Positive Clinical Psychology: a new vision and strategy for integrated research and practice.

This review argues for the development of a Positive Clinical Psychology, which has an integrated and equally weighted focus on both positive and negative functioning in all areas of research and practice. Positive characteristics (such as gratitude, flexibility, and positive emotions) can uniquely predict disorder beyond the predictive power of the presence of negative characteristics, and buffer the impact of negative life events, potentially preventing the development of disorder. Increased study of these characteristics can rapidly expand the knowledge base of clinical psychology and utilize the promising new interventions to treat disorder through promoting the positive. Further, positive and negative characteristics cannot logically be studied or changed in isolation as (a) they interact to predict clinical outcomes, (b) characteristics are neither "positive" or "negative", with outcomes depending on specific situation and concomitant goals and motivations, and (c) positive and negative well-being often exist on the same continuum. Responding to criticisms of the Positive Psychology movement, we do not suggest the study of positive functioning as a separate field of clinical psychology, but rather that clinical psychology itself changes to become a more integrative discipline. An agenda for research and practice is proposed including reconceptualizing well-being, forming stronger collaborations with allied disciplines, rigorously evaluating the new positive interventions, and considering a role for clinical psychologists in promoting well-being as well as treating distress.

[1]  B. Fredrickson.  What Good Are Positive Emotions? , 1998, Review of general psychology : journal of Division 1, of the American Psychological Association.

[2]  N. Tarrier,et al.  The expressed emotion of case managers of the seriously mentally ill: the influence of expressed emotion on clinical outcomes , 2000, Psychological Medicine.

[3]  Stephen Joseph,et al.  Positive psychology: Past, present, and (possible) future , 2006 .

[4]  Stephen Joseph,et al.  The Authentic Personality: A Theoretical and Empirical Conceptualization and the Development of the Authenticity Scale , 2008 .

[5]  Stephen Joseph,et al.  The role of gratitude in the development of social support, stress, and depression : two longitudinal studies , 2008 .

[6]  P. Gooding,et al.  Resilience to suicidal ideation in psychosis: Positive self-appraisals buffer the impact of hopelessness. , 2010, Behaviour research and therapy.

[7]  Personality predictors of levels of forgiveness two and a half years after the transgression , 2008 .

[8]  J. E. Maddux,et al.  Conceptions of Psychopathology: A Social Constructionist Perspective , 2007 .

[9]  A. Geraghty,et al.  Gratitude and well-being: a review and theoretical integration. , 2010, Clinical psychology review.

[10]  M. Argyle,et al.  Happiness as a function of personality and social encounters. , 1989 .

[11]  M. Seligman,et al.  Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification , 2004 .

[12]  Jo-Ann Tsang,et al.  BRIEF REPORT Gratitude and prosocial behaviour: An experimental test of gratitude , 2006 .

[13]  P. Gooding,et al.  Defeat and entrapment in schizophrenia: The relationship with suicidal ideation and positive psychotic symptoms , 2010, Psychiatry Research.

[14]  N. Tarrier,et al.  Prevalence and predictors of acute stress disorder and PTSD following road traffic accidents: Thought control strategies and social support. , 2001 .

[15]  S. Lyubomirsky,et al.  Rethinking Rumination , 2008, Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

[16]  B. Fredrickson,et al.  Upward spirals of positive emotions counter downward spirals of negativity: insights from the broaden-and-build theory and affective neuroscience on the treatment of emotion dysfunctions and deficits in psychopathology. , 2010, Clinical psychology review.

[17]  P. Gooding,et al.  Post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal behavior: A narrative review. , 2009, Clinical psychology review.

[18]  J. Forgas,et al.  Recent advances in social psychology : an international perspective , 1989 .

[19]  A. Maslow.  Motivation and Personality , 1954 .

[20]  Neil Stewart,et al.  Conceptualizing gratitude and appreciation as a unitary personality trait , 2008 .

[21]  S. Joseph,et al.  Comment: positive psychology versus the medical model? , 2006, The American psychologist.

[22]  N. Tarrier,et al.  General practice Randomised controlled trial of non-directive counselling , cognitive-behaviour therapy , and usual general practitioner care for patients with depression . I : Clinical effectiveness , 2022 .

[23]  Stephen Palmer,et al.  5 Guest Editors Editorial - Special Issue: Positive coaching psychology: Integrating the science of positive psychology with the practice of coaching psychology , 2007 .

[24]  Sonja Lyubomirsky,et al.  Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: a practice-friendly meta-analysis. , 2009, Journal of clinical psychology.

[25]  Grand theories of personality cannot be integrated. , 2007, The American psychologist.

[26]  M. Seligman,et al.  Character strengths in the United Kingdom: The VIA Inventory of Strengths , 2007 .

[27]  P. Linley.  Counseling Psychology's Positive Psychological Agenda: A Model for Integration and Inspiration , 2006 .

[28]  K. Horney.  Neurosis And Human Growth , 1950 .

[29]  W. Mansell,et al.  An integrative mechanistic account of psychological distress, therapeutic change and recovery: the Perceptual Control Theory approach. , 2011, Clinical psychology review.

[30]  T. Kashdan,et al.  Psychological flexibility as a fundamental aspect of health. , 2010, Clinical psychology review.

[31]  S Nolen-Hoeksema,et al.  Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: two construals of meaning. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[32]  M. Fordyce.  A program to increase happiness: Further studies. , 1983 .

[33]  Randomised controlled trial of non-directive counselling, cognitive-behaviour therapy, and usual general practitioner care for patients with depression. II: Cost effectiveness , 2000, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[34]  N. Tarrier.  Broad Minded Affective Coping (BMAC): A "Positive" CBT Approach to Facilitating Positive Emotions , 2010 .

[35]  B. E. Hogan,et al.  Social support interventions: do they work? , 2002, Clinical psychology review.

[36]  H. Cooper,et al.  The happy personality: a meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being. , 1998, Psychological bulletin.

[37]  E. Gullone,et al.  The clinical significance of loneliness: a literature review. , 2006, Clinical psychology review.

[38]  Stéphane Côté,et al.  Expressing anger in conflict: when it helps and when it hurts. , 2007, The Journal of applied psychology.

[39]  B. Held.  The tyranny of the positive attitude in America: observation and speculation. , 2002, Journal of clinical psychology.

[40]  A. Bohart.  Focusing on the positive, focusing on the negative: implications for psychotherapy. , 2002, Journal of clinical psychology.

[41]  D. Watson,et al.  On the specificity of positive emotional dysfunction in psychopathology: evidence from the mood and anxiety disorders and schizophrenia/schizotypy. , 2010, Clinical psychology review.

[42]  Elisabeth Howler.  [Focusing on the positive]. , 2012, Pflege Zeitschrift.

[43]  J. Levin.  A Prolegomenon to an Epidemiology of Love: Theory, Measurement, and Health Outcomes , 2000 .

[44]  P. Taylor,et al.  Does the CES-D measure a continuum from depression to happiness? Comparing substantive and artifactual models , 2010, Psychiatry Research.

[45]  B. Fredrickson,et al.  The Undoing Effect of Positive Emotions , 2000, Motivation and emotion.

[46]  N. Tarrier.  The Cognitive and Behavioral Treatment of PTSD, What Is Known and What Is Known to Be Unknown: How Not to Fall Into the Practice Gap , 2010 .

[47]  M. Seligman,et al.  Positive psychology progress: empirical validation of interventions. , 2005, The American psychologist.

[48]  C. R. Snyder,et al.  Handbook of positive psychology , 2002 .

[49]  A. Wood,et al.  The dark side of conscientiousness : conscientious people experience greater drops in life satisfaction following unemployment , 2010 .

[50]  Michael E. Hyland,et al.  Dissociating the facets of hope: Agency and pathways predict dropout from unguided self-help therapy in opposite directions , 2010 .

[51]  Ian Brissette,et al.  The role of optimism in social network development, coping, and psychological adjustment during a life transition. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[52]  A. Wood,et al.  The absence of positive psychological (eudemonic) well-being as a risk factor for depression: a ten year cohort study. , 2010, Journal of affective disorders.

[53]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  Why positive psychology is necessary. , 2001, The American psychologist.

[54]  D. Myers.  The funds, friends, and faith of happy people. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[55]  Tayyab Rashid,et al.  Positive psychotherapy. , 2018, The American psychologist.

[56]  S. Joseph.  Is the CES-D a Measure of Happiness? , 2006, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

[57]  M. Gregus,et al.  FOCUS ARTICLE: Eight Decades of Measurement in Depression , 2006 .

[58]  T. Kashdan,et al.  Gratitude and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in Vietnam war veterans. , 2006, Behaviour research and therapy.

[59]  Angela L. Duckworth,et al.  Positive psychology in clinical practice. , 2005, Annual review of clinical psychology.

[60]  E L Grigorenko,et al.  Unified psychology. , 2001, The American psychologist.

[61]  B. Wampold,et al.  Psychotherapy: the humanistic (and effective) treatment. , 2007, The American psychologist.

[62]  Stephen Joseph,et al.  Gratitude uniquely predicts satisfaction with life: Incremental validity above the domains and facets of the five factor model , 2008 .

[63]  B. Wampold,et al.  Where oh where are the specific ingredients? A meta-analysis of component studies in counseling and psychotherapy. , 2001 .

[64]  B. Fredrickson.  The role of positive emotions in positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. , 2001, The American psychologist.

[65]  A. Wood,et al.  Assessment of positive functioning in clinical psychology: theoretical and practical issues. , 2010, Clinical psychology review.

[66]  A. Wood,et al.  Money or mental health: the cost of alleviating psychological distress with monetary compensation versus psychological therapy , 2010, Health Economics, Policy and Law.

[67]  I. Goldiamond,et al.  Social Casework: A Behavioral Approach , 1975 .

[68]  E. Cowen,et al.  "POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY": SOME PLUSSES AND SOME OPEN ISSUES , 2002 .

[69]  Richard S. Lazarus,et al.  TARGET ARTICLE: Does the Positive Psychology Movement Have Legs? , 2003 .

[70]  Stephen Joseph,et al.  Gratitude predicts psychological well-being above the Big Five facets , 2009 .

[71]  P. Gooding,et al.  Are defeat and entrapment best defined as a single construct , 2009 .

[72]  A. Day,et al.  Readiness for anger management: clinical and theoretical issues. , 2003, Clinical psychology review.

[73]  L. Salmaso,et al.  Well-Being Therapy of Generalized Anxiety Disorder , 2004, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.

[74]  E. Rosenberg.  Levels of Analysis and the Organization of Affect , 1998 .

[75]  James J. Gross,et al.  Hedonic and Instrumental Motives in Anger Regulation , 2008, Psychological science.

[76]  T. Kashdan,et al.  Character strengths and well-being in Croatia: An empirical investigation of structure and correlates , 2010 .

[77]  S. Joseph,et al.  Person-Centered Personality Theory: Support from Self-Determination Theory And Positive Psychology , 2007 .

[78]  A. Bohart,et al.  Humanistic psychology and positive psychology. , 2001, The American psychologist.

[79]  Stephen Joseph,et al.  Positive psychology in practice , 2004 .

[80]  Nicholas Tarrier,et al.  Resilience as positive coping appraisals: Testing the schematic appraisals model of suicide (SAMS). , 2010, Behaviour research and therapy.

[81]  C. R. Snyder,et al.  Toward a Positive Clinical Psychology: Deconstructing the Illness Ideology and Constructing an Ideology of Human Strengths and Potential , 2012 .

[82]  S. Joseph,et al.  Positive Therapy: A Meta-Theory for Positive Psychological Practice , 2006 .

[83]  E. Chang,et al.  The positive psychology of negative thinking. , 2002, Journal of clinical psychology.

[84]  Robin M. Kowalski,et al.  Whining, griping, and complaining: positivity in the negativity. , 2002, Journal of clinical psychology.

[85]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  In search of the organismic valuing process: the human tendency to move towards beneficial goal choices. , 2003, Journal of personality.

[86]  B. Held.  The Negative Side of Positive Psychology , 2004 .

[87]  N. Tarrier,et al.  Self-esteem in schizophrenia: relationships between self-evaluation, family attitudes, and symptomatology. , 2003, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[88]  N. Tarrier.  The Future of the Medical Model: A Reply to Guze , 1979, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[89]  M. Csíkszentmihályi,et al.  Positive psychology. An introduction. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[90]  G. Fava,et al.  Well-being therapy. A novel psychotherapeutic approach for residual symptoms of affective disorders , 1998, Psychological Medicine.

[91]  Shelly L. Gable,et al.  What do you do when things go right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing positive events. , 2004, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[92]  B. Fredrickson,et al.  “We All Look the Same to Me” , 2005, Psychological science.

[93]  D. Machin,et al.  Textbook of Clinical Trials , 2010 .

[94]  I. Kirsch.  Placebo psychotherapy: synonym or oxymoron? , 2005, Journal of clinical psychology.

[95]  Blair E. Wisco,et al.  Depressive cognition: self-reference and depth of processing. , 2009, Clinical psychology review.

[96]  S. Lilienfeld,et al.  Posttraumatic stress disorder: an empirical evaluation of core assumptions. , 2008, Clinical psychology review.

[97]  C. Rogers.  Client-Centered Therapy: Its Current Practice, Implications and Theory , 1951 .

[98]  A. Wood,et al.  Letter to the Editor: An agenda for the next decade of psychotherapy research and practice , 2010, Psychological Medicine.

[99]  L. Radloff.  The CES-D Scale , 1977 .

[100]  M. Hyland,et al.  Attrition from self-directed interventions: investigating the relationship between psychological predictors, intervention content and dropout from a body dissatisfaction intervention. , 2010, Social science & medicine.

[101]  M. Fordyce.  Development of a Program to Increase Personal Happiness. , 1977 .

[102]  M. Seligman.  Positive psychology, positive prevention, and positive therapy. , 2002 .

[103]  R. Woolfolk.  The power of negative thinking: Truth, melancholia, and the tragic sense of life. , 2002 .

[104]  Stephen Joseph,et al.  Person-centred psychopathology : a positive psychology of mental health , 2005 .

[105]  Murray R. Barrick,et al.  Relating member ability and personality to work-team processes and team effectiveness. , 1998 .

[106]  Shelly L. Gable,et al.  What (and Why) is Positive Psychology? , 2005 .

[107]  S. Joseph,et al.  Positive psychology versus the medical model?: Comment. , 2006 .

[108]  S. Joseph,et al.  Growth following adversity: theoretical perspectives and implications for clinical practice. , 2006, Clinical psychology review.