Positive approach

• Positive approach


  Focuses on people's strengths and well-being rather than just problems and weaknesses
• Assumptions of the positive approach


  • Acknowledgement of free will
  • Authenticity of goodness and excellence
  • Focus on 'the good life'
• Acknowledgement of free will

  • The role of free will can be seen in the use of mindfulness and quality of life therapy
  • Individuals are able to exercise free will to be more conscious of the present and use this to increase their levels of happiness
  • Humans have the free will to develop their signature strengths and have control over their own well-being
• Authenticity of goodness and excellence

  • Psychology had become focused on negative aspects of personality such as stress and depression
  • It is just as important to research and support individuals who are 'ok' and wish to develop their own personal sense of well-being
  • There are 24 character strengths that each individual has in different degrees and should be encouraged to nurture and develop
• Focus on 'the good life'

  • The pleasant life - refers to activities that are focused on positive emotions
  • The good life - means engaging in activities that absorb us and help us to reach a state of flow
  • The meaningful life - refers to the state of fulfilment we get from using our character strengths for a deeper purpose
• Positive psychology has become extremely popular and has helped contribute to an increased focus on improving well-being across society (for example, in schools and the workplace)
• There is evidence that a belief in free will and personal control is associated with a greater subjective well-being
• Diener and Seligman (2002) found that 'very happy' students had stronger romantic and other social relationships and were more sociable than the less happy groups
• Olsson et al (2012) found that children who had wider social networks and engaged in more social activities such as playing sports were happier as adults
• Kashdan et al (2017) found that when individuals showed a greater appreciation of their partner's character strengths, this was associated with positive outcomes of the relationship, such as greater commitment and support for each other's goals
• Sonja Lyubomirsky (2007) found that 40% of the variance in happiness is due to intentional activity
• Quality of life therapy


  An approach to well-being that aims to increase life satisfaction and happiness by helping individuals identify and work towards fulfilling their life goals
• Quality of life inventory

  • A self-report questionnaire which covers 16 areas of life and assesses the importance the individual gives to each area as well as their current satisfaction
• CASIO model


  • Characteristics - the physical and social characteristics of an area
  • Attitude - the individual's subjective perception of an area
  • Standards - the standards people expect for a particular area of life
  • Importance - the importance placed on a particular area of life by the individual
  • Overall satisfaction - the impact of satisfaction in other areas
• The CASIO model is used as a structure for the therapist/coach to work with the client to develop problem solving strategies
• Satisfaction with life


  This has an impact on overall satisfaction
• If someone views one area as more important (such as their work)


  Any issues in this area will have a greater impact on overall quality of life
• Overall satisfaction


  The final part of the model recognises that satisfaction in areas of life which might not be of key focus can also have an impact on areas seen as more important
• How the model is used

  1. The model is used as a structure for the therapist/coach to work with the client to develop problem solving strategies

  2. The 'S' part of the model (standards) means the individual could be guided to set more realistic goals

  3. For the 'O' aspect of the model (overall satisfaction), they could look at ways of increasing satisfaction in other areas to boost overall happiness
• Well-being and happiness can be enhanced by improving life satisfaction and helping the individual to work on their needs and goals
• Quality of life therapy uses positive psychology principles to help individuals improve their life satisfaction in key areas
• Quality of life therapy is supported by research evidence, although this is often done on individuals without specific psychiatric conditions, therefore it may be less effective in these cases