POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY - It can be applied to diff environments

- Distances us from toxic cultures.

- Develop positive social circles.
What is Positive Psychology? - Focuses on meaning.
- Focuses on personal improvement.
• Approach that focuses on what makes life
worth living. - Improves our chances of success.
• Build a good life that is repairing the bad.
• Highlights our strengths, instead of
weakness. Toxic Positivity
• Gives importance to happiness, gratitude, - It is an obsession with positive thinking.
resilience, hope, and positive self concepts. - It is a belief that everyone should always
have a positive mindset.
- It silences negative emotions like sorrow,
Learned Helplessness by Martin Seligman
grief, and sadness.
- We learn to become helpless and feel that - It makes people feel under pressure that
we have lost control over what happens to they always have to be positive.
our lives. (Strongly connected to diff. - It encourages pretentious happiness.
disorders like anxiety and depression)
- Exhibited by clients after enduring repeated
experiences beyond their control. How to Balance the Concept of Positive
- A mental state that “I have to bear these Psychology and the Concept of Toxic
negative experiences because I don’t have Positivity?
the power to battle them.”
1. Assess and understand the whole situation
Positive Psychology on: first.
2. Recognize your client’s negative emotion.
Gratitude – Influence our clients to be thankful for
3. Active listening: be ready to pause if
what we have right now.
necessary.
Resilience – We can always bounce back from our 4. Bank on the dynamic of your conversation.
failures and become a better version of ourselves. 5. Be flexible and open minded.
6. Remember that the client is the expert of
Happiness – Finding happiness even in the
their emotions, not you.
smallest things that surrounds us.
Hope – There’s always light at the end of the
tunnel. You may not see it now, but it’s there, Barbara Fredickson, Ph. D – took her undergrad
waiting for you. at Carleton College Northfield Minnesota and her
doctorate at Stanford University.
+ Self-Concept – I am beautiful. I am strong, I am
capable, I am worthy. I am loved. I am what I am. - A distinguished psychologists renowned
for her work in positive psychology.
- A professor at the University of North
Benefits of Pos Psychology Carolina at Chapel Hill.
- Authored several influential works on the
- It encourages gratitude.
sciences of happiness and emotional well-
- It tells us we can take control
being.
- Balances our relationship with money
- It encourages acts of kindness.
Philip Zimbardo - known for conducting the Building personal Well-Being Resources
famous Standford Prison Experiment
- explored the psychological effects of perceived 1. Physical Resources – positive emotions
power in simulated prison environment. can enhance health-related behaviors and
physiological resilience and can build
physical strength and stamina which can
Lewis Terman - a key figure in the development of contribute to long-term well-being.
intelligence testing and for creating the Standford 2. Intellectual Resources – experiencing
Binet Intelligence Scale. positive emotions can enhance cognitive
flexibility, creativity, and problem-solving
Carl Rogers – commonly associated with the abilities.
University of Chicago, he also worked at Stanford 3. Social Resources – positive emotions
during the early part of his career. - a central figure promote bonding and strengthen
in developing client-centered therapy and relationships which can in turn create
humanistic psychology. supportive social networks.

Albert Bandura - known for his Social Learning Durability and Future Use of Resources
Theory and the Bobo Doll Experiment contributed The “building” aspect of the theory
to our understanding of how behavior is learned suggests that these resources are long-lasting and
through observation ad imitation. not just fleeting benefits of momentary positive
emotions. Once developed, they can be stored and
Stanley Milgram – is more associated with yale accessed in the future to help maintain well-being.
University but worked with faculty and conducted
research at Standford known for his obedience Empirical Evidence
studies. Fredrickson and her colleagues have
conducted numerous studies demonstrating how
Carol Dweck – a professor at Standford – positive emotions contribute to overall well-being.
renowned for her work on the growth mindset and Key findings include;
how beliefs about intelligence can influence • Positive emotions undo the effect of
achievement and motivation. negative emotions, promoting faster
recovery from stress.
• Regular experience of positive emotions
Broaden and Build Theory leads to increased life satisfaction and
long-term happiness.
• Emphasizes that positive emotions play an • Positive emotions enhance resilience,
essential role in our survival. helping individuals cope with adversity
• Positive emotions like love, joy, and more effectively.
gratitude, promote new and creative
actions, ideas, and social bonds. Scientific Evidence for the “Undoing Effect”
• When experiencing positive emotions – • Those who experienced positive emotions
minds broaden and open new possibilities recovered faster from stress than those who
and ideas. remained in a neutral or negative emotional
• Positive emotions help people build their state.
personal well-being resources from • This suggests that positive emotions
physical to intellectual and social resources. actively counteract the lingering
physiological effects of negative emotions.
 Seligman’s PERMA+ Model: A Theory of of meaning is guided by personal values, and
Wellbeing people who report having purpose in life live longer
and have greater life satisfaction and fewer health
Seligman selected five components that problems.
people pursue because they are intrinsically
motivating, and they contribute to wellbeing. These Achievement - A sense of accomplishment is a
elements are pursued for their own sake and are result of working toward and reaching goals,
defined and measured independently of each other. mastering an endeavor, and having self-motivation
to finish what you set out to do. This contributes to
Positive Emotion – Is much more than mere wellbeing because individuals can look at their
‘happiness’. Positive emotions include hope, lives with a sense of pride. Accomplishment
interest, joy, love, compassion, pride, amusement, includes the concepts of perseverance and having a
and gratitude. Positive emotions are a prime passion to attain goals. But flourishing and
indicator of flourishing, and they can be cultivated wellbeing come when accomplishment is tied to
or learned to improve wellbeing. Increasing striving toward things with an internal motivation
positive emotions helps individuals build physical, or working toward something just for the sake of
intellectual, psychological, and social resources the pursuit and improvement.
that lead to this resilience and overall wellbeing.

Engagement – it is living in the present moment

and focusing entirely on the task at hand. Flow, or
this concept of engagement, occurs when the
perfect combination of challenge and skill/strength
is found. People are more likely to experience flow
when they use their top character strength.
Research on engagement has found that individuals
who try to use their strengths in new ways each day
for a week were happier and less depressed after six
months.

Relationships - Relationships in the PERMA

model refer to feeling supported, loved, and valued
by others. Relationships are included in the model
based on the idea that humans are inherently social
creatures. There is evidence of this everywhere, but
social connections become particularly important
as we age. Many people have a goal of improving
relationships with those they are closest to.
Research has demonstrated that sharing good news
or celebrating success fosters strong bonds and
better relationships.

Meaning - another intrinsic human quality is the

search for meaning and the need to have a sense of
value and worth. Having a purpose in life helps
individuals focus on what is really important in the
face of significant challenge or adversity. A sense