Why the Plus ?
Highlighting my values and the meaning of Psychotherapy Plus
Part 2
The Plus represents certain values that I believe make my style of Psychotherapy unique and highly effective not only for present psychological difficulties but also for long-term personal benefits!
Long before the actual process of starting my own practice begun I had the idea of calling my practice Psychotherapy +. Up until the third year of my undergraduate studies at the University of Sussex (and for the vast majority thereafter) I felt I was only ever confronted with “Psychopathology”, “Abnormal Psychology”, “Treatment of Mental Disorders”. Of course this is one of the main reasons why people are drawn to studying psychology. However it felt like something was missing. I felt there was an exaggerated focus on what is wrong with the world, what’s wrong with people, a focus on what “needed fixing”. In this third year of my undergraduate Psychology programme I chose Positive Psychology as one of my elective modules.
Positive Psychology explores personal strengths, virtues, happiness, hope, love and many more positive aspects of being human.
This side of Psychology made me feel lots of positive emotions such as hope, joy and meaning. When this module had come to an end I was left wondering how Positive Psychology could be used in therapy, to not only treat symptoms of AD(H)D, anxiety, or depression but to build resilience and foster long-term well-being. This was probably the first time the idea of Psychotherapy Plus emerged. So I continued to study Positive Psychology and its practical uses in my own time and really delved into the subject. I read research papers and books by Martin Seligman, Todd Kashdan, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and many others. I started closely following the work if the VIA Institute of Character Strengths. In 2017 the book “Character Strengths Interventions: A Field Guide for Practitioners” by Ryan Niemiec was published. I remember being so excited about it and devoured it!
Some years ago I worked with client, who had a diagnosis of Anorexia nervosa. She had recurring eating disorder symptoms for about two years and had seen multiple, counsellors, Psychotherapists and CBT-Therapists. She told me that none of the professionals had truly helped her, they had not understood her, never seen her as a person but defined her by her eating disorder diagnosis and symptoms. I decided to work with her using a positive psychology informed approach using Ryan Niemiec’s book as a basis. Of course all the while ensuring her safety and closely monitoring her symptoms.
The sessions ended prematurely because the family moved to a different country but A* told me that I had been the first Therapist who did not define her by her eating disorder, the first therapist who really tried to understand what was going on for her, someone who really listened. She said that looking at her strengths and using them systematically to problem-solve and to enhance general well-being had made her feel more self-confident, much more stable emotionally and more hopeful and secure about her ability to manage her eating disorder in the future. Two years later a colleague told me that she was doing very well.
This was a profound experience for me which again solidified my idea of calling my future private practice Psychotherapy +.
The Plus stands for looking at the positives, working together with individuals not dictated by their diagnosis but by their personality and who they are, not simply alleviating symptoms but enhancing long-term well-being.
*Client information has been changed.
Lukas Dressler
Psychotherapy.Plus
Psychologist (MSc.)
Integrative Psychotherapist
for Children and Young People
Further Reading:
Reference:
Niemiec, R. M. (2017). Character strenghts interventions: A field guide for practitioners. Hogrefe Publishing.
