Goal Focused Positive Psychotherapy (GFPP) is the first comprehensive approach to strength-oriented therapy that fully incorporates positive psychology principles. This book provides instruction for therapists and students wishing to learn a strength-oriented mindset and the necessary skills. GFPP consists of four hallmarks: (1) formation of approach goals; (2) identification and use of client strengths; (3) promotion of positive emotions and experiences; and (4) building hope. Unique to psychotherapy, the theory of change uses Frederickson's Broaden-and-Build Theory of positive emotions. A three-year study is presented that provides evidence of GFPP's outcome effectiveness and GFPP's superiority in supporting therapists building therapeutic alliances with clients. The book describes the therapeutic techniques and positive psychology interventions including positive empathy, capitalization, best possible self, success-finding, encouragement, self-affirmation, mindfulness, miracle and scaling questions, and self-compassion. The primary emphasis of GFPP is to promote happiness, health, and well-being in clients, in contrast to the emphasis of traditional therapy approaches on problem symptom alleviation. The assumption is that clients who benefit by increasing their well-being will be equipped to address problems in their life that inevitably arise. Training and supervision methods are suggested and a supervision model is provided. The information is integrated and illustrated with a chapter of case examples from four GFPP therapists. Readers learn that client problems are not ignored but balanced with an emphasis on positive issues that use the client's strengths and enhance the client's hope. GFPP will appeal to counseling, clinical, and school psychologists, as well as counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers, life coaches, and students in all these fields.

Recent evidence has shown that the successful setting of goals brings about positive outcomes in psychological therapy. Goals help to focus and direct clients' and therapists' attention in therapeutic work. They also engender hope and help energise clients. No longer are clients victims of their circumstances, but through goal setting they become people who have the potential to act towards and achieve their desired futures. Through the discussing and setting of goals, clients develop a deeper insight into what it is that they really want in life: a crucial first step towards being able to get there. Recent policies in both child and adult mental health services have supported the use of goals in therapy. However, the differing cultures, histories, psychologies, and philosophical assumptions of each form of therapy has brought about varying attitudes and approaches to goal setting. Working with Goals in Counselling and Psychotherapy brings the attitudes of all the major therapeutic orientations together in one volume. With examples from cognitive behaviour therapy, psychodynamic therapy, humanistic therapy, interpersonal therapy, and systemic therapy Working with Goals in Counselling and Psychotherapy truly is the definitive guide for therapists seeking to work with goals in any of the psychological therapies.

For over a century the focus of psychotherapy has been on what ails us, with the therapeutic process resting upon the assumption that unearthing past traumas, correcting faulty thinking, and restoring dysfunctional relationships is curative. But something important has been overlooked: the positives. Shouldn't making us happier, better people be explicit goals of therapy? Positive Psychotherapy: Workbook guides readers through a session-by-session therapeutic approach based on the principles of positive psychology, an exciting new area of study examining the factors that enable us to flourish. This workbook, designed to be used in conjunction with the accompanying clinician's manual, first explains what exactly positive psychotherapy is, exploring the important concepts of character strengths. What follows are 15 positive psychotherapy sessions, each complete with lessons, guidelines, skills, and worksheets for practicing positive psychology skills learned in session. Those interested in improving well-being through psychotherapy will find in Positive Psychotherapy a refreshing complement to other approaches, endowing readers with a sense of purpose and meaning that many have found lacking in more traditional therapies.

Goal focused positive psychotherapy (GFPP) is the first comprehensive approach to strength-oriented therapy that fully incorporates positive psychology principles. This book provides instruction for therapists and students wishing to learn a strength-oriented mindset and the necessary skills.

Hope has long been a topic of interest for psychologists, philosophers, educators, and physicians. In the past few decades, researchers from various disciplines and from around the world have studied how hope relates to superior academic performance, improved outcomes in the workplace, and improved psychological and physical health in individuals of all ages. Edited by Matthew W. Gallagher and the late Shane J. Lopez, The Oxford Handbook of Hope provides readers with a thorough and comprehensive update on the past 25 years of hope research while simultaneously providing an outline of what leading hope researchers believe the future of this line of research to be. In this extraordinary volume, Gallagher, Lopez, and their expert team of contributors discuss such topics as how best to define hope, how hope is distinguished from related philosophical and psychological constructs, what the current best practices are for measuring and quantifying hope, interventions and strategies for promoting hope across a variety of settings, the impact it has on physical and mental health, and the ways in which hope promotes positive functioning. Throughout its pages, these experts review what is currently known about hope and identify the topics and questions that will help guide the next decade of research ahead.

Combining both the theory and practice of strengths-based therapy, Elsie Jones-Smith introduces current and future practitioners to the modern approach of practice—presenting a model for treatment as well as demonstrations in clinical practice across a variety of settings. This highly effective form of therapy supports the idea that clients know best about what has worked and has not worked in their lives, helps them discover positive and effective solutions through their own experiences, and allows therapists to engage their clients in their own therapy. Drawing from cutting-edge research in neuroscience, positive emotions, empowerment, and change, Strengths-Based Therapy helps readers understand how to get their clients engaged as active participants in treatment.

For over a century the focus of psychotherapy has been on what ails us, with the therapeutic process resting upon the assumption that unearthing past traumas, correcting faulty thinking, and restoring dysfunctional relationships is curative. But something important has been overlooked: the positives. Shouldn't making us happier, better people be explicit goals of therapy? Positive Psychotherapy: Workbook guides readers through a session-by-session therapeutic approach based on the principles of positive psychology, an exciting new area of study examining the factors that enable us to flourish. This workbook, designed to be used in conjunction with the accompanying clinician's manual, first explains what exactly positive psychotherapy is, exploring the important concepts of character strengths. What follows are 15 positive psychotherapy sessions, each complete with lessons, guidelines, skills, and worksheets for practicing positive psychology skills learned in session. Those interested in improving well-being through psychotherapy will find in Positive Psychotherapy a refreshing complement to other approaches, endowing readers with a sense of purpose and meaning that many have found lacking in more traditional therapies.

The union of Eastern and European points of view in an effective psycho therapy, such as is described by the author, is very salutary. Especially the parables portray, in attractive symbolism, the wisdom ofthe East, in which psychological insights are represented in what seems to be the simplest way. The author understands how to bring his heritage to bear upon psy chotherapy. Although the categories of his psychological system, for ex ample basic capacities and actual capacities, certainly represent only one of many possible theoretical conceptions, we must conclude from his re port that they can be used effectively in treatment. To be sure, such a sy stem of categories, such a metapsychology, will be of greater assistance to the therapist than to the patient in explanation and clarification. In the fi nal analysis the only essential thing for the patient who seeks out the psy chotherapist for help is whether the physician or psychologist is candid with hirn and accepts hirn unconditionally, no matter what he is like. Peseschkian's "positive psychotherapy" and the author's lucid personal conduct transmit to the reader the impression that a born psychotherapist, with a special motivation to assist professionally those who consult hirn in the resolution of their conflicts, is at work. I wish the author complete suc cess with this book. Prof. Raymond Battegay, M. D.

How can therapists integrate theories and practices from across the psychological therapies? This book presents a framework for understanding distress and change that can unite different orientations, along with sociopolitical perspectives. Its starting point is that therapy aims to help clients move towards the things they most deeply want. It shows how the actualisation of these ‘directions’ leads to greater well-being, and how this can be brought about through the development of internal and external synergies. Using in-depth cases, the book provides detailed guidance on how this framework can be applied. After reading this book, you’ll feel better equipped to understand, and work with, your clients’ directions—tailoring the therapy to their unique wants.

A thorough and up-to-date guide to putting positive psychology into practice From the Foreword: "This volume is the cutting edge of positive psychology and the emblem of its future." -Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D., Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, and author of Authentic Happiness Positive psychology is an exciting new orientation in the field, going beyond psychology's traditional focus on illness and pathology to look at areas like well-being and fulfillment. While the larger question of optimal human functioning is hardly new - Aristotle addressed it in his treatises on eudaimonia - positive psychology offers a common language on this subject to professionals working in a variety of subdisciplines and practices. Applicable in many settings and relevant for individuals, groups, organizations, communities, and societies, positive psychology is a genuinely integrative approach to professional practice. Positive Psychology in Practice fills the need for a broad, comprehensive, and state-of-the-art reference for this burgeoning new perspective. Cutting across traditional lines of thinking in psychology, this resource bridges theory, research, and applications to offer valuable information to a wide range of professionals and students in the social and behavioral sciences. A group of major international contributors covers: The applied positive psychology perspective Historical and philosophical foundations Values and choices in pursuit of the good life Lifestyle practices for health and well-being Methods and processes for teaching and learning Positive psychology at work The best and most thorough treatment of this cutting-edge discipline, Positive Psychology in Practice is an essential resource for understanding this important new theory and applying its principles to all areas of professional practice.