Positive approach

Focus on the Good Life

Pleasant life- activities focused on making us feel good e.g. eating your favourite food

The good life- Engaging in activities that help us reach flow state e.g. focusing on our signature strengths

The meaningful life- Fulfilment we get from using our strengths for a deeper purpose e.g. campaigning for a issue you believe in

Example of focus on the good life

Reaching flow, this is engaging in an activity that you find challenging but you have the skills to complete it

Authenticity of goodness and excellence

Positive approach believes that psychology had become too focused on negative aspects of personality like depression so by focusing on positive traits and self-improvement, we can view human behaviour in a much more positive way

Example of authenticity of goodness and excellence

Theory of signature strengths- We have 24 character strengths and are encouraged to develop them to improve wellbeing

Acknowledgement of free will

The disease model removes responsibility from individuals so the positive approach believes that humans have the power to choose how they react to a situation meaning that happiness is accessible to all of us as we are in control of our lives

Example of acknowledgement of free will

Mindfulness and quality of life therapy where individuals are encouraged to become more aware of their own feelings and emotions.

Application to relationship

40% of the variance in happiness is due to intentional activity, one intentional activity that can improve happiness is nurturing social relationships, therefore we can exercise our free will to improve and maintain our relationships which in turn increases our wellbeing

Therapy

Mindfulness is used to become more aware of what is happening in the present moment instead of worrying about the past or the future, an example of this is meditation, the individual is guided through paying attention to sensations in different body parts without reacting to them

NAANA- Normal

Feeling in control of our thoughts can help an individual to achieve happiness

NAANA- Abnormal

Individuals who do not feel in control of their thoughts may experience psychological problems

NAANA-Aim

Use mindfulness to make people more aware of their own thoughts and be able to self-regulate them.

NAANA- Normal again

It increases awareness of bodily sensations to help us identify stress responses therefore any feelings of stress should pass more quickly

NAANA-Alternative

Mindfulness is more appropriate than drug therapy as drug therapy does not allow the individual to feel in control of their recovery

Effectiveness

Compared children in secondary schools who took part in the mindfulness in schools programme to those who took part in the usual school curriculum. Children who were involved in the mindfulness programme reported less stress and greater wellbeing compared to the control group

Effectiveness 2

Mindfulness therapy was compared with other treatments in people who had previously suffered from depression. Mindfulness protected against relapse in people with a history of childhood trauma but didn’t help other participants.

Ethics

It is a ethical therapy as it has few side effects and takes a positive attitude towards wellbeing

Applications

Mindfulness is widely used and accessible this is a strength as it has benefited society across a range of areas like health and workplace

Scientific

Studies have taken place to measure happiness this is a strength because it makes the approach more credible

Free will

Therapy’s like mindfulness included using free will this is a weakness because placing to much responsibility on individuals for their happiness could mean that people end up feeling worse as the pressure get to them

Holistic

It makes identifying causes and treatments more difficult as its looking at more complex explanations of wellebing