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A bit of history on Positive Psychology
Even though that the earliest psychological researches are dated back to the ancient Greek times, it was not until the last decades of the 19th century when Psychology emerged as a separate discipline focused on studying the different aspects of the mind and human behaviours.
Back in the 70’s, Dr. Martin Seligman dedicated the first part of his career to the study of “learned helplessness”. This theory explained how humans and animals can learn to become helpless and feel they have lost control over what happens to them. Over time, he became frustrated with psychology’s overly focusing on the negative; he realised so much attention was paid to mental illness, trauma and suffering, and relatively little attention was dedicated to happiness and well-being.
In 1998, he was elected American Psychological Society President and decided to create a new field: Positive Psychology, to begin researching and finding out which aspects make life most worth living. You can watch his TED Talk where he describes this new field, which eventually formed the basis of the creation of what we now know as “coaching”. Regardless of how it has been understood in the past, Positive Psychology is not a pseudo-science but a discipline supported by extensive research.
The PERMA Model: How to apply the 5 elements of well-being in your life and work
This model summarises the core work of Dr. Seligman, and the specific actions we can take to boost our well-being:
P IS FOR POSITIVE EMOTION
Positive emotion includes happiness, optimism, pleasure, and enjoyment. One of the most important things we can do to promote these emotions is practicing gratitude. Create a morning routine of listing those things that we are grateful for such as having a nice bed, making us a great cup of coffee, spending time with those we love, and the beauty of nature, can help us reprogram our brain and overcome the bias of focusing on all the things that are going wrong in our lives.
E IS FOR ENGAGEMENT
Dr. Seligman defined Engagement as: A state of Flow where we are so concentrated that we merge with the present moment. This state brings a sense of contentment and we lose awareness of time and even the Self. We are fully merged with the task we are doing. In order to reach this state we need to perceive that we are facing a highly challenging task, but we also know that we are skilled enough to be successful. Which activities take you to this state of flow? How can you ensure you book time to do them on a regular basis? This could be writing a blog, painting, cooking, exercising, learning new skills for your work, etc.
R IS FOR RELATIONSHIPS
A lot of research has shown the importance of creating a sense of belonging to a community of like-minded people. We are gathering species, and I have seen through my psychotherapy experience that isolation is the number 1 cause of mental illness nowadays. Some ways we can find our tribe would be attending Meetup events and connecting with people with similar interests; joining a book club; if you are working remotely, finding a Co-working space so you can connect with others; or even just calling people that you love on a regular basis.
M IS FOR MEANING
For human beings, it is important that we are aligned with our purpose or calling. When coaching clients, I always help them to find their purpose and core values, in order to make decisions based on those values, and have a sense of integration. My advice to you would be to ask yourself questions such as: What are you here for? Why are you doing your line of work? And see what comes up for you.
A IS FOR ACHIEVEMENT
Finally, we all have a need for self-actualisation and growth. We all enjoy it when we are succeeding and working towards achieving our goals. When working with my clients, I help them set goals and a plan of action to reach them, because without an achievable objective, we are missing one of the most important parts of authentic well-being.
I believe the PERMA Model approach is an excellent way of working holistically with clients and integrating all of the different aspects of my Programmes. If you are interested in learning more about this.
