Positive Psychology: WJEC: Positive Approach

Other approaches focused on the ‘disease’ model of human behaviour (psychological illness) while he thought it better to understand and help people achieve a more positive state of mind and hence to flourish.

1. Authenticity of goodness and excellence.
   - humans are more robust and can recover quicker than general psychology would have us believe

2. Assumption that we have free will
   - humanist notion that we have the ability to choose freely and hence pursue self-actualisation, which in turn reduces stress

3. Focus on the good life
   - Drawing on Aristotle (384-322BC) Seligman’s three types of happy lives
   (a) the pleasant life
   (b) the meaningful life
   (c) the life of engagement or the good life

NB: Aristotle also emphasised the importance of aretē, or the pursuit of excellence in life.

We live by generating as many positive emotions as we can and learning the skills to make this happen - aka ‘the pursuit of pleasure’

Knowing our key strengths and using them in the service of something bigger than our selves (e.g., entrepreneurs, composers, motivational speakers and educators, founders of charities)

The integrated life in which all of one’s values come together and whether we are at work, play, or engaging in a relationship we can be focused and ‘in the zone’ or ‘the flow’, thoroughly absorped in what we’re doing that time does not have any meaning. This can be reached through practice, calming the mind of distractions, and being engaged (100% conscious in what we do).

NB for your interest…
There are dozens of other writers, by the way, that the psychology books do not mention: start with Eckhardt Tolle, David Hawkins, Byron Katie, Jack Canfield … it’s a huge and interesting field (ed.)

Pleasure is subject to the law of diminishing returns -

the first glass of wine - lovely!

the second glass - nice!

the third glass - I’m being polite

the fourth glass - I’m feeling woozy

the fifth glass - I’m feeling sick

the sixth glass - doesn’t happen

(subjective review of drinking - put your own values in! - ed)

We are at one with what we’re doing (in the zone, pursuing a meaningful purpose)

this can happen in art, dancing, professionally engaging work, writing…

*Seligman argues that we can work towards the good life by identifying personal strengths (finding our purpose/niche) and then living for them -

(see it in action with top sports people or artists engrossed in their work - ed),

The flow is inhibited by TV and the multiplicity of ‘distractions’ in modern live

Cf. The War of Art book (Steven Pressfield), written by a writers fight to get to his desk to write…easy to read and very useful for students - ed.

FREE WILL -

FOR:supported by the justice system and we expect people to be responsible for their actions.

AGAINST: Diener and Biswas-Diener (2008) claim happiness is genetically determined and that 20-50% of our happiness is outside of our control - no matter how hard we try, happiness is never under our complete control (Reminds me of argumeents from karma - born to be miserable…- ed)

COUNTER: the pursuit of happiness can be learned; even if we start off with the odds stacked against us, learning to let go, forgive, pursue our purposes, live a life of integrity, we can grow - review stories of ex-drug addicts, troubled kids, etc. who have an ‘epiphany’ that they needed to change - John Asaraf, Byron Katie are two that come immediately to mind - ed.)

MEASUREMENT OF HAPPINESS

FOR: Neurological evidence from brain scans show that the prefrontal cortex is more active when we’re happy (I’d also add in the research of Dr Daniel Amen whose clinics have scanned thousands of people…traipses into the biological approach - ed)

AGAINST: many psychologists’ research is based on self-reporting and may not be accurate or be subject to demand characteristics. Hence subjective and not reliable.

COUNTER: brain scans are not subjective but can be reviewed objectively

Pursuit of the good life is one that covers all areas of your life. “How you do anything, is how you do everything,” is a common frame by such thinkers.

Myers and Diener (1995) note how important close relationships are to the good life to enable people to buffer themselves against the stresses and strains of every day life. They looked at the relationship to close friends that could be confided in.

(That is, if your friends are miserable and sarcastic and always pulling you down, you’ll find that’s not good for pursuing the better life! Ed)

Diener and Seligman (2002) found that people judged us very happy spent less time alone and more time socialising than individuals related as average or very unhappy.

COMMENTS: Nonetheless, the happy individual is not one who relies on being sociable, and sociability can be seen as an escape from depressive thoughts and the perceived futility of life (see independence).

But the research does suggest that the more and better quality friendships that people have, the happier and more satisfied they feel in life.

Friendships enable us to get more out of positive events by sharing the good times/news - eg., celebrating a birth, marriage, a promotion: such events cement the good life for us but also for our friends (who see and are reminded that happiness and good fortune are possible)

A sense of independence has a positive effect on our well-being.

The forming of friendships can help us feel more independent by creating a network of friends whom we can rely on to help us progress in life and also to find our own purposes.

This is known as the ‘dependency paradox’ (Feeney, 2007).

Mindfulness as a therapy derived from meditation and having origins in Buddhist thought.

Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 launched is Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Programme.

The idea is to develop a sense of being in the here and now, to be aware of what is happening in the environment around us, in our body, and to be aware of the thoughts that passed through her mind. We do this without judgement, but merely acting as an observer.

A sense of unattachment (being “of the world, not in it”) can help an individual gain a more objective perspective of emotions and thoughts and not believe that emotions or thoughts identify them.

In turn this can help improve the sense of well-being and assist in improving relationships with others.

Focusing on the here and now enabling an ability to focus over long periods.

Breathing exercises can help bring one’s attention back (focus on breathing, the flow of air in and out, allowing thoughts to come and go like credits passing on a screen at the end of a film).

Acknowledgement of feeling or thought (like one acknowleedges the existence of a cloud in a sky) and letting it go - what can you do about a cloud, so what can you do about a thought?

(the brain presents thoughts, just like the heart presents beats - we don’t judge the latter, so why judge the former?

Accepting a mindset, an attitude, emotion or string of thoughts as a scientist/observer would accept the results of an experiment - with a sense of detachment and with no desire to change them.

They are what they are. That allows painful and unpleasant emotions to be recognised rather than be repressed or avoided.

NB: ‘Pain’ and ‘unpleasant’ are also conditioned beliefs that we latch onto and impose on ourselves; would a scientist comment that these results are unpleasant or painful? He or she might if they disrupt their expectations, but the scientist must then accept that their expectations were ego driven and not one of acceptance.

NB2: For some thinkers, nly the ego would have us identity with such concepts such as ‘this upsettedness (anger, frustration, pain) is who I am’, rather than saying, oh, I am being upset (angry, frustrated, in pain) at the moment.

The ‘positive approach’ draws on Stoic philosophy as well as a verstion of Freud’s thoughts on the ego as a petty self, or an identity that believes itself to be godlike rather than - in some thinkers’ arguments - a cocktail of programmes and applications learned from others - ed)

On auto-pilot.

We do not stop to build any sense of awareness, so pains and insecurities (beliefs about the past, expectations about the future) become automatic responses and hence the self identifies with them.

Non-judging - being the impartial witness of our experiences

Patence - to experience without rushing (think about kissing…)

Trust in the self - feelings, wisdome, innate goodness

Childlike mind - open up the mind as if experiencing something for the first time

Non-striving - having no purpose in being in the moment (that does not imply a life without purposes, goals, things to do though)

Acceptance - taking each moment as it comes and being with it

Letting go - not judging and allowing negative thoughts and feelings to be acknowledged (like allowing a child to have their anger or cry)

(cf. the book Letting Go, Dr David Hawkins; he employs psychiatric medical experience, psychoanalysis and a broadly ‘spiritual’ approach to life - ed.

Davidson et all (2003) - studied the effects of mindfulness meditation on brain function and immune system.

25 employees were taken through a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Programme vs 16 in a control group.

Brain activity was measured before, after the programme, and four months later.

The mindfulness group showed higher brain activity and responded to a flu jab with higher antibodies than the control group.

Hōlzel et al (2011) found that 30mins daily meditation improved the brain’s grey matter in areas associated with memory, stress, and empathy.

In a variety of studies in peer reviewed journals, researchers in the US found that Transcendental Meditation (TM), taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi led to:

21% increase in graduation rates at High School

10% improvement in test scores

increased school attendance

40% rduction in teenagers’ stress, anxiety, depression

40-55% reduction in army veterans’ Post Traumatic Stress

42% decrease in insomnia in veterans

Reduced flashbacks for abused women and girls

Twice the effectiveness for reducing alcoholism and substance abuse

Reductioni in coronary heart disese risk factors in medical patients

Competency of the practitioners - some complete an eight week course with a year’s work before being allowed to work with client, which raises the issue of how a short training period could be when potentially dealing with complex psychological issues

Informed consent - are clients made aware of the intentions of mindfulness meditation practices, which may clash with their religious beliefs

Unintended consequences (true of any psychological intervention) - being open to awareness of personal traumas may ‘opne a flood gate’ or anger or other repressed emotions, which may have an impact on others’ lives too (family…) - would the patient/client be prepared for this?

Developed by Frisch (2006) (but as ancient as the blooming hill), this uses findings from the positive approach to help clients identify and meet their goals.

Clients are taught strategies to deal with 16 areas of life.

The therapise works collaboratively with the client in an effort to create a common understanding.

Clients’ needs are assessed with an ‘quality of life inventory’ before and after therapy

Only areas deemed important by the client are worked on, and the aim is for the client to become ‘their own therapist’, able to work on areas needing attention by themselves.

Health

Self-esteem

Goals and values

Self-enhancement

Relationships

Environment

Helping (others)

This is the idea that one’s life is made up of five parts and that a change to any one of the five can bring about overall improvements.

This is the CASIO model:

Circumstances: e.g., where you work, relationship with others may be toxix

Attitude: your perception of your work, study, others - do you see your work or others as ‘beneath you’?

Standards: are your standards too high and unrealistic leading to a ccyle of unfulfilled expectations?

Importance: are your values prioritised, so do you see earning A grades more important than being there for your health or for your friends’ needs?

Overall Happiness - other areas that you perceive to be of lesser importance (eg exercise, sleep) that may need interventon to improve overall happiness.

Clients are encouraged to do something purely for fun but which also is sufficiently engaging to encourage a state of flow., e.g., go to a spa, visit a friend, go to the beach.

(Though this is in the textbook, Frisch’s work is not widely noted on the web; that doesn’t matter as the principle is covered by many authors in other books without noting Frisch who is basically referencing the old adage ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’! - ed

Rodrigue et al (2005) - study of lung disease patients suffering from anxiety and stress while they waited for a new lung

Patients were randomly assigned to 8-12 weeks of therapy

After three months, 76% of ppts reported improved levels of life statisfaction compared with 27% receiving traditional support.

Primary care givers and spouses also expressed an improvement in their relationship with the patients - improved mood.

Frisch though cautions that our level of happiness is limited by our genetics, it has a ‘happiness set point’. This is highly contentious though and does suggest a ‘limiting belief’ that would be questioned by positive approach researchers!

Q of Life - respects diversity of clients and accepts their different needs and backgrounds (socioeconomic, gender, age etc)

It assumes that while there are general princples that can be applied, people will also need different things to help them improve (rather than one size fits all policy) - this accepts individual differences

Q of Life nonetheless aims to prescribe a course of action, which raises issues of the right to withdraw, a right that clients should be told

(well, at least it’s not like having part of your brain removed as in psychosurgery! - ed)