Positive psychotherapy is a direction for which there are no ethnic and cultural boundaries

The Nobel Prize is not awarded for achievements in the field of psychology. Despite this, the list of psychologists who have received it is quite extensive. Since there is no direct nomination for them, they are awarded for discoveries in medicine, literature and even economics. At one time, Pavlov, Dale and Loewy, Hess, Camus, Sartre became laureates.

In 2009, Professor Nossrat Pezeshkian, a German neurologist, psychiatrist and psychotherapist with Iranian roots, was nominated in the section of medicine and physiology. His brainchild, positive psychotherapy, brought him worldwide fame and many awards. And most importantly, it effectively helps people overcome the conflict situations in which they find themselves every now and then.

What it is

Positive psychotherapy is a direction centered on conflict, which is resolved with the help of the abilities (innate and acquired) of the person himself. It is widely used in both psychology and psychiatry for the treatment of serious personality and behavioral disorders. Rooted in transcultural psychodynamic psychotherapeutic methods. Initially, Pezeshkian called his brainchild differential analysis. The basis is a humanistic point of view.

Pezeshkian positive psychotherapy has been actively promoted in Germany since 1968. But she received recognition much later. In 1996 it was declared an effective and official direction by the European Association of Psychotherapy. Following her in 2008, the same thing was proclaimed from the high rostrum of the World Council of Psychotherapy.

Professor Pezeshkian in the last years of his life (died in 2010) constantly traveled around the world with seminars, symposiums, and public lectures. Conducted interviews with the press, television and radio. To date, more than 40 positive psychotherapy centers have been opened in different countries. For the active implementation of his method, the doctor was awarded many awards:

• Germany's main medical award "Richard-Martin-Price" for quality assurance;
• Ernst von Bergmann Prize;
• Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany;
• International Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science;
• Nobel Prize nomination.

Many of his books have been translated into Russian:

1. "Positive psychotherapy - theory and practice of a new method."
2. "Positive family psychotherapy."
3. "Psychosomatics and positive psychotherapy."
4. “Psychotherapy of everyday life: conflict resolution training.”
5. “The merchant and the parrot. Eastern stories and psychotherapy."

Pezeshkian created positive psychotherapy based on transcultural studies of more than 20 world cultures. Therefore, many call his direction innovative and interethnic.

In everyday life you can find different names: positive dynamic psychotherapy, differential analysis, transcultural psychodynamics and others.

Complexities of etymology. Despite the fact that in PP there is a moment that provides the patient with an exclusively positive attitude, the name of the direction has nothing to do with the Latin word “positivus”, which translates as “positive”. It goes back to another Latin concept - “positum”, which means “occurring, actual, given.”

All-Russian interactive educational portal "Axioma"

performed:

Khalus Marina Nikolaevna

MKDOU ShR "Kindergarten No. 4 "Crane"

Shelekhov, Irkutsk region

TECHNIQUES OF SHORT-TERM POSITIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY (FROM THE WORK EXPERIENCE OF A KINDERGARTEN TEACHER-PSYCHOLOGIST)

Prepared by: teacher-psychologist Marina Nikolaevna Khalus, MKDOU ShR “Kindergarten No. 4 “Crane”, Shelekhov

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SPECIFICITY OF SHORT-TERM POSITIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY………….2

TECHNIQUES 4

PRACTICAL USE OF SHORT-TERM POSITIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY TECHNIQUES 7

CONCLUSION 9

REFERENCES 10

SPECIFICITY OF SHORT-TERM POSITIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY

Psychological counseling implies the systematic use of certain techniques and non-judgment on the part of the psychologist. Short-term positive psychotherapy (PTPT) techniques allow a person who has sought advice from a psychologist (consultant) or psychotherapist to actualize mental, emotional or spiritual abilities. This ensures the emergence of new opportunities for the client to get out of a difficult life situation; to achieve personal development goals. In addition, the counselor helps the client take responsibility for the decisions made, as well as the feelings and thoughts underlying them. Brief positive psychotherapy aims to help the client change his relationship with the world in a positive direction. Short-term positive psychotherapy methods focus on the resources a person has to resolve a problematic situation. An opportunity is created to move from problem to goal, identify available resources and strengthen cooperation in a person’s social network. Much attention is paid to creating an atmosphere conducive to finding solutions. Such an atmosphere can be described by such concepts as cooperation, hope, humor, curiosity, self-respect. For this, various action schemes, techniques and their combinations are used. The specifics of short-term positive psychotherapy are reflected by three main principles that contribute to a real increase in the effectiveness of psychotherapy: - positivism as a fundamental non-recording of the client’s negative experience; the ability to focus in work on a person’s resources and positive experience, and not on correcting his shortcomings; — pragmatism as the ability not to limit the vision of a person’s individual characteristics with theoretical concepts and schemes, but to use everything that helps the patient; — environmentalism as a systematic approach that destroys the stereotype of the omnipotence of the therapist and recognizes the natural wisdom of the body, social and ecological systems [10]. The relevance of the practical application of short-term positive therapy techniques in the work of a modern psychologist is explained by the client’s desire to solve the problem with maximum results quickly, in 1-2 meetings. The method of short-term positive psychotherapy (CPT) began with the activities of the Center for Short-Term Family Therapy in Milwaukee (USA) under the leadership of a native of Korea, Master of Science in Social Welfare Insoo Kim Berg, who since the mid-1980s. last century, published eight books and produced numerous videos on Solution Focused Therapy, or SFT. She briefly formulated three “philosophical” rules of short-term positive psychotherapy: 1) do not fix what is not broken (orientation of psychotherapy to the specific order of the patient); 2) having learned what works, do it again (increasing the period of success achieved is much easier than mastering new and unusual forms of behavior); 3) if something doesn’t work, then don’t repeat it again, but do something else. In Russia, the development of the method is associated with the name of the psychotherapist from St. Petersburg Boris Barash. As an enthusiast of short-term positive therapy, B. A. Barash implemented her ideas: the naturalness and spontaneity of positivism are supported by professional erudition and reflection; eco-psychotherapy is characterized by egocentrism inherent in classical approaches, where the patient is essentially isolated from the micro- and macrosocial environment during the therapy process. It was B. A. Barash who first invited the co-directors of the Institute of Short-Term Therapy in Helsinki, B. Furman and T. Ahola, to Russia, who, starting in 1989, conducted a number of training seminars on short-term positive psychotherapy for practitioners. Currently, short-term positive psychotherapy is widely used in the CIS countries. In Belarus, the idea of ​​short-term positive psychotherapy was fruitfully developed for many years by the famous psychotherapist, associate professor A. L. Pushkarev (1959–2006). Strategic principles of short-term positive psychotherapy, clearly reflecting the essence of the method [14]: 1. Positive approach - reliance on the patient’s resources. The psychotherapist fundamentally focuses attention not on the problem, but on the strengths, successful sides of the person. For the client, his problem and his resources are not related to each other. It is important to identify and mobilize these available resources to overcome the problem. The client, following his experience of communicating with professionals, centers the conversation on his problems, experiences and suffering, often trying to prove to the psychotherapist how bad and hopeless everything is. Fixing attention on resources allows you to resist this, sometimes quite strong, onslaught of the client. The psychotherapist remains correct in relation to the initial description of the problem, but does not ask additional questions that delve deeper into it, focusing attention on possible causes, which are often described in terms of guilt. A realistic and non-normative vision of the problem, reliance on other, positive aspects of life stimulate the client to search for resources for its successful resolution. 2. Use only positive reinforcement. Replies, gestures, facial expressions, and reactions of the psychotherapist are aimed at reinforcing the client’s movement towards overcoming the problem. 3. Convincing the therapist of the patient's wisdom. Here it is appropriate to quote Erickson's statement: “Every client knows the solution to his problem; the only thing he doesn’t know is that he knows about it.” To be fair, we note that this idea of ​​the hidden potential of clients is not scientifically substantiated. However, respect for the capabilities of patients, faith in their abilities is transmitted to them, begins to materialize, creating the preconditions for finding solutions. 4. Reliance on the therapist’s intuition. It comes from the idea of ​​constructivism that there are no exact and correct explanations of the causes of the problem, which are nothing more than arbitrary designations created in the mind of the observer. Therefore, it is proposed to rely on the intuition of a professional, which is formed on the basis of his personal experience; personal preferences and professional context (expectations, preferences of administration, colleagues, teachers), as well as the needs of patients, to which a good psychotherapist is very receptive. All this leads to the use of some methods and the non-use of others. The situation when the choice of a psychotherapist is limited by his professional skills or the lack of reasonable alternatives should be considered as very negative. 5. Recycling – the use of the client’s experience, knowledge, skills, beliefs, interests and emotions. To solve the problem, his personal qualities, physical characteristics, social environment, his temporal, material, geographical, cultural circumstances, etc. can be considered and used. We can say that the process of psychotherapy is reminiscent of “making soup with an axe.” Thus, the patient himself fills the psychotherapy. 6. Cost-effectiveness and short-termism. It is believed that if it is possible to achieve changes in an ineffective pattern, a certain habitual stereotype of emotional and behavioral response, then a “ripple” effect occurs, i.e., a chain of cognitive, emotional and behavioral changes is launched that are mediated by the reactions of society. This leads to a rapid transformation of the client's problematic situation. 7. Focus on the client’s future, which is the area for implementing solutions (the past cannot be changed, but it carries the resources to overcome the problem, the present has already passed, only the future can be changed). 8. Cooperation. In short-term positive psychotherapy, the therapist’s task is to cooperate with the client, even in cases where the person does not want to change. Such visiting patients sometimes enter psychotherapy at the insistence of relatives or internists, which implies the transfer of responsibility for decision-making to the patient. 9. Publicity. This word is used by Finnish authors in the context of international political vocabulary of the late 80s. It reflects their many years of experiments in transforming the supervision model and, as a result, short-term positive psychotherapy. This principle has two aspects. Firstly, family members or other persons involved in the problem who are absent from the psychotherapeutic session can, in one form or another, become familiar with the main points of the dialogue between the client and the psychotherapist. The presence of many people at the session is welcomed, both from the client (relatives, friends, colleagues) and from the psychotherapist (supervisor, colleagues, students). Secondly, there is nothing that professionals can tell each other, but not tell the client or other interested parties, i.e., the policy of “two truths” is abandoned. This is made possible by discussing any case from a positive point of view and by refusing to use psychopathological labels and a mentoring tone filled with professional superiority. 10. Ecocentrism – working with the social ecological system. The patient continues to live in a certain social environment. Therefore, in short-term positive psychotherapy they willingly discuss various forms of participation of other people in solving his problem. 11. Humor. In psychoanalytic therapy, humor is considered as a protective formation, a way that allows the patient to reduce existing tension. The use of humor during sessions of short-term positive psychotherapy is associated with the desire to eliminate as much tension as possible, which impedes the liberation of creative potential and the work of fantasy. A cheerful and relaxed atmosphere facilitates the discussion of unusual ideas and the search for constructive solutions. Humor in psychotherapy is a great way to distance a client from a problem, which allows him to look at the situation from the outside and find the right solution. This is a good way to repel the “onslaught” of a client who seeks to convert the interlocutor to his negative belief. Of course, it's important to laugh with him, not at him. 12. Attitude to a symptom as an adaptive stereotype. It is combined with an outwardly emphasized non-fixation of attention on the symptom instead of treating it as a target of psychotherapy. 13. Adjustment to a specific patient and technical flexibility in working with him. TECHNIQUES

Below is a brief description of a range of short-term positive psychotherapy techniques. They are used at different stages of psychotherapy, and each of them solves very specific problems related to goal setting, working with resources, explaining clients and their environment. "Magic wand". Many people clearly know what they don’t like, but find it difficult to say what they want to have instead of an unsatisfactory situation. To overcome the limitations of reality and establish the goal of therapy, the client can be asked to fantasize. The therapist asks: “If I had a magic wand in my hand and I waved it... What does your life look like now? What changes have occurred? Is it noticeable to other people? "Memories from the Future." This technique stimulates the client to create positive, very attractive ideas about the future. First, they are interested in the client’s ideas about the time frame when the goal will be achieved, and they offer to “plunge” into this wonderful time. Then they say: “So, let’s say we meet a year later and this problem no longer exists. Describe what your life looks like now? Another option: “Let's dream up. We are in the future, the problem has not existed for a long time. We met by chance, and I'm interested in how you are doing. What are you telling me about your life? Then I ask what made this change possible? What do you answer? "Working with explanations." Clients tend to explain their problems in one way or another. Interest in their explanations creates an atmosphere of equality and mutual respect; reduces the likelihood of disputes and the psychotherapist entering into a coalition with one family member against another; prevents fixation on “harmful” explanations, and also stimulates the identification of useful ones and the formation of new explanations that contribute to solving the problem. Action-oriented explanations enable the patient to look at his problem as an accident or a bad habit. “Good” explanations may be based on the assumption that the problem helps the person achieve or learn something. To stimulate the client’s imagination, ask questions: “What is the most unusual explanation for the problem you can come up with? How could people in another culture explain this problem? In conversation, the psychotherapist avoids agreeing or disagreeing with the clients’ explanations. This is achieved using meta-questions: “So, you think that the cause of the problem is that your husband drinks. If this were really the case, would it help solve the problem or would it just make things worse?” "Revision of the past." The technique allows us to introduce the idea that even the client’s problematic past contributed to an increase in his internal resources: “Do you think the difficulties experienced strengthen a person or make him weaker?” "Small steps of a big staircase." To make the prospect of achieving a goal more realistic for the client, metaphors can be used. For example: “If, while going down the stairs, we want to immediately jump over an entire flight of stairs, we will probably just crash. But if we move from step to step, we can go down the stairs without any problems. "Problem Line" This technique pursues several tasks at once. Having drawn a line on a piece of paper and dividing it into ten parts, the therapist may suggest: “Suppose that at the beginning of this line there is the worst state of affairs, and at the end there is the best. Where are you now? If the client says: “Only a C,” the therapist can help to activate the feeling of goal achievability, for example: “I would say that you have already passed a third of the way. This is a lot! What needs to be done to move one step forward? Thus, work is underway to specify ways to solve the problem. "Steps of Achievement". To implement a solution, it is necessary not only to foresee the result and plan, but also to be able to check at each stage of implementation whether the changes are really going in the given direction. In addition, the feeling of progress being made is important. This technique helps to determine such landmarks: “Suppose you are standing on the first step of a ten-story building. What floor is your goal on? Tell us how your position differs from the previous one on each floor. Now describe how each of the five (ten) steps on the first flight is different. And the second? What must you do to climb each of these steps? It must be borne in mind that planning that is too detailed is just as harmful as planning that is too general and schematic. "Checking the future." The technique allows the client to form a clear picture of his future, which sometimes gives more to solving a problem than all logical constructions. “Suppose you achieved what you wanted. What will your life be like six months after achieving the goal, a year after achieving the goal, two years (three, five years)? “Now imagine that you did not change anything (or made a different decision if you need to choose from several options). What will your life be like: six months after achieving the goal, a year after achieving the goal, two years (three, five years)?” "Sense of dynamics." Even if the client did not do anything before contacting a psychotherapist, then at least he has already: 1) realized that he has a problem; 2) came to the conclusion that something needs to be changed; 3) took a real and very specific step aimed at resolving the problem - asked for psychological help. All this must be told to the client. "An Unnoticed Resource." This technique increases the feeling of one’s own capabilities and promotes an inventory of one’s own resources. “In your place, many people would be in a much worse situation. How did you manage to stay at this level? What helped you? "Gossip about a problem." The following intervention makes it possible to highlight the problem from different points of view and to study it comprehensively: “If your wife (husband), mother (father), brother (sister), boyfriend (girlfriend) were talking about your problem now, what would they say about it? did you tell me? "Theater in a Snuff Box" This technique allows you to see the problem “from above”, as a whole, and thereby reduce the client’s exaggerated significance of what is happening and the feeling of powerlessness. “If you were now watching a performance from above in which you, your problem, people were shown, who surround you, what would it look like? Describe what you see?” "Problem is like a friend." Allows you to turn off blind resistance to the problem, which blocks its resolution, and take a position of “cooperation” with the problem. The client can fill the suffering or discomfort experienced with meaning and feel the value of what is happening by answering the following questions: “Many people think that problems and suffering are not in vain. What do you think? Why did the problem appear in your life? What does she want to teach you? "Advice to a friend." By delegating his problem to another person, and having the opportunity to consider it from the outside, the client can more easily find a suitable solution. “If your friend had such a problem, what would you advise him? What recommendations could you give? How can he best resolve the problem? "The other side of the coin." This technique sets an objective, “volumetric” perception of the situation, and activates resources: “A medal cannot have only one side. Where there is bad, there must be good. What could it be? What is good about your current situation? "Focus on progress." The theme of progress is used as a springboard to move towards new solutions: “You said that your situation is somewhat better now. How do you explain this change? Since there has clearly been progress, what do you think is driving it?” "The Use of Chance." Allows you to emphasize the client’s skills and resources hidden from consciousness: “You say that several times by chance it turned out that the problem seemed to be absent for the whole day. Describe at least one of these days step by step. Let's analyze what your role is in these “accidents”. “Recognizing the contributions of others.” Provokes the client to reflect on the contributions that other people have made to solving their problem. The technology automatically cancels all judgment against them and encourages feelings of respect and gratitude, thereby increasing cooperation. She helps clients develop warmer, more supportive relationships with their families, friends, acquaintances, and co-workers. “Suppose you would like to thank all those people who have helped you so far. What would you say to each of them? When you achieve your goal, who else besides yourself can you thank for your achievement? Below we consider a solution-oriented technique, which reflects the ideas of short-term positive psychotherapy in a concentrated form. It allows you to push the client to specific, consistent actions to solve the problem. Steps of solution-oriented technique: 1. Statement of the problem in clear and distinct categories. 2. We ask the question: “How have you managed to survive with this problem until now?” (in some cases the question is appropriate, in others it is not). 3. For chronic problems (chronic pain, frequent panic attacks) - look for exceptions: “Are there days (hours) when it becomes a little easier?” 4. Key question: “If a miracle happened at night - you woke up and the problem was no longer there, how would you know that it happened?” (it takes time to get a detailed answer, because many forget how to live differently, without problems. A person needs to be returned to the experience of comfort - this is a guideline for the future when constructing a solution). 5. Rating points on a scale, where 0 is the problem in its maximum severity, and 10 is the maximum that can be considered a solution. The obligatory question is: “Where would others (mother, father, husband, friends) put you?” 6. What would help you move 1 point on this scale? (sometimes 0.5 points). Everything that people find is material for further work. 7. Compliments. A person depressed by a problem suffers from low self-esteem. Therefore, we need to praise him and support him. If it is difficult to grasp the essence of what is happening, then they praise as vaguely as possible: “I cannot explain it, but it seems to me that we have done something very important now.” 8. Homework. It makes the work more meaningful. If it is difficult to offer a specific task, you can give a vague one. In the future, it is necessary to return to this scale from time to time and ask: “Where are you now?” This allows the psychotherapist to better navigate the results achieved, and the client to realize the positive dynamics. Brief positive psychotherapy is used for almost all behavioral disorders and in any therapeutic format (when working with individuals, couples or families). It is emphasized that narrow focus (solution-oriented) is especially valuable when helping people with adaptation problems (D. Araoz, 1996).

PRACTICAL USE OF SHORT-TERM POSITIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY TECHNIQUES

Case 1.

Elena (34 years old) and her mother came for a consultation. Elena had a conflict with the school psychologist, who insists at every opportunity that something needs to be done about Vanya’s aggressiveness. The boy attends the 2nd grade of a comprehensive school. At the beginning of the school year, he got into a fight with a classmate. Elena is active, cheerful, and has a friendly attitude. They live together with their son. Elena works two jobs. Her parents help them. Elena does not mention Vanya’s father. Elena and her mother decided that it was worth going to another psychologist, “otherwise, who knows, maybe the school psychologist is right, suddenly the son will grow up angry and beat everyone.” After the greeting, a question was asked about the purpose of the arrival. Elena: “The school psychologist says that something needs to be done about Ivan’s aggression. He got into a fight." During further conversation, it turns out that Ivan got into a fight with a classmate because he offended the girl. But Elena is worried that her son will get used to solving everything with his fists. Psychologist: “Every situation has a second side to the coin. Let's imagine that, on the one hand, this is a fight in which your son participated. But a medal cannot have only one side. Where there is bad, there must be good. What's on the other side? Elena: “He’s fair, that’s why he fought. He is always for the truth. My son studies well, the teacher often praises him, and he also goes to the school drama club. He is very independent, completely grown up, and understands that I need to work.” This exercise, “The Second Side of the Coin,” allows Elena to consider the situation objectively, while talking about her son, she herself understands that not everything is so bad. Psychologist: “At home, you (or grandmother) noticed that Ivan can be angry, breaks something, destroys, is rude.” Grandmother and Elena unanimously declare that no. Psychologist: “That is, only the school psychologist talks about aggression.” E.: “Yes, I don’t like that the school psychologist always talks about my son like that.” P.: “Yes, it’s unpleasant. Moreover, you can see for yourself that this is an isolated incident.” Grandmother (with a smile): “Yes, he got into a fight once, he’s an aggressive school psychologist, not a grandson. It’s unpleasant to even talk to her.” P.: “What do you think can be done to make the school psychologist stop saying that Ivan is aggressive?” Convincing the psychologist of the patient’s wisdom allows Elena herself to solve the problem. E.: “Prove to her that my son is not a bully, you can talk to him, understand what he is like.” The solution stems from conversations (changes are born during the conversation) A positive approach is based on the client’s resources, Elena’s resources are a good relationship with her son, he is her assistant. It is important to focus not on the problem, but on the strengths and successful sides of a person. Subsequently, a conversation was held with Ivan; diagnostics of aggressive manifestations was carried out. The boy willingly answered questions about himself and his mother. He behaved according to the situation. He showed himself to be age-conscious, non-conflict, non-aggressive, but able to defend himself if necessary. So Ivan’s mother realized that she needed to trust her son and her maternal intuition more. After the consultation, Elena talked again with the school psychologist, after which the talk about the boy’s imaginary excessive aggressiveness stopped. Case 2. Anna Ivanovna, 48 years old, teacher, asked for a consultation. There is a husband and adult sons who live independently. Anna Ivanovna does not know what to do. She has a sick mother in her care, she doesn’t get up, she hardly recognizes anyone. Anna Ivanovna is tired, but cannot leave her. Now my mother is in the hospital, the disease has worsened. When asked if she could leave her mother, what would happen then, Anna Ivanovna answered: “All my colleagues go on vacation, I would go too.” P.: Anna Ivanovna, let’s clearly define your goal. What would you like? A.I.: I’m tired, I want to rest P.: What’s stopping you? A.I.: I’m afraid to leave my mother, this is not right. How can I go and she’s sick? What follows is the story that for almost 5 years Anna Ivanovna has been caring for her sick mother, who has not recognized anyone for a long time. In addition, she also looks after the house. Anna Ivanovna is depressed by the problem and feeling of guilt, and suffers from low self-esteem. P.: Anna Ivanovna! You cope well with such a difficult task - caring for a sick person. You are very patient, not everyone is given this. No wonder you are tired. Support and praise increase the client's self-esteem. Next we focus on exceptions. It is necessary to find out whether Anna Ivanovna always had to look after her mother herself. A.I.: Yes, of course. I've always gotten used to everything myself. I raised the children myself, my husband didn’t help much, and now I’m dragging my mother along. P.: Do you think the difficulties you experienced strengthened you or made you weaker? A.I.: Tempered, of course. But now I can do everything myself, I know what and how, everything in the house is my way, I am independent. The “Revision of the Past” technique allows us to introduce the idea that even a problematic past contributed to an increase in his internal resources and independence. Finding resources allows you to identify and strengthen the client's strengths. Here we are looking for an opportunity to involve loved ones in solving the problem. P.: Tell me, does your husband somehow help you with your mother? A.I. Yes, he takes me to her house and brings me groceries from the store. Helps when needed. He takes me to the hospital every day. It’s hard to go there every day, it takes time. P.: Does your husband willingly help? A.I.: He is already tired too P.: Would you like your husband to also relax with you when the opportunity arises? A.I.: Yes, you can go somewhere together, it’s even more interesting to use the “Recognizing the contribution of others” technique. Provokes the client to reflect on the contributions that other people have made to solving their problem. The technology automatically cancels all judgment against them and encourages feelings of respect and gratitude, thereby increasing cooperation. She helps clients develop warmer, more supportive relationships with their families, friends, acquaintances, and co-workers. P: Do you have other relatives? A.I.: There is a younger brother, his wife P.: Have you ever asked them for help? A.I.: No, it never even occurred to me P.: Can you do this? A.I.: Yes, probably P.: Do you think he will agree? A.I.: Yes, I agree, I myself never ask him for anything. His wife can help him too. But they won’t go to the hospital every day. P.: The hospital is taking good care of my mother, what do you think? A.I.: Yes, there are good nurses there. P.: Do you know them well? A.I.: Yes, I’ve already met everyone, good girls. Here we are pushing Anna Ivanovna to specific, consistent actions to solve the problem when her own resources were opened. P.: Do you think they could inform you by phone about your mother’s condition in order to reduce your anxiety A.I. I didn’t even think about this, yes, I’ll take their mobile numbers, I’ll call myself to find out the news. Two months later, Anna Ivanovna and her husband went on a vacation package. Not only the family of Anna Ivanovna’s brother, but also her son began to provide assistance in caring for the sick mother. So, at the beginning of the conversation, Anna Ivanovna had no idea what to do and was very confused. In the process, it became clear that it was necessary to talk with loved ones and involve them in order to resolve the issue. The conversation took no more than 40 minutes. When Anna Ivanovna left the psychologist’s office, she looked determined and purposeful. She knew exactly what needed to be done today, now. CONCLUSION Practice has shown that even the use of individual techniques of short-term positive psychotherapy perfectly serves to achieve the result: solving the problem of a person who seeks advice from a psychologist in one session. We used exercises that allowed us to access the client’s resources, believe in himself and, as a result, determine specific steps that he can take when leaving the psychologist’s office. A huge advantage of short-term positive psychotherapy is that it implies another key concept: the psychologist does not “conduct therapy” on the patient, but invites reflection and conversation, treating his interlocutor as an equal. The client finds their own individual way out of the labyrinth, which is achieved through positive thinking and reliance on themes that fuel hope, such as potential, development and the future. And all this happens during the “conversation”. It should be noted that there are some difficulties in implementing the principle of openness. In practice, it turns out to be impossible to directly involve loved ones in solving the client’s problems. It is easier to bring together people from a team with similar problems than to invite someone close to you for a consultation. Practice shows that most people are not interested in “personal growth and development,” they only want to solve their problem as quickly as possible. Therefore, concepts and approaches that require long-term support and lengthy psychotherapeutic sessions do not work. There are plans for further practical use of short-term positive psychotherapy, not only in individual counseling, but also in groups.

REFERENCES 1. Ivy A. E., Ivy M. B., Simek-Downing L. Psychological counseling and psychotherapy. Methods, theories and techniques: a practical guide. - M.:, 1999 - 487 p. 2. Brown J., Christensen D. Theory and practice of family psychotherapy. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001. P. 10. 3. Gladding S. Psychological counseling. — 4th ed. – St. Petersburg: Peter, 2002. – 736s: ill. – (Series “Masters of Psychology”), p.244 4. Golovin S.Yu. Dictionary of a practical psychologist. , MINSK: HAVEST, 1998 5. Domoratsky V. A. Short-term methods of psychotherapy / V. A. Domoratsky. – M.: Publishing House of the Institute of Psychotherapy, 2007. – 221 p. 6. Kottler J., Brown R. “Psychotherapeutic counseling.”-SPb.: Peter, 2002, p. 57 7. Kochyunas, R. “Fundamentals of psychological counseling” [Electronic resource] M.: “Academic project”, 1999 Access mode: https://krotov.info/lib_sec/shso/77_koch.html 8. Manukhina N.M. Short-term psychological counseling, // Journal of practical psychology and psychoanalysis, 2009,1 [Electronic resource] Access mode: https://psyjournal.ru/psyjournal/articles/detail.php?ID=2988 9. Mikkin G. In memory of Boris Barasha. On the ecological worldview in psychotherapy and counseling: yesterday and today // Existential tradition: Philosophy, psychology, psychotherapy. 2004 10. May R. The art of psychological counseling / Translation from English. T.K. Kruglova. – M.: Nezavisimaya. Interview with Insu Kim Berg [Electronic resource] Access mode: www.psychoterapy.net 12. Pezeshkian N. Psychotherapy of everyday life: conflict resolution training. — SP. Speech, 2001. - 288, p. 13. Slabinsky V.Yu. Family positive dynamic psychotherapy. Practical guide. – St. Petersburg: Science and Technology, 2009.-464 p., ill. 14. Yalov A.M. — Short-term positive psychotherapy. Methodological manual (IMATON, 1997, 64c)

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The essence

The whole essence of positive psychology is revealed in the etymology of the term. It works with the problem that exists at the moment and which requires an urgent solution right now. Nosrat Pezeshkian believed that while in other directions they were getting to the bottom of the true causes of the conflict (psychotrauma, disorder), precious time was wasted. Then it is also spent on the possible elimination of provoking factors. And only after that the work begins directly with the problem itself. And during this period it already manages to grow, take root and move into an advanced stage.

Considering these moments to be a clear disadvantage of most psychotherapeutic directions, Nossrat Pezeshkian created positive psychotherapy with a completely different goal - to work directly with the problem situation. Without delving into childhood behavioral patterns and long-standing psycho-traumatic factors, he tried to quickly rid a person of anxious thoughts, depression, nervousness, and personality-behavioral disorders before they became advanced.

This gives excellent and fast results. People get a solution to their problem in just a few sessions, without going deep into the past and without bringing up unpleasant memories in the recesses of memory. While maintaining peace of mind, they also learn to independently get out of difficult situations later.

The main objectives of positive psychotherapy:

• psychotherapeutic aspect - treatment of personal behavioral disorders;
• pedagogical aspect - education and prevention of deviant behavior and social maladaptation of children and adolescents;
• transcultural-social aspect - development and improvement of intercultural consciousness (study of national traditions that influence the behavior and internal state of their bearers);
• interdisciplinary aspect - interaction and integration (as far as possible) of other psychotherapeutic areas under a common auspices.

Such a variety of aspects that specialists have to work with makes it even more attractive.

History of origin

Brief therapy began to gain attention in the 1950s, following the rise in popularity of behavioral and family therapy.

Behavior therapy emphasizes the correction of immediate problem behaviors and uses numerous behavioral techniques to facilitate personality changes.

Family therapy emphasizes the individual within the context of the family. In both cases, the therapist is directive and active.

These two types of therapy differ from the earlier dominant therapies based on psychoanalytic thinking, which focused on the individual's insight and past, and in which the therapist is non-directive and completely passive.

Thus, behavioral and family psychotherapy laid the foundation for the adoption of active short-term therapeutic approaches.

The popularity of brief therapy increased in the 1980s following empirical research into the process and outcome of psychotherapy.

The researchers used meta-analysis, a statistical method that compares the results of many studies, to reach the following conclusions about psychotherapy:

1. most clients remained in therapy for six to eight sessions,
2. 75% of clients reporting improvement saw results within the first 6 months of therapy, and
3. time-limited psychotherapy produced results similar to long-term long-term therapy.

In addition to these research findings, social changes in the world have increased the need and demand for quick ways to get psychological help:

• Insurance companies and Health Care Organizations usually place limits on the number of sessions a person can attend under their health insurance.
• Some people, not wanting to pay insurance, prefer to pay for their psychotherapy outright.
• And the vast majority of people have neither the time nor the appropriate personal income for long-term psychotherapy.
• Also, the demand for therapy has increased while the supply of therapists (in the face of declining fees and increasing workloads) has decreased.
• Therefore, many community and university counseling centers simply do not have enough therapists to accept clients for long-term courses of therapy!

Brief therapy has become an attractive method to meet the increased demand for counseling services in a timely and cost-effective manner. In addition, the results of meta-studies showed that there is simply no difference in effectiveness between short-term and long-term therapy.

Advantages

The “here and now” principle is actively used in neurolinguistic programming, psychodrama, client-centered psychotherapy, Gestalt therapy, and non-directive hypnosis. And yet, work in these areas takes too long, since they practically do not draw on a person’s internal resources, helping him with external methods. Most of them are focused on eliminating the symptoms rather than the conflict itself.

Given all this, it is not surprising that positive psychotherapy has had such success. Its advantages over other areas:

• conflict-centered rather than symptom-centered;
• short-term: on average, 20 sessions within the framework of psychology and no more than 50 sessions of psychotherapy (taking into account the final recovery from quite severe disorders);
• universality: specialists do not have to look for different methods, techniques and techniques - here everything works to eliminate the conflict almost instantly;
• internationality: this is cross-cultural psychotherapy that integrates the philosophy and intuitive wisdom of the East and the rationalism and science of the West;
• active involvement of the patient in the process of working through their conflicts;
• working with a person as an integral system, and not with his individual thoughts, experiences, conflicts;
• active use of parables and metaphors as a psychotherapeutic tool for working with patients;
• future-oriented, despite the “here and now” principle: positive psychotherapy teaches how to cope with problematic situations in the future.

In addition to all these advantages, this direction also offers methods for working with problems that arise for psychotherapists themselves. For practicing specialists this is a significant advantage. One of the most attractive points for patients is that short-term positive psychotherapy allows you to eliminate conflict in a minimum number of sessions. Where Gestalt therapy takes six months, PP is managed in one and a half months.

The essence of short-term psychotherapy

When the therapist and client try to get from point A (the problem that brought the person into therapy) to point B (the solution that ends therapy) in a direct, economical, and efficient way, we say that they are consciously participating in short-term therapy.

From the point of view of the true, highest ethics of psychotherapy, the approach chosen by the therapist should be quick and useful, nothing extraneous, no beating around the bush. This means that the therapist and the client must do everything that brings the client closer to solving the problem. And they should not do anything that does not bring them closer to a solution.

Thus, it is obvious that long conversations about the history of the client’s problem or “drinking teas and tracking couches” do not bring us closer to a solution. It’s as if, instead of quickly pulling out a splinter, the doctor would spend hours and months asking his patient how he met the splinter, what he thought at the moment the splinter entered the skin, etc.

From the point of view of common sense, this sounds absurd, but for the sake of their complex theoretical constructs, many schools of psychotherapy are engaged in the “splinter spell.”

As Bloom (1992, p. 3) wrote:

“The word planned is important; these interventions describe short-term treatments that are designed to achieve a range of therapeutic goals within a sharply limited time frame.”

Here's how de Shazer (1991a) describes it:

“Brief therapy” simply means therapy that takes as few sessions as possible, no more than necessary... “Brief therapy” is a relative term, usually meaning:

• a) fewer sessions than standard, and/or
• b) a shorter period of time from administration to discontinuation, and/or
• c) fewer sessions and less frequency of sessions from start to finish.

Basic principles

Positive psychotherapy is based on three “pillars” - three basic principles. Each of them corresponds to a specific technique.

The principle of balance

It corresponds to the methodology of meaningful differential analysis of personality psychodynamics. The name just sounds so scary, but in reality everything is simple. Positive psychotherapy works with a person’s innate (primary) and acquired (secondary) abilities. The specialist tries to identify and differentiate them at the very first sessions.

Most often, the problem arises due to the fact that the former turn out to be undetected and rebel somewhere from within, while the latter, although lying on the surface, do not find a field of application. The task of the PP is to harmonize and literally “bring out” innate talents and at the same time help to actualize acquired ones.

Principle of Hope

It corresponds to the method of a positive approach in seeing innate and acquired abilities, as well as human capabilities. There are patients whom one or another referral refuses because it does not have the necessary tools to work with it. But here psychotherapists do not have the right not to believe in a successful outcome. Even if the case is unique or advanced, it is necessary to act as if recovery will come tomorrow. Moreover, most of the hope is placed on the internal resources of the patient himself.

The principle of self- and mutual assistance

It corresponds to a metamodel that involves 5 steps. Its goal is to harmonize, adapt and develop any personality in the shortest possible time. And if at the very first sessions the work is carried out mainly with the patient himself, then at the end he is given an algorithm on how to improve the life of not only himself, but also those around him. Moreover, this list is quite impressive: loved one, family, business partner, colleagues, employees of the organization, community. The humanistic orientation of positive psychotherapy manifests itself most clearly in this principle.

However, these principles do not exhaust the methods of positive psychotherapy. In the hands of specialists there is a much richer toolkit.

About abilities

Innate and acquired abilities are key concepts. Moreover, we are talking not so much about talents, giftedness or genius, but about universal human values. For example, from the point of view of the PP, from birth, everyone has two leading abilities (needs) - to know and to love.

The ability and need to know

This is the rational, intellectual essence of man. The left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for it. Firstly, it is more developed among mathematicians, physicists and people in other specialties related to the exact sciences. Secondly, given the integration of cultures, from the point of view of positive psychotherapy, this ability is a priority for residents of North America and Western Europe.

This is what becomes the main focus when resolving a conflict, for example, for a chemist or a German. The therapist invites them to eliminate it through logical thinking. Constant quarrels with your wife? Because of which? Doesn’t cook, doesn’t wash or iron clothes, doesn’t look after the children, demands a lot of money? Are there any positive moments in living together with her? What is more: advantages or disadvantages? With the help of such leading questions and recording clear answers, a comparative table at the end of the first session, the rationalist sees that there is no longer any point in being with such a spouse and the only way out of this situation is divorce (or vice versa).

The ability and need to love

This is the emotional, sensual spiritual essence of a person. The left hemisphere is responsible for it. It is developed among representatives of humanitarian and creative professions, as well as among residents of the East and South America.

If an artist or a Japanese man comes to a positive psychotherapist with a family problem (quarrels with his wife), it is useless to ask them those clear, rational questions that worked so effectively in the previous case. The answers to them will be vague, long and indefinite, which will only further confuse the client about what he wants and delay the session.

This requires other methods and techniques. For example, metaphors or parables. Seeing his own family life as a damaged canvas or dried out paints, the artist will be able to decide for himself whether to revive them or replace them with new ones. Having heard the story about the stupid wife, the Japanese will understand how to fix everything.

"Supermen"

The most difficult thing to work with is people who have a mixture of physiological abilities and cultural and historical predispositions. For example, with a Chinese computer scientist or an English musician. On the one hand, they are driven by the most developed hemisphere. On the other hand, ethnicity. In such cases, it is necessary to identify the dominant of these factors and work with an orientation towards it. In this case, it is necessary to eliminate the eternal internal conflict between these two entities.

This intercultural approach allows positive psychotherapy to work with a person of any nationality, taking into account his ethnic and cultural-historical predispositions. This gives excellent results.

Types of short-term psychotherapy

There are many approaches to short-term psychotherapy. Initially, pre-existing long-term methods were adapted to the short-term context.

The fundamental position of NABS is that long-term methods cannot and will not be adequately “adapted” to the short-term context due to their own theoretical framework. For real adaptation, it is necessary to change the paradigm, which entails the destruction of previous theoretical structures, and this entails an almost complete rejection of the method, school and direction. This is confirmed by meta-studies on the effectiveness of such adaptations. But for the sake of historical justice, we will still consider the attempts at these adaptations.

It is important to note that there are some cases where long-term psychotherapy would be more beneficial (eg, treatment of severe trauma, eating disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia).

In general, however, short-term therapy is economically and practically more effective.

Stages and methods

Stages

In resolving any conflict, positive psychotherapy takes the patient through five mandatory, sequential levels:

1. Distancing from the situation that provoked the conflict.
2. Its detailed study.
3. Situational agreement.
4. Verbalization.
5. Expanding the boundaries of goals.

All these stages have only one goal - here and now to save a person from a problem, help him cope with it and move on without an aggravating load. All patients, without exception, undergo this regimen. Regardless of what they came with - an ordinary domestic quarrel (interpersonal conflict) or serious behavioral deviations (mental disorder).

Methods

At these stages, psychotherapists use different techniques, techniques and methods to achieve the goal at each specific level. Some of them are universal and are actively used in almost all areas of psychology, pedagogy, and psychotherapy:

• question-answer technique;
• speaking;
• visualization;
• identifying current abilities using the survey method.

But in the arsenal of positive psychotherapy there are also specific techniques and techniques developed specifically for it:

• formalized diagnostic interview with closed questions;
• stories, fairy tales, parables;
• metaphors;
• multicultural approach;
• complementary approach strategy;
• a selection of examples of such conflicts.