The 7 best positive psychology techniques

Positive psychology techniques very useful to improve psychological well-being.

Positive psychology is currently booming, and considering that it is still a relatively new discipline, people often talk about it without knowing exactly what it is or what its methods consist of.

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

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 have of going about their daily lives, but rather concentrates its efforts on enhancing those healthy psychological dynamics that are already present in the individual..

This area of psychology is relatively new, emerging only in 1998, which is why even today there is a certain degree of confusion about its contributions and functions within the field of behavioral sciences.

The main objective that positive psychology seeks is that people learn to change the perspective with which they see reality, moving towards a more positive and adaptive view of life. of life. Properly applied, it can help those with a tendency to mismanage their efforts and time to make better use of their potential to bring wellbeing to themselves.

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

Positive psychology is not about ignoring or avoiding problems.On the contrary, it tries to provide appropriate ways of coping with these negative circumstances.

Sometimes it happens that people perceive problems as bigger than they really are, and this causes them distress. To counteract irrational negativity, positive psychology arises, 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 their most basic and simple principles can be applied by the user at home.

1. Self-reinforcement

In many cases, people tend to punish themselves when things do not go the way they expected; it is a behavior in which the subject focuses only on the bad in an exaggerated way, thinking that he/she has no chance of being good at what he/she 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 area of experience, praise yourself for it and enjoy it..

2. Training in causal attributions

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

Many times we are unable to rejoice in our success in a complete way, but when we fail at something we sink into regrets. The ideal is to learn to enjoy our good moments, 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, which does not have to be repeated forever.

3. Laughter sessions

Humor is an excellent way to reduce daily stress..

When we are in early ages of development we tend to laugh more often than when we are adolescents, and this statistic decreases even more in adulthood. Positive psychology seeks to recover this source of recover this source of pleasant emotions by means of group laughter therapy sessions, where participants learn to laugh and to laugh.where participants learn to laugh a little at themselves and take away the tragic charge of their problems, being able to look for 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 to develop the most empathetic side of ourselves, while at the same timeat the same time that we strengthen our responsibility in general terms.

5. Visualization

Visualization is a technique used to familiarize people with positive situations and normalize them. It consists of imagining pleasant scenarios where we find ourselves doing activities that we enjoy..

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

6. Overcoming systematic negative thoughts

First of all we must be able to identify our recurring negative thoughts. Sometimes it's a good idea to attend psychotherapy so that a professional psychologist 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 we have, in an accurate way and where we give an effective solution to each one.

7. Relaxation techniques

The relaxation techniques are part of the diverse techniques of positive psychology used to prepare the person towards a new way of seeing things. It is easier for the subject to assimilate and internalize ideas positively when he/she is relaxed..

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

Bibliographical references:

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