Psychological treatment to enhance the 24 personal strengths
Traditionally, psychology has focused mainly on eliminating symptoms, something that the patient demands when it comes to consultation. In this way, if you have depression, demand to remove the sadness and hopelessness, and if for example you have anxiety (with breathing difficulties, palpitations, etc.) you want to eliminate anxiety.
From my point of view, if the psychological treatment focuses exclusively on the negative ("I remove the bad and that's it") is incomplete , since it only focuses on the elimination of what creates discomfort without working the positive, the possibility of developing strengths.
The treatment should not only be aimed at "eliminating suffering", but also to enhance the resources we have and cultivate positive feelings and thoughts.
Psychology to develop strengths
In addition to using techniques to control the symptoms (relaxation techniques, techniques of thought modification, problem solving, self-control ...) you have to develop in the person the ability to enjoy, the ability to recognize the meaning of one's life, personal abilities, optimism ...
In this way, not only are weaknesses compensated and wounds healed, but also skills are developed that the person can use in the future . In addition, it is also possible to work in a preventive way (not only from a model of "curing if there are symptoms" in topics such as violence or drug use.
From this position positive emotions are cultivated in three temporal moments: in the past, valuing it in a positive way so that it generates well-being; in the present, to be motivated and flow; and in the future to look towards it in a positive way with hope and optimism.
You can have positive emotions in a temporary moment but not in the others: For example, one can feel calm in the present and have little hope in the future, or look at the present and future with hope but be dissatisfied with the past. The important thing is that it is arable .
Learning to gain autonomy
If for example it is the past "the one that catches us", we can learn throughout the therapy to rewrite our history to be able to follow our path . In the case of the past, our feelings are totally determined by our thinking, by the interpretation we make; for that reason, rewriting the lived history, the feelings change.
We can reflect on these three times: in the past, what I did a long time ago of what I feel proud of; in the present write 3 positive things for example from today; and in the future, what I would like to do in the short term and in the long term.
24 personal strengths
Strengths are traits and psychological characteristics that occur in different situations and over time and can be trained and therefore improved. They are the following.
Strengths that involve the acquisition and use of knowledge
1. Curiosity , interest in the world.
2. Love for knowledge and learning (continuous trend to acquire new learning).
3. Judgment, critical thinking , open-mindedness (think about things and examine all their meanings, without drawing conclusions at random).
4. Ingenuity, originality , practical intelligence (think of new and productive ways and ways of doing things).
5. Social intelligence , personal intelligence, emotional intelligence (knowledge of oneself and others).
6. Perspective (be able to help others solve problems and gain perspective for themselves).
Strengths that imply the achievement of goals in situations of difficulty
7. Courage and courage (do not be intimidated by the threat, change, difficulty or pain).
8. Perseverance , industriousness, diligence (persisting in an activity even though there are obstacles).
9. Integrity, honesty, authenticity (take responsibility for their own feelings and actions undertaken).
Strengths that involve caring and offering friendship and affection to others
10. Goodness and generosity.
11. Love and let yourself be loved (value intimate and deep relationships with others).
Strengths that imply a healthy community life
12. Civics , teamwork, loyalty (working well within a team or group of people, being faithful to the group and feeling part of it).
13. Impartiality and fairness (do not allow personal feelings to skew decisions about other people).
14. Leadership (encourage the group of which one is a member to do things and strengthen relationships between people in the group).
Strengths that protect us against excesses (temperance)
15. Self control (ability to regulate one's feelings and actions, have control over impulses and emotions).
16. Prudence , discretion, caution (not saying or doing anything that you can later regret).
17. Modesty, humility (Do not try to be the center of attention or think yourself more special than others).
Strengths that provide meaning to life (transcendence)
18. Appreciation of beauty and excellence (know how to appreciate the beauty of things, from day to day or be interested in aspects of life such as nature, art, science).
19. Gratitude (be aware of the good things that happen to you and express gratitude).
20. Hope, optimism, projection towards the future (expect the best of the future and plan to achieve it).
21. Spirituality, faith, religious sense (have a philosophy of life, religious or not, which places you as part of the universe in general, have a purpose in life).
22. Forgiveness (forgive, giving a second chance to others).
23. Sense of humor (he likes to laugh and make others laugh, he sees the positive side of life).
24. Passion, enthusiasm .
