Exploring
positive psychology through writing
A creative and academic exploration of how positive psychology can be applied through writing to enhance wellbeing and promote flourishing.
Write your best life.
We take an evidence-based approach
Why positive psychology and writing?
Positive psychology is the science of optimal human functioning, wellbeing, and human strengths. It uses evidence and research to inform practical interventions to enhance wellbeing and promote flourishing in individuals, communities and societies. It focuses on building upon what is strong, rather than fixing what's wrong. Key concepts include positive emotions, strengths, evidence-based interventions, hope, motivation, optimism, positive relationships, and making the best use of time.
Psychologist Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology, devised the PERMA model to explain the five building blocks of wellbeing: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishment.
Positive psychology is about what makes life worth living. As psychologist Christopher Peterson said, it's the "study of what we are doing when we are not frittering life away.” (Peterson, 2006).
Writing for wellbeing
Since the 1980s, the psychologist James Pennebaker and other researchers have demonstrated that writing about emotional experiences can lead to significant physical and mental health improvements. In 2015, Megan Hayes and Kate Hefferon developed these ideas and used a positive psychology model for expressive journal writing. Participants in this study found that writing about positive emotions helped them to find new strengths, resources and ways of coping.
Research into the benefits of writing for wellbeing is ongoing, but there is evidence that it can have a positive impact on mental and physical health.
The Positive Writing Project is an exploration about how positive psychology can be applied through writing to enhance wellbeing and achieve transformational growth.
‘And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.’ Anais Nin
Positive psychology
Optimal functioning, strengths and wellbeing
Coaching
A process of personal growth towards being your best self
Writing your best life
Writing for wellbeing and resilience. Mindful journalling
Writing for wellbeing workshops
Where are you in your life right now? Are you dealing with change, uncertainty, or wanting to explore what’s next? Do you feel you are living your best life?
In this series of writing for life workshops, you will discover ways to identify your personal strengths and explore when you are at your best.
Based on the science of positive psychology, we will focus on a different wellbeing theme each week and explore this through writing. You will learn tools for life.
In this often hectic world, the workshops will offer a space for reflection and exploration.
'At the still point of the turning world … there the dance is.' T.S. Eliot
Mindful journalling
Journalling is about self-expression and personal writing. It's up to you what you write and how you write - there is no right or wrong. The writing process can help you gain insights and deepen your understanding of yourself and what's going on in your life.
In our mindful journalling workshops, you can discover how regular writing can be a way to practice mindfulness.
It's about writing, your way.
‘Beware the barrenness of a busy life.’ Socrates
Positive psychology coaching
Collaborative 1:1 coaching for wellbeing, informed by the latest research in positive psychology and coaching psychology.
We focus on using your strengths to facilitate development and the use of evidence-based approaches to increase positive emotions.
Coaching can help with all growth and development in all areas of life, whether you are facing major life changes or want to explore how you can fulfil your potential and live your best life.
'The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.' Carl Rogers
Writing for resilience
A series of writing for resilience workshops based on the SPARK Resilience programme developed by Professor Ilona Boniwell at POSITRAN. We have been trained by POSITRAN to facilitate the SPARK programme and have permission to use the materials.
Resilience can be defined as the capacity to adapt or grow when facing adversity. It's about the capacity to bounce back from negative experiences and be successful again. The SPARK programme aims to equip people with the insights and strategies to enhance their resilience. Higher levels of resilience are associated with health benefits such as lower levels of anxiety and depression.
SPARK is an acronym for a model for responses to stressful situations.
"Everyday Situations, as a function of individual Perceptions, tend to trigger an emotion or Affect (i.e., automatic emotional responses). This leads to subsequent behavioural Reactions and learning, or Knowledge gained from the experience. To enhance resilience in the same Situation, it is important, first, to view it as a collection of neutral facts, to challenge one’s Perception of adversity, to notice and regulate one’s automatic Affective responses, and to control one’s negative behavioural Reactions. This usually leads to an enhanced Knowledge, or understanding of the situation and one’s role in it." (From Boniwell et al., 2023).
'More than education, more than experience, more than training, a person’s level of resilience will determine who succeeds and who fails. That’s true in the cancer ward, it’s true in the Olympics, and it’s true in the boardroom.' Dean Becker, CEO Adaptive Leaning Systems,Harvard Business Review, May 2002
