The 7 Best Positive Psychology Techniques

Positive psychology is currently very booming, and taking into account that it is a discipline still relatively new, people often talk about them without knowing exactly what it is or what they consist of his methods.

In this article we are going to review some of the best positive psychology techniques out there, and we will also review the concepts related to this paradigm of psychology, so that the reader can know exactly what it is about and in which areas it can be used.

• Related article: "Positive Psychology: how can you be truly happy?"

What is positive psychology?

Positive psychology techniques seek to provide an alternative for psychological well-being that does not focus so much on combating mental disorders. related to sadness, depression and other maladaptive ways that some people lead their daily lives, but rather focuses their efforts in enhance those healthy psychological dynamics that are already present in the individual.

This area of ​​psychology is relatively new, it only emerged in 1998, which is why it still exists today. certain degree of confusion regarding its contributions and functions within the field of behavioral sciences.

The main objective that positive psychology seeks is to that people learn to change the perspective with which they see reality, going towards a more positive and adaptive perspective of the life. Properly applied, it can make those subjects with a tendency to poorly manage their efforts and their time take better advantage of their potential when it comes to providing well-being.

Positive psychology techniques can be used to improve the living conditions of a patient or psychotherapy client. While it is not enough to completely break negative habits, it is effective. to change some dysfunctional thought patterns.

positive psychology It is not about ignoring problems or avoiding them.; on the contrary, it tries to provide adequate ways to deal with these negative circumstances.

Sometimes it happens that people perceive problems as bigger than they really are, and this causes them anxiety. To counteract irrational negativity, positive psychology emerges, which in short tries to prevent us from drowning in a glass of water. It teaches us to see the bright side of things without downplaying problems.

The best positive psychology techniques

Now we will see a list of some of the best positive psychology techniques to improve the quality of life. Most of them are used in psychotherapy, but its most basic and simple principles can be applied by the user in his own home.

1. self reinforcement

In many cases, people tend to punish themselves when things don't go the way they expected; It is a behavior in which the subject focuses only on the bad in an exaggerated way, coming to think that he has no chance of being good at what he proposes.

The technique of self-reinforcement in positive psychology consists of being our own motivator, reinforcing our character with positive phrases and ideas based on the good things we can do.

For example, if you are good at writing, playing an instrument, or any other field of expertise, praise yourself for it and enjoy it.

2. Training in causal attributions

This training consists of modify the way in which we internalize successes and failures.

Many times we are unable to fully rejoice in our success, but when we fail at something we sink into regret. The ideal is to learn to enjoy our good times, and give ourselves the credit we deserve.

Especially when it comes to failure, we must be objective. If it has been our responsibility, it is necessary to accept it, but understanding that it is a passing circumstance, that it does not have to be repeated all the time.

• You may be interested in: "Theories of causal attribution: definition and authors"

3. laugh sessions

Humor is an excellent way to reduce daily stress.

When we are early in development, we tend to laugh more often than when we reached adolescent age, and this statistic decreases even more in adulthood. In positive psychology one seeks recover this source of pleasant emotions through group laughter therapy sessions, where participants learn to laugh a little at themselves and remove the tragic burden from their problems, being able to find more adaptive methods to solve them.

4. get an animal companion

Pets represent a significant source of affection when we take responsibility for them and learn to love them. Having a pet allows us develop the most empathic side of ourselves, while at the same time strengthening our responsibility in general terms.

5. Display

Visualization is a technique used to familiarize people with positive situations and normalize them. Consists in imagine pleasant scenarios where we find ourselves doing activities that we enjoy.

It is advisable to perform this technique before sleeping, so that we can have the possibility of accessing pleasant dreams and having a better quality of rest. For example, imagine that we are walking along a clear beach and we are totally relaxed after having achieved something we want.

6. Refute systematic negative thoughts

First of all we must be able to identify our recurring negative thoughts. Sometimes it is a good idea to attend psychotherapy so that a psychology professional can help us determine what they are, since sometimes these thoughts are of an unconscious nature.

Once we know what our recurring negative thoughts are, we will begin to refute them using logic. It is about answering ourselves to each negative thought that we have, in an accurate way and where we give an effective solution to each one.

7. relaxation techniques

Relaxation techniques are part of the various positive psychology techniques used to prepare the person for a new way of seeing things. It is easier for the subject to assimilate and internalize ideas positively when he is relaxed.

An effective way to achieve this is through Bernstein and Borkovec Progressive Relaxation. It consists of guiding the person in the steps of her breathing while suggesting pleasant scenarios to think about.

Bibliographic references:

• Schneider, K. (2011). Toward a Humanistic Positive Psychology. Existential Analysis: Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis. 22 (1): 32 - 38.
• Seligman, M. AND. Q.; Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1): 5-14.