Three Good Things and More Good Things Integrating

Three Good Things and More Good Things Integrating Positive Psychology Interventions into Resident Wellness Programs Linda Myerholtz, Ph. D. Mercy Health Partners Family Medicine Residency Toledo, OH

Objectives Identify 3 interventions from a positive psychology perspective that have been empirically shown to increase well-being Discuss how these interventions can be integrated into a wellness program for residents from diverse cultural backgrounds Begin to develop a plan to integrate concepts of positive psychology into wellness programs

Audience “Fresh to the field” “Well seasoned” Behavioral health folk Residents Physicians Faculty Program Directors Anyone interested in improving their own wellbeing…

If only it was this easy….

Can Positive Psychology Help Residents? Focus on enhancing well-being & flourishing Meaningful & lasting changes Interventions that could be easily integrated into residency program

Authentic Happiness vs. Well-Being Theory Authentic Happiness Well-Being (2011) Topic Happiness Well-Being Measure Life Satisfaction Positive emotion, engagement, meaning, positive relationships, accomplishments Goal Increase life satisfaction Increase flourishing by increasing positive emotion, engagement, meaning, positive relationships, accomplishments Seligman, M (2011). Flourish. Free Press, NY.

Elements of Well Being: PERMA Well Being

Elements of Well Being: PERMA Positive Emotions Well Being

Elements of Well Being: PERMA Engagement Well Being

Elements of Well Being: PERMA Well Being Positive Relationships

Elements of Well Being: PERMA Well Being Meaning

Elements of Well Being: PERMA Well Being Accomplishment

Can we improve “Well-being” long term? 200+ endeavors to produce lasting increases in well-being Positive Psychology Center- University of Pennsylvania (2001)- www. ppc. sas. upenn. edu Randomized, placebo controlled studies Measured life satisfaction and depression Data from website participants

“Three Good Things/What Went Well” Write down three positive occurrences that happened during the day every night for 1 week and why the good thing happened Alters perspective on one’s life Lowered depression 3 & 6 months later; increased happiness through 6 months Seligman MEP. Positive interventions: more evidence of effectiveness. Authentic Happiness Newsletter, September 2004. www. authentichappiness. org/news 10. html.

Gratitude Visit Identify an individual who did something/said something that changed your life for the better Write a letter of gratitude and deliver it in person Read letter to person Discuss content and feelings for each other Large decreases in depression and increases in happiness 1 month later, but effect faded 3 months later

Using Signature Strengths Complete Signature Strengths Test Chris Peterson- University of Michigan http: //www. authentichappiness. sas. upenn. edu http: //www. viacharacter. org Use one or more of your signature strengths in a new way Write about experience How did you feel? Was it challenging? Lowered depression 3 & 6 months later; increased happiness through 6 months

Capitalization Process of sharing good news Telling others about a positive experience increases the positive emotion associated with the event Positive affect and satisfaction continue to increase with additional sharing of the good news Positive events that are shared are more likely to be remembered Gable SL, Reis HT, Impett EA, Asher ER. What do you do when things go right? The intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits of sharing positive events. J Pers Soc Psychol 2004; 87(2): 228 -45.

Active & Constructive Responding “I was nominated for chief resident” Types of Responses Example Active & Constructive "That's great news! Your skills and hard work are definitely paying off. Tell me about the next steps in the process. " Passive & Constructive "That's very nice, dear. " Active & Destructive “You've never done anything like that. Are you sure you can handle it? It sounds like a lot of work. You'll have to put in even longer hours. " Passive & Destructive "I'm tired. Can we talk about this later. . . What are we doing for dinne? r"

Interpersonal Interactions Losada Ratio of positive statements to negative statements 2. 9 (lets say 3) to 1 Companies flourish economically >13: 1 – go overboard & loose credibility Gottman- healthy marriages 5: 1 positive to negative

Savoring Share with others: Tell others how much you value the moment Memory-building: Take mental or actual photographs, or bring souvenirs from the experience to remind you of it

How have we tried to integrate concepts of Positive Psychology into Resident well-being? Workshop- focused on using skills with patients Resident wellness group- practice sharing good things, model active/constructive responding Model in interactions

Lessons learned/Challenges Motivation & Effort You must be highly motivated to improve your well -being “Skeptics need not apply!” Need to invest time and effort into practicing No short cuts Cultural considerations Lyubomirsky, S. , Dickerhoof, R. , Boehm, J. K. , & Sheldon, K. M. (2011). Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: An experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being. Emotion, 11(2), 391 -402.

Cultural Considerations: Cultural meanings regarding happiness and positive emotions Eastern cultures: Fitting in Fulfilling obligations Learn from past failures to minimize future failures Well being- reflect on both positive and negative aspects of event/relationship How desirable /appropriate is positive affect Well Being Wirtz D, Chiu CY, Diener E, Oishi S. (2009) What constitutes a good life? Cultural differences in the role of positive and negative affect in subjective well-being. Journal of Personality.

There’s an app for that…

How have you integrated positive psychology concepts into resident wellness? What ideas do you have?

Consider trying one of these for yourself… Three good Things Gratitude Visit Via Strength’s Inventory/Using a strength in a new way Captialization & Active responding Change your Losada ratio

Questions? Comments? Radom Thoughts Totally Off Topic?