The Journal of Positive Psychology · 2014 · 342 citations · 106 references
EducationCounselingPsychologyClinical PsychologyMental Health CounselingPsychotherapyMental HealthStrengths AssessmentStrengths-based CounselingPilot TrialsStrength-based PracticeStrengths AwarenessStrengths-based Formulation
Positive psychotherapy builds on positive psychology and Peterson’s character strengths framework, integrating strengths and weaknesses to provide a balanced view of human experience beyond deficit-focused therapy. The paper argues for an alternative psychotherapy that gives equal weight to negative and positive aspects of clients’ lives. It outlines PPT’s core assumptions and details the clinical exercises used to apply these principles in practice. Pilot studies show promising outcomes, highlight methodological caveats, and point to future research directions.
Positive psychotherapy (PPT) is a therapeutic approach broadly based on the principles of positive psychology. Rooted in Chris Peterson's groundbreaking work on character strengths, PPT integrates symptoms with strengths, resources with risks, weaknesses with values, and hopes with regrets in order to understand the inherent complexities of human experiences in a way that is more balanced than the traditional deficit-oriented approach to psychotherapy. This paper makes the case of an alternative approach to psychotherapy that pays equal attention and effort to negatives and positives. It discusses PPT's assumptions and describes in detail how PPT exercises work in clinical settings. The paper summarizes results of pilot studies using this approach, discusses caveats in conducting PPT, and suggests potential directions.
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