Positive Psychology in Practice: Promoting Human Flourishing in Work, Health, Education, and Everyday Life, 2nd Edition

Chapter 27Positive Psychology in Rehabilitation Psychology Research and Practice

CLAUDIO PETER, SZILVIA GEYH, DAWN M. EHDE, RACHEL MÜLLER AND MARK P. JENSEN

In this chapter, we first provide an introduction to rehabilitation psychology as a field concerned with disability. We then discuss how rehabilitation psychology is related to positive psychology and the “good life,” and summarize the current state of rehabilitation research with respect to positive psychology. Next, we describe common psychosocial rehabilitation interventions and examine the extent to which positive psychology interventions have been applied in rehabilitation practice. Finally, we discuss and suggest future directions contributing to the integration of positive psychology and rehabilitation psychology research and practice.

The term rehabilitation stems from the medieval Latin word rehabilitationem (“restoration”) from rehabilitare, composed of re- (“again”) and habitare (“make fit”), and from the Latin habilis (“easily managed, fit”) (Harper, 2013). Rehabilitation has been defined as “a set of measures that assist individuals who experience, or are likely to experience, disability to achieve and maintain optimal functioning in interaction with their environments” (World Health Organization & World Bank, 2011, p. 96).

Disability has traditionally been understood from a biomedical perspective as a decrease or interference in functioning resulting from disease or trauma, caused and fully determined by the ...