Positive Psychology and Benefit Finding

Positive Psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive. It focuses on more than just alleviating suffering; It’s founded on the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play. Positive psychology therefore focuses on how to make life worth living.

Most psychological approaches use the deficit model which aims at fixing what is wrong and alleviate suffering. Positive psychology on the other hand aims at building on what is going well and promotes life satisfaction, well-being, joy and happiness.  Benefit finding is the art of looking for benefit in difficult situations. Sometimes, events don’t turn out in the way we had planned them causing us to feel disappointed or even disheartened. Different people react differently to such situations; some let difficult events defeat them while others tend to accept the situation and move on. Resilient people tend to look for benefit out of difficult situations. It can be difficult to find benefit in bad situations, however, like with anything else, practice makes perfect; it becomes easier the more you try.

This years’ theme on World Mental Health Day focused on promoting mental health in the workplace. The mental health and well-being of employees is crucial for the success of any organization. Mental illness can affect anyone, irrespective of age or background, but with adequate support, most people do recover. One known way of promoting positive psychology is through the act of positive reflection. Similar to benefit finding, positive reflection is often done at the end of the day and entails an individual sitting down in a quiet environment, reflecting on the day that has passed and identifying three good things that have come out of it.

“The simple practice of positive reflection creates a real shift in what people think about, and can change how they perceive their work lives. And, as an added benefit, if people share positive events with others, it can boost social bonds and friendships, further reducing workplace stress..” .

To read more on the relationship between positive reflection and good mental well-being especially in the workplace, please read the following article: Documenting three good things could improve your mental well-being at work