Positive psychology, a science at the service of well-being

Interview with Marine Miglianico,
psychologist and founder of the Montreal Positive Psychology Clinic

What is positive psychology?
Positive psychology is defined as the study of conditions and processes that contribute to the optimal development and functioning of individuals, groups, and institutions (Gable & Haidt, 2005). This science was born in 1998 during the annual speech of the APA (American Psychological Association). Martin Seligman, then president of
the association and specialist in learned impotence, studied depression (Seligman, 1972). At the time, the scientific literature consisted of a ratio of 21 studies on human dysfunction, to 1 study on good human functioning (Ben-Shahar, 2006). However, it is not scientifically rigorous to study only half of a phenomenon. In 1998, Martin Seligman called for the development of studies on the positive aspects of the human being (Seligman, 1998). What are the factors for well-being, motivation, and autonomy? What are human strengths and virtues and how can they be developed? What are the impacts of altruism on well-being? What role do positive emotions play in human functioning? These are the questions this science is trying to answer. For over 20 years, thousands of searches have been done on the subject across the globe (Compton & Hoffman, 2019; Snyder & Lopez, 2009). Are positive psychology and positive thinking synonymous? Positive psychology has often been mistakenly combined with positive thinking. Positive thinking is about the idea that if we see the world in a positive way, if we have positive thoughts, we bring about the positive in our lives.

However, the reality is much more complex (Norem & Chang, 2002). Indeed, forced positive thinking can on the contrary reinforce the state of suffering that is waiting to be listened to, heard and accepted. Carl Rogers, a famous humanist psychologist, worked for a long time on the notion of unconditional acceptance and supported in
his work the importance of learning to love each other in all our states, good and bad, without rejecting any (Rogers, 1961). Positive psychology, on the other hand, is interested in the development of psychological resources to overcome life difficulties (Sheldon & King, 2001).

How can positive psychology be useful?
Let's imagine a simple analogy: we could compare life to a boat trip. At the bottom of the water are rocks, which represent the difficulties we encounter. The water level represents the psychological resources available to us. When we are going through difficult times, we have to draw on our water level in order to deal with them. However, if all we do is tap into our water level, at some point our boat ends up on the rocks. And that is often when we go to a psychologist, who will help us identify the rocks, repair our boat and anticipate the rocks to come. And this work is essential.
However, what about our water level? It is also possible to add water under the boat, to develop psychological resources that will make us look more calmly at the rocks at the bottom of the water. Positive psychology studies and develops these tools.

What are the key topics studied by positive psychology?
The acronym PERMA defines the pillars of well-being (Seligman, 2018). In order to develop our well-being,
five elements are particularly significant:

Positive emotions

The Commitment

Positive relationships

Meaning

Self-Accomplishment

Thus, these topics are extensively studied. When it comes to positive emotions, for example, psychology has speculated that these emotions are just a sign that everything is fine. However, research by Barbara Fredrickson (2004) has shown that these have two major advantages. They allow us to develop our psychic resources (add water under the boat), while helping us to take a step back from the situation. Laughter — through humor — can help temper emotions related to painful events, by maintaining a positive attitude in the face of adversity (Edwards & Martin, 2014).

Can you present us with a positive psychology tool?
Recently, research on self-compassion has expanded (Neff, 2003). Self-compassion is defined as being kind to yourself in times when you feel inadequate, failed, or suffering (Neff & Vonk, 2009). It is an important key in the development of mental health. Indeed, we often prevent ourselves from feeling or showing compassion for ourselves, for fear of becoming complacent.
However, research shows us the opposite. By being gentler on ourselves, we have more energy to take action and thus overcome difficulties more quickly (Neff et al., 2007). Self-compassion includes three elements: Self-kindness: in the face of sadness, loss, or suffering, it is possible to treat yourself as you would treat a loved one. If a friend came to us to ask for support after a difficult event, we would not have thought of replying: “You can't do anything, you suck! ” However, this is what we tend to say to ourselves, in case of difficulty. Changing your internal dialogue and talking to each other as you would talk to a friend are particularly effective processes. However, if the exercise proves to be difficult, it is possible to project our situation onto a good friend, and to write down what we would say to reassure him. We can then reread these words by pointing them at us.

Recognition of our common humanity: When we suffer, we tend to think that we are alone in pain. However, every human being experiences suffering in their lives at various levels. Knowing that we are not alone in experiencing failures or suffering removes the weight of psychological ostracism.

Mindfulness : being fully aware of what you are experiencing means recognizing and accepting the current experience without judgment, without trying to change it. Numerous studies demonstrate its added value in pain management (Kabat-Zinn et al., 1985), in reducing stress (Gotink, 2016), anxiety and depression (Goyal et al.,
2014).
Thus, positive psychology tools such as self-compassion can contribute to improving our daily lives by allowing us to have a more lenient view of our experiences. Creating psychic resources helps to develop the resilience necessary for the development and maintenance of mental health.

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