Positive psychotherapy
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Positive psychotherapy (PPT after Peseschkian, since 1977) is a
psychotherapeutic Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome prob ...
method developed by psychiatrist
Nossrat Peseschkian Nossrat Peseschkian ( fa, نصرت پزشکیان; June 18, 1933 – April 27, 2010) lived in Germany since 1954. He was a specialist in neurology, psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychosomatic medicine. Peseschkian founded Positive Psychothera ...
and co-workers in Germany beginning in 1968. It can be described as a
humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...
psychodynamic psychotherapy Psychodynamic psychotherapy or psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a form of psychological therapy. Its primary focus is to reveal the unconscious content of a client's psyche in an effort to alleviate psychic tension, which is inner conflict with ...
, which is based on a positive conception of human nature. The focus of positive psychotherapy is to enhance the positive emotion and engagement of patients rather than targeting the depressive symptoms PPT is an integrative method which includes humanistic, systemic, psychodynamic and CBT-elements. Today there are centers and trainings in some twenty countries worldwide. It should not be confused with
positive psychology Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living, focusing on both individual and societal well-being. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions...it aims t ...
.


Beginnings

The founder of positive psychotherapy,
Nossrat Peseschkian Nossrat Peseschkian ( fa, نصرت پزشکیان; June 18, 1933 – April 27, 2010) lived in Germany since 1954. He was a specialist in neurology, psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychosomatic medicine. Peseschkian founded Positive Psychothera ...
(1933–2010), was an Iranian-born German certified psychiatrist, neurologist and psychotherapist. He was inspired in the late 1960s and early 1970s by different sources, persons and developments: * The spirit of that time, which brought into existence humanistic psychology and its further developments. * Personal encounters with prominent psychotherapists and psychiatrists, such as
Viktor Frankl Viktor Emil Frankl (26 March 1905 – 2 September 1997) was an Austrian psychiatrist who founded logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's meaning as the central human motivational force. Logotherapy is part ...
, Jacob L. Moreno, Heinrich Meng and others. * By the humanistic teachings and virtues of the
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
. * By looking for an integrative method, especially because of problems between psychoanalysts and behaviour therapists at that time * Based on transcultural observations in over 20 cultures, and searching for an integrative method which is cultur-sensitive


The term "positive"

The method was called "differentiational analysis" until 1977. In 1977, Nossrat Peseschkian published his work "Positive Psychotherapie", which was published in English as "Positive Psychotherapy" in 1987. The term "
positive Positive is a property of positivity and may refer to: Mathematics and science * Positive formula, a logical formula not containing negation * Positive number, a number that is greater than 0 * Plus sign, the sign "+" used to indicate a posit ...
" is derived from the original Latin expression "positum or positivus" which means the actual, the real, the concrete. The aim of positive psychotherapy and positive psychotherapists is to help the patient and client to see also their abilities, strengths, resources and potentials.


Main characteristics

* Integrative psychotherapy method * Humanistic Psychodynamic Method * Cohesive, integrated therapeutic system * Conflict-centered short-term method * Cultur-sensitive method * Use of stories, anecdotes and wisdoms * Innovative interventions and techniques * Application in psychotherapy, other medical disciplines, counselling, education, prevention, management and trainings


Main principles

The three main principles or pillars of positive psychotherapy are: * The Principle of Hope * The Principle of Balance * The Principle of Consultation 1. The Principle of Hope implies that the therapist wants to assist patients to understand and see the meaning and purpose of their disorder or conflict. Accordingly, the disorder will be reinterpreted in a "positive" way (positive interpretations): Some examples: * Sleep disturbance is the ability to be watchful and get by with little sleep * Depression is the ability to react with deepest emotionality to conflicts *
Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
is the ability to live in two worlds at the same time or to live in a fantasy world *
Anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gr ...
is the ability to get along with few meals and identify with the hunger of the world Through this positive view, a change of standpoint becomes possible, not only for the patient, but also for his environment. Hence, illnesses have a symbolic function which has to be recognized by both therapist and patient. The patient learns that the symptoms and complaints of the illness are signals to bring his or her four qualities of life into new balance. 2. Principle of Balance: Despite social and cultural differences and the uniqueness of every human being, it can be observed that during the management of their problems that all humans refer to typical forms of coping. Thomas Kornbichler explains: "Nossrat Peseschkian formulated with the Balance Model of Positive Psychotherapy (an innovative contemporary approach to dynamic psychotherapy) a vivid model of coping with conflicts in different cultures." According to the balance model, the four areas of life are: 1. body/health – psychosomatic; 2. achievement/work – stress factors; 3. contact/relationships – depression; 4. future/purpose/meaning of life – fears and phobia. Though these four ranges are inherent in all humans, in the western hemisphere the emphasis is more often on the areas of body/senses and profession/achievement in contrast to the eastern hemisphere where the areas are contact, fantasy and future (cross-cultural aspect of positive psychotherapy). Lack of contact and imagination are some of the causes of many psychosomatic diseases. Everyone develops his or her own preferences on how to cope with conflicts that occur. Through a one-sided mode to the conflict solution, the other modes become eclipsed. The conflict contents (e.g. punctuality, orderliness, politeness, trust, time, patience) are described in terms of primary and secondary capacities, based on the basic capacities of loving and knowing. This can be seen as a content-wise differentiation of Freud's classical model of the instances. 3. Principle of Consultation: Five-stages of therapy and self-help. The five stages of positive psychotherapy represent a concept in which therapy and self-help are closely interrelated. The patient and the family are informed together about the illness and the individual solution to it. * 1st Step: Observation; distancing (perception: the capacity to express desire and problems) * 2nd Step: Taking inventory (cognitive capacities: events in the last 5 to 10 years) * 3rd Step: Situational encouragement (self-help and resource-activation of the patient: the ability to use past successes in conflict solution) * 4th Step: Verbalization (communicative capacities: the ability to express outstanding conflicts and problems in the four qualities of life) * 5th Step: Expansion of goals (in order to evoke forward–looking orientation in life after the problems are solved, the patient is asked: "What would you like to do, when no more problems are left to be solved? What are your goals for the next five years?")


Development and international network

The main emphasis of positive psychotherapy during the past 40 years has been treatment, training and publication. * In 1979, the Wiesbaden Postgraduate Training Institute for Psychotherapy and Family Therapy was established as a postgraduate training for physicians in
Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
, Germany. In 1999, the Wiesbaden Academy for Psychotherapy (WIAP), a state-licensed, postgraduate psychotherapy academy with a large outpatient clinic, was established for the training of psychologists and educational scientists. * Most Positive Psychotherapists work in private offices or in clinics. In Germany, Positive Psychotherapy is counted as a psychodynamic method and the health insurance covers the costs. * Since the early 1980s, seminars and trainings have taken place in some 60 countries. Today, Positive Psychotherapy is practiced in more than 25 countries with approximately 30 independent centres and institutions. The training programs for mental health professionals consist of basic and master trainings over several years. * The international head office is based in Wiesbaden, Germany. Positive psychotherapy is represented internationally by the World Association of Positive and Transcultural Psychotherapy (WAPP). Its international governing board of directors is elected every two years. There are national and regional associations in some ten countries. * PPT and its therapists have been engaged in the international development of psychotherapy, and are active members of international and continental associations


Publications and research

* In 1997, a quality assurance and effectiveness study was undertaken in Germany.Karin Tritt, Thomas H. Loew, Martin Meyer, Birgit Werner and Nossrat Peseschkian: POSITIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY: EFFECTIVENESS OF AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH. Eur. J. Psychiat. Vol. 13, N° 4, (231-241) 1999 The results show this short-term method to be effective. The study was awarded the Richard-Merten-Prize. * Today there are more than 30 major books on positive psychotherapy, of which some have been published in more than 23 languages. Some of the main ones are: * * (translated) (first German edition 1977) * (First German edition 1979) * (first German edition 1983) * , republished India: Sterling Publishers Pvt., Ltd., (first German edition 1980) * (first German edition 1974) * Maxim Goncharov, Operationalization of countertransference in Positive Psychotherapy. International Journal of Psychotherapy, Vol 16, No 3, Article 4 * Maksim Goncharov, Conflict operationalization in Positive Psychotherapy, Khabarovsk, Russia, 2014. *


PPT Award Winners

(in alphabetical order) * Prof. Dr. med. Raymond Battegay, Switzerland (2000, 2007) * Prof. Dr. Gaetano Benedetti, Switzerland (2000) * Prof. Dr. Iwanka Boncheva, Bulgaria (2007) * Mr. Sci. Enver Cesko, Kosovo (2010) * Dr. Ali Eryilmaz, Turkey (2010) * Prof. Hürol Fisiloglu, Turkey (2003) * Dr. Agnes und Dr. Bijan Ghaznavi (†), China/Switzerland (2007) * Dr. Maxim Goncharov, Russia (2007) * Dipl. Psych. Christian Henrichs, M. phil., Germany (2010) * Dr. Gunther Hübner, Germany (2007) * Dr. Gabriela Hum, Romania (2007) * Dr. Vladimir Karikash, Ukraine (2007) * Dr. med. Hermann Kerger, Germany (2000) * Dr. Ivan Kirillov, Russia (2003, 2007) * Willi Köhler, Germany (2000) (†) * Yuriy Kravchenko, Ukraine (2010) * Dr. med. Walburg Maric-Oehler, Germany (2010) * Helga Mengistu-Faust, Germany/Ethiopia (2017) * Mag. Dr. Johannes Okoro, Austria (2017) * Dr. med. Hamid Peseschkian, Germany (2010) * Melody Qu, China (2010) * Dr. phil. Sheyda Rafat, Germany (2019) * Dr. med. Heidi Rausch, Germany (2010) * Arno Remmers, Germany (2000, 2003) * Prof. Horst Rheindorf, Germany (2000) * Dr. Elena Sakalo, Ukraine (2010) * Prof. Dr. Shridhar Sharma, India (2007) * Dr. Vladimir Slabinsky, Russia (2003) * Prof. Todorov, Bulgaria (2003) * Dr. med. Richard Werringloer, Germany (2017)


See also

*
Positive psychology Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes life most worth living, focusing on both individual and societal well-being. It studies "positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions...it aims t ...


References


External links


World Association for Positive and Transcultural Psychotherapy

PPT Education Information

International Academy information

OxNotes Education Information
{{Authority control Counseling Psychodynamic psychotherapy