Positive Therapy (2^nd Ed.)
Building bridges between positive psychology and person-centred psychotherapy

The applications of positive psychology are different from traditional interventions in therapy in that they are focused on building strength, resilience and well-being rather than being restricted to simply treating disorder. Since the publication of the first edition of Positive Therapy, there is now a comprehensive body of applied positive psychology research to which practitioners may turn in order to inform their own practice, and that sees its purpose as the facilitation of human flourishing and optimal functioning.

However, much of this research and its implications are only now becoming more widely understood in counselling and psychotherapy. This new and expanded edition of Positive Therapy shows how the latest thinking in positive psychology can be applied to psychotherapeutic practice, and specifically to person-centred therapy. Making the links between positive psychology and psychotherapy explicit, Stephen Joseph describes the new tools that practitioners can draw upon to help and facilitate positive functioning in their clients. New material includes:

An update of the latest positive psychology research

A new preface, explaining how positive psychology principles can now be applied to therapeutic practice

Focus on positive psychology measurement tools

Positive Therapy will be essential reading for all psychotherapists, counsellors, social workers, coaches, psychologists and trainees interested in exploring how they engage with clients, and the implications of this engagement in practice.

Preface. Introduction. Positive Psychology. The Actualising Tendency. Developmental and Personality Theory. The Therapeutic Relationship. Process Direction and Person-Activity Fit. Person-Centred Psychopathology. Posttraumatic Growth. Theoretically Consistent Measurement. Conclusion: Reflections, Challenges, and Future.

Stephen Joseph is a professor in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham where he is convenor for the counselling and psychotherapy group. He is a registered counselling psychologist. Stephen has published widely on positive psychology, psychological trauma and therapy.