postmodern and CBT interventions is practitioner incompetence. Psychological harm to clients is a potential danger of interventions implemented by untrained or inexperienced therapists. Likewise, the attitude and professional maturity of the practitioner are crucial to the value of the therapeutic process. In both approaches, whether taking on the role of teacher or collaborator, the therapist’s stance is one of positive regard, caring, and being with the client. While techniques and therapeutic styles may vary between and within the postmodern and CBT counseling approaches, they both enlist the client’s diligent participation and collaboration throughout the stages of therapy to accomplish positive therapeutic outcomes.
“Seligman (1998) noted positive psychology’s focus is to make the lives of all people rewarding and to build positive experiences”(Costello & Stone, 2012). His concern and main focus was to train and support staff, faculty, and administrators of positive psychology approaches and overall, helping their students grow as learn...
“Wellness conceptualized as the paradigm for counseling provides vigor-predicated strategies for assessing clients, conceptualizing issues developmentally, and orchestrating interventions to remediate dysfunction and optimize magnification. Wellness counseling models have stimulated consequential research that avails to compose the evidence base for practice in the counseling field. The development of these models is explicated, results of studies utilizing the models are reviewed, and implicative insinuations for research needed to further appraise clinical practice and advocacy efforts are discussed”(Myers & Sweeney 2008).There is numerous wellness models used in the counseling field today. The two that are mostly used is “The Wheel of Wellness” which is more a theoretical approach model and “The Indivisible Self” which is an evidenced based model of wellness.
One in five Americans, approximately 60 million people, have a mental illnesses (Muhlbauer, 2002).The recovery model, also referred to as recovery oriented practice, is generally understood to be defined as an approach that supports and emphasizes an individual’s potential for recovery. When discussing recovery in this approach, it is generally seen as a journey that is personal as opposed to having a set outcome. This involves hope, meaning, coping skills, supportive relationships, sense of the self, a secure base, social inclusion and many other factors. There has been an ongoing debate in theory and in practice about what constitutes ‘recovery’ or a recovery model. The major difference that should be recognized between the recovery model and the medical model is as follows: the medical model locates the abnormal behavior within an individual claiming a factor that is assumed to cause the behavior problems whereas, the recovery model tends to place stress on peer support and empowerment (Conrad and Schneider, 2009). This essay will demonstrate that the recovery model has come a long way in theory and practice and therefore, psychological well-being is achievable through this model.
Corey, C. (1991). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy (4th ed.). Pacific Grove, California, USA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. (Original work published 1977)
Roth, A., Fonagy, P. (2005). What works for Whom? A Critical Review of Psychotherapy Research. US: Guilford Press.
Corey, G. (2011). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. (ninth ed., pp. 291-301). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Another central construct to PC therapy are conditions of worth. The conditions come from the need for positive regard. These are “conditions under which the person is judged to be worthy of positive regard” (Carver & Scheier, 2008, p. 323). Conditions of worth arise by the positive evaluation of actions or feelings from an important loved one. Initially external, they...
Corey, G. (2013). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (9th Edition). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.
During therapy the importance of subjective experiences, the existence of the ability of personal growth and the importance of goal-directed meanings in life are emphasised (Frankl, 1959). Furthermore, the importance of the proper circumstances for the growth of self-concept (Rogers, 1959), the necessity of self-actualization and recognition of one's potential, accentuation of joy as part of life and authenticity are stimulated (Cave, 1999). The client is motivated to make one's own decisions without the intervention of the therapy leader. Focus is placed on present rather than on past and the therapist is more like an active listener. Roger's therapy was argued (Truax, 1996) that it is a simple form of behaviour therapy as it is using positive reinforcement. The humanistic therapy also incorporates other used techniques, such the already discussed Roger's person-centered therapy, Berne's (1964) transactional analysis, Perl's (1969) gestalt therapy, conjoint therapy, milieu therapy (Jones, 1953). These approaches are most useful with specific individuals, not with patients with particular disorders. Patients do acquire benefits from humanistic therapy approaches, however difficulty arises from the point of view whether science can adequately measure what the therapist finds meaningful about the changes they perceive during therapy (Yalom, 1980). The
Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2006); Methodological issues in positive psychology and the assessment of character strengths. In A.D. Ong & M. van Dulmen (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology (pp.292-305). Oxford: Oxford University Press; available from [Book]. Retrieved on 28 February 2014