Positive psychology

Positive psychology was founded by Martin Seligman. Different from positive thinking which has not been scientifically proven, positive psychology is a psychology based on scientific research. She invites the person to train their mind.

Positive psychology is the psychology of “what goes well”, it is the study of well-being. This psychology is there to reflect the fact that it is indeed important to understand and respond to patients' problems but it is just as important to highlight the strengths, the qualities of what makes life “worth living”. What allows us to access well-being? Positive psychology is intended to promote positive attitudes.

For positive psychology it is therefore important to work on the strengths and values of people.

Values ​​have an important place in positive psychology. Values ​​represent a “contract with oneself”. Our actions will flow from our values. They represent what is important to us. They guide us and allow us to find the motivation to carry out certain tasks. When we perform behaviors that are consistent with our values, a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment will be even more important. They are sources of well-being and happiness.

Positive psychology is not about living in a world of care bears where everything is pretty and beautiful. But rather in acceptance of one's emotions, in a certain realism and on resilience (which is the ability to overcome traumatic shocks for example). So the goal will be to adopt new attitudes towards the difficulties that may come our way.

Another notion takes its place in positive psychology, it is the notion of strength. We all have character strengths. These strengths are what allow us to behave, to think or to feel in the most optimal way possible to promote good functioning. After several studies, authors managed to identify 24 character strengths divided into 6 categories of virtues. 

Wisdom and knowledge

• Curiosity and interest in the world
• Love of learning
• Judgment, critical sense, open-mindedness
• Ingenuity, originality, practical intelligence
• Clairvoyance, perspective, perspective

Courage

• Valor and bravery 
• Perseverance, assiduity, diligence
• Integrity, Authenticity, Sincerity
• Enthusiasm

 

Humanity and love

• Love and attachment
• Kindness and generosity
• Social intelligence

 

Justice

• Team spirit, sense of duty, loyalty
• Equity, impartiality
• Sense of command: leadership

Moderation

• Sorry
• Humility and modesty
• Prudence, discretion, precaution
• Self-control, self-regulation

Transcendence

• Appreciation of beauty and excellence 
• Gratitude
• Hope, optimism and orientation towards the future
• Joy and humor
• Spirituality, search for the meaning of life, faith, religiosity

If you want to know your strengths, there is a test. You can find it in particular by clicking here. These strengths are an important factor in our development. Calling on them allows us to have pleasure and to have greater satisfaction.

In positive psychology we find 5 fundamental pillars brought together in a model, the PERMA model. In this model, we find the main components that allow us to participate in well-being. 

• P for positive emotions, that is to say the positive emotions : in this category we find the different positive emotions which can lead to well-being. For example, we find pleasure, comfort, warmth, interest... It is necessary to have more focus on positive emotions of his daily life.
• E for Commitment: it is the fact of living optimal experience, also called flow. To do this, we will carry out tasks in which we feel totally absorbed, to the point of losing focus. concept of time. There is total commitment to this activity. These are activities that appeal to our skills (e.g. playing music). In particular, they will allow us to bring out positive emotions but also to be able to bring out additional skills. 
• R for relationships, i.e. positive social relationships : Happiness is not individualistic but is also dependent on our relationships with others. Humans are fundamentally social animals. These relationships can make you feel more empowered security, by the support during difficult times. 
• M for meaning, that is to say the meaning : the goal will be to find meaning to his life. To gain meaning, it can be important to be part of something bigger than yourself. That is to say, serve a cause bigger than us and who matters to us. 
• A for Accomplishment, i.e. the accomplishment : the feeling of accomplishment has an important place in well-being. Indeed, it is important to have personal goals to achieve. Se set a goal and do everything to achieve it. It is necessary to take the time to realize the path traveled and the contributions of achieving this goal. It is important to have successes in his life for to be able to fully flourish.

 

This model allows us to refer to it in order to move more and more towards well-being. It is important to be aware of this model in order to to apply its various recommendations. It is also necessary to be attentive to positive emotions, to find and participate in activities which make us fully happy, to carry his focus on positive social relationships with our loved ones. It is also necessary to carry pay attention to the meaning that we want to give to our life as well as to the goals that we wish to achieve.

The understanding of positive psychology, as well as the tools used in it, have enriched cognitive-behavioral therapy. Thus in the pursuit of positive psychology, during virtual reality exposures, the therapist will lead the patient to focus his attention on the positive contributions of the exposures as well as the positive emotions. 

The VRET will advise exercises to be performed between sessions in order to continue the patient's progress. Among these exercises, the psychologist can explain and advise the use of positive psychology exercises.

A few simple exercises that have proven effective: 

• Every day, take some time at the end of the day to write down in a notebook the positive things about our day. The principle is to try to find 3. This can range from important events to much smaller events that brought positive emotions to that moment (example: an interesting discussion with a person, a good meal, etc.). 
• Along the same lines, rather than writing down positive things about your day, you can focus your writing on your successes during the day. All these little victories, these little things in your day that you managed to accomplish (ex: I put my papers in order; I took the time to prepare my meals for the week...)
• As we saw in the PERMA model, it is important to carry out activities that make us pleasure and in which we can fully immerse ourselves. For example, you can make a list of activities that you would like to do. Then plan your activities in your diary! 
• Now that you have identified your strengths, choose one each day or week and try to put it into action.

 

Practice mindfulness exercises as soon as you can, which allows you to be in the here and now.