James Pawelski Explains and Demonstrates

Positive Psychotherapy

By Milton Spett

            On Sept. 23, James Pawelski presented his version of Positive Psychotherapy techniques and concepts, and demonstrated several exercises to 56 NJ-ACT members. His core assumption is that increasing positive experiences and emotions is more beneficial to our patients than reducing dysfunctional cognitions and behavior.

             Pawelski described three components of Positive Psychotherapy: increasing positive emotions, engaging fully in life, and doing good for others.

Three Blessings Exercise: Every night before you go to bed, write down three good things that happened that day, and why they happened. Research has found this exercise to be the most valuable of those exercises studied.

Gratitude Letter: Write down exactly what someone has done for you, but whom you have never properly thanked, then read the letter to that person.

Savoring: Fully experience and enjoy whatever you are doing. James  asked members to savor their brunch, and to report what they especially liked and how it tasted and felt in their mouths.

Create “Flow” (total involvement in what you are doing): Match endeavors with skills to create flow. An endeavor that is too difficult causes anxiety. An endeavor that is too easy causes boredom.

Life Legacy: Write down how you would like to be remembered.

Philanthropy: Do something that benefits others.

Active/Constructive Responding: Tell another person very specifically what you admire about them or something they did.

Satisficing: Instead of trying to be perfect or perform perfectly, set a satisfactory standard and just try to meet that standard.

One Door Closes, Another Opens: Find the opportunity in a failure or setback.

The Gift of Time: Give yourself or another person something that can be done, instead of giving a material object. Give an art lover painting lessons instead of a painting.

Signature Strength Exercises

Signature Strengths: Write down or tell someone your best character strengths. These are personal characteristics that are universally valued such as creativity, bravery, kindness, fairness, forgiveness, gratitude, and honesty. Patients can use the “VIA Signature Strengths Questionnaire” at www.AuthenticHappiness.org to identify their signature strengths.

Using Strengths: Every day, do one thing which utilizes a signature strength in a new way.

Strength Stories: Tell someone about a time when you used one of your signature strengths.

Listening to Strength Stories: Tell another person what strengths you heard in their strength story.

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