The dialogue between positive

and negative experiences

Outline of session

Challenge the current scope of positive psychology

Examine how positive psychology has begun to explore the ‘darker sides’ of life

Discuss how we can grow from challenging experiences

Reflect upon how embracing ‘negative’ aspects of ourselves can act as a route to psychological growth

Just in case

We will be talking about sensitive topics today

Please monitor your own emotions and feelings and only participate if you want to

If anything arises from today's discussions that you would like to speak to someone about, please contact:

Mental Health Helpline: 1-866-531-2600

http://www.mentalhealthhelpline.ca Seek support from a Clinician or Counsellor within your own country

Background

4 lecturers / academics on MAPP programmes

University of East London

Kate Hefferon

Itai Ivtzan

Tim Lomas

Bucks New University

Piers Worth

We asked ourselves where our teaching needed to go / grow / develop

Going to the ‘edge’ of the map

(MAPP)…?

Going to the edge of

positive psychology

Going to the edge of ourselves

Layers or levels of Positive Psychology?

The dialogue between the positive and negative

Hope and Resilience

Eudemonic / Hedonic Interventions

The Process of Embracing the

‘Dark Side’ of our experiences?

Encountering the emotion

with compassion

Exploring the possible growth

through a difficulty

Connecting with

meaning and spirituality

Dr. Tim Lomas

University of East London

What is positive?

First wave of PP = Redress negative bias

First wave: simplistic (Lazarus, 2003)

Positive emotions = happiness = good

Negative emotions = unhappiness = bad

Emotions as co-valenced (Lazarus, 2003)

More nuanced understanding

‘Second wave’ / ‘Positive psychology 2.0’

Positive emotions can have maladaptive outcomes

Dysphorias can serve to promote wellbeing

Resilience and adversity

Resilience

Recovery

(Bounce back)

Resistance

(Stand strong)

Reconfiguration

(Changed)

Posttraumatic growth (PTG)

“It is through this process of struggling with adversity that changes may

arise that propels the individual to a higher level of functioning than which

existed prior to the event” (Linley & Joseph, 2004, p. 11)

Personal strength

Improved relationships

Changed priorities

Changed philosophies

Spirituality

Narratives of Growth

Mortality

Omission is a criticism of positive psychology (Burkeman, 2012)

Terror Management theory (TMT)

New wave of research focused on the positive repercussions of confronting mortality:

Increased gratitude

Increased health behaviours

Increased meaning

Altered goals (growth oriented)

Enhanced links to other people (family, friends, communities)

The challenge:

Facing oneself, especially our shadow (aspects we tend to ignore), is one of the

most courageous, challenging, and frequently painful experiences we could

choose.

Dark side:

Self-Awareness

Psychological discomfort

Growth, transcendence, spirituality

Challenging Positive Psychology:

Embracing the Dark Side of Life

Itai Ivtzan

Tim Lomas

Piers Worth

Kate Hefferon

Routledge,

September 2015

Thank you!

References

Becker, D., & Marecek, J. (2008). Positive psychology: History in the remaking? Theory & Psychology, 18(5), 591-604. doi: 10.1177/0959354308093397

Calhoun, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2013). Posttraumatic growth in clinical practice. Routledge.

Dahlsgaard, K., Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. (2005). Shared virtue: The convergence of valued human strengths across culture and history. Review of General Psychology, 9(3), 203-213. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.9.3.203

Ehrenreich, B. (2009). Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World. London: Granta.

Held, B. S. (2004). The negative side of positive psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 44(1), 9-46.

Lazarus, R. S. (2003). Does the positive psychology movement have legs? Psychological Inquiry, 14(2), 93-109. doi: 10.2307/1449813

Linley, P. A., & Joseph, S. (2004). Applied positive psychology: A new perspective for professional practice. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 3-12). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.

References

McNulty, J. K., & Fincham, F. D. (2011). Beyond positive psychology? Toward a contextual view of psychological processes and well-being. American Psychologist, 67(2), 101-110.

Peterson, C. (2006). A Primer in Positive Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Peterson, C., & Vaidya, R. S. (2003). Optimism as virtue and vice. In E. C. Chang & L. J. Sanna (Eds.), Virtue, Vice, and Personality: The Complexity of Behaviour (pp. 23-27). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Price, J. (2010). Sacred Scriptures of the World Religions: An Introduction. New York: Continuum Books.

Quimby, P. P. (2007 (1846-1865)). The Quimby Manuscripts: Digireads.com.

Resnick, S., Warmoth, A., & Serlin, I. A. (2001). The humanistic psychology and positive psychology connection: Implications for psychotherapy. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 41(1), 73-101.

Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (2003). Ironies of the human condition. Well-being and health on the way to mortality. In L. G. Aspinwall & U. M. Staudinger (Eds.), A Psychology of Human Strengths (pp. 271-287). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5-14.

St. Thomas Aquinas (1981 (1273)). Summa Theologia. London: Christian Classics.

Wong, P. T. P. (2011). Positive psychology 2.0: Towards a balanced interactive model of the good life. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 52(2), 69-81. doi: 10.1037/a0022511

Contact details

k.hefferon@uel.,ac.uk

www.katehefferon.com

piers.worth@bucks.ac.uk

http://bucks.ac.uk

i.ivtzan@uel.ac.uk

www.awarenessisfreedom.com

t.lomas@uel.ac.uk

www.uel.ac.uk