Skip to Main Content
Positive Psychology in Practice: Promoting Human Flourishing in Work, Health, Education, and Everyday Life, 2nd Edition
book

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

by Stephen Joseph
March 2015
Beginner content levelBeginner
896 pages
37h 15m
English
Wiley
Content preview from Positive Psychology in Practice: Promoting Human Flourishing in Work, Health, Education, and Everyday Life, 2nd Edition

Chapter 28Clinical Applications of Well-Being Therapy

CHIARA RUINI AND GIOVANNI A. FAVA

The concept of psychological well-being has received increasing attention in clinical psychology. Recent investigations have documented the complex relationship between well-being, distress, and personality traits, both in clinical (Fava, Rafanelli, et al., 2001) and nonclinical populations (Ruini et al., 2003). The findings show that psychological well-being could not be equated with the absence of symptomatology, nor with personality traits. It is thus particularly important to analyze the concept of well-being in clinical settings with emphasis on changes in well-being occurring during psychotherapy.

A relevant methodological issue is the broad definition of psychological well-being and optimal functioning. A review by Ryan and Deci (2001) has shown that research on well-being has followed two main directions: (1) happiness and hedonic well-being and (2) development of human potential (eudaimonic well-being). In the first realm all studies dealing with concepts of subjective well-being (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999), life satisfaction (Neugarten, Havighurst, & Tobin, 1961), and positive emotions (Fredrickson, 2002) can be included. The concept of well-being here is equated with a cognitive process of evaluation of an individual's life, or with the experience of positive emotions.

According to the eudaimonic perspective, happiness consists of fulfilling one's potential in a process ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Start your free trial

You might also like

The Social Psychology of Change Management

The Social Psychology of Change Management

Steven ten Have, John Rijsman, Wouter ten Have, Joris Westhof

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781118757253Purchase book