Virtue, Flourishing, and Positive Psychology in Psychotherapy
+3Peter Jankowski, Ph.D. & 6 others
September 25, 2020
Abstract
Researchers have increasingly called for the examination of both mental health symptoms and well-being when providing and evaluating psychotherapy, and although symptoms and well-being are typically inversely related, these appear to be distinct constructs that may require distinct intervention strategies. Positive psychology interventions, virtue-based treatments, and psychotherapies explicitly focused on promoting well-being have emerged in response to, or perhaps in concert with, the calls for attention to symptoms and well-being. Our review of the relevant and vast research pockets revealed that these treatments demonstrated relative efficacy in promoting well-being, whereas evidence for relative efficacy when reducing symptoms was largely inconclusive, particularly in psychotherapy contexts. We organized our review around the virtue-ethics notion that growth in virtuousness fosters flourishing, with flourishing consisting of more than the absence of symptoms, and specifically, that flourishing also involves increased well-being. The lack of evidence for relative efficacy among active alternative treatment conditions in promoting flourishing may suggest equal effectiveness, and yet, this also suggests that there are yet-to-be-identified moderators and mechanisms of change and/or insufficient use of research designs and/or statistical procedures that could more clearly test this major tenet of the virtue-ethics tradition. Nevertheless, we know that evidence-based problem-focused psychotherapies are effective at reducing symptoms, and our review showed that positive psychology interventions, virtue-based treatments, and psychotherapies explicitly focused on well-being promote well-being and/or virtue development. We encourage researchers and psychotherapists to continue to integrate symptom reduction and well-being promotion into psychotherapy approaches aimed at fostering client flourishing.
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About the Authors
Peter Jankowski, Ph.D.
Peter J. Jankowski, Ph.D. is a Visiting Researcher at the Danielsen Institute, Boston University; Associate Professor of Counseling, Bethel University, Mental Health Counselor, Bethel University Counseling and Health Services. He earned his doctorate in marriage and family therapy from Texas Tech University. He is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Clinical Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and AAMFT-Approved Supervisor. He has published research in the areas of religiousness and adolescents’ and college students’ hazardous alcohol use, religion and interpersonal violence, positive psychology (forgivingness, gratitude, humility, hope, social justice, and intercultural competence), psychotherapy outcome research, differentiation-based spirituality, and clinical decision-making.
Steven Sandage, PhD, LP
Steven J. Sandage, Ph.D., LP, is Albert and Jessie Danielsen Professor of Psychology of Religion and Theology at Boston University. He is Research Director and Senior Staff Psychologist at the Danielsen Institute and Visiting Faculty in Psychology of Religion at MF Norwegian School of Theology in Oslo.
Chance Bell, Ph.D
Chance Bell is an assistant professor of Family Science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He has published on the quantitative analysis of couple relational and mental health, and psychotherapy effectiveness in North America, Europe, and Southern Asia.
Don E. Davis, Ph.D.
Don (Donnie) Davis is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Georgia State University. Donnie did undergraduate work at Yale and his doctorate at Virginia Commonwealth University, under Everett Worthington. His research and clinical interests are in the area of positive psychology. His work focuses on humility and related virtues such as forgiveness and gratitude. He has published over 230 articles or chapters, as well as several books on these themes. He has participated in over 20 grant-funded projects. He is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Positive Psychology. In terms of fun, Donnie enjoys biking, hiking, and other outdoor activities, and is also an avid reader. He also loves spending time with his partner, Cirleen DeBlaere, and his three kids, Catherine (age 11), Adam (age 7), and Emerson (age 1).
Chrissy Motzny, MA
Chrissy is a doctoral candidate in the Counseling Psychology Department at University of Denver. Broadly, her professional interests focus on health and positive psychology, person-centered culturally-responsive care, and interprofessional collaboration. Her research interests include psychosocial aspects of chronic illness, specifically how social determinants, trauma, co-occurring disorders, and cultural factors influence coping and wellbeing. Her bio-psycho-social-spiritual perspective of wellbeing incorporates the use of positive psychology interventions in her clinical work with the goal of helping clients reach their flourishing potential.
Jesse Owen, Ph.D.
Dr. Owen is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Counseling Psychology Department at the University of Denver. He is an APA Fellow for the Society of the Advancement of Psychotherapy (SAP; Div 29), and he has been awarded the Early Career Awards for SAP and Division 17 (Counseling Psychology). He has been an Associate Editor for Psychotherapy since 2009, and he has been an Associate Editor for two other top-tier journals. He has also served as SAP’s Domain Chair and Representative for Education and Training, and he is currently the Treasurer. He has published over 125 peer-review publications/books most of which are focused on psychotherapy process and outcomes. He has a small private practice in Denver, which focuses on individual and couple therapy as well as psychological assessment.
Emma Porter, M.A.
Emma Porter, M.A. is an advanced doctoral student at the University of Denver. She is currently a doctoral intern at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, NY. Her research interests include cultural humility and its impact on psychotherapy outcomes. She is currently working on her dissertation, which pertains to the role of humility in resolving ruptures in psychotherapy.
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