Is psychology positive or negative when coaches include it in their practices? Will learning more about positive psychology give you more tools with which to help your clients find the outcomes they seek?

What is Positive Psychology?

The phrase “positive psychology” was first used by Abraham Maslow in 1954 to motivate the field of psychology to focus on humanity’s potential just as much as it focuses on humanity’s shortcomings. It was used again in 1998 by Martin Seligman, the president of the American Psychological Association. Seligman recognized that most research had been done on human deficiencies and how to alleviate them, and that more research should be done on human strengths and how to encourage and promote them.

Positive psychology is the scientific study of the virtues and strengths that enable individuals and communities to succeed and thrive. So – is psychology positive or negative, or even neutral when used in the field of coaching?

Psychology – Positive in Coaching

Using the principles of positive psychology in coaching adds tremendous value to the work of a coach. Focusing on strengths is what coaching is all about – positive psychological practices can help clients become happier, and happier people are usually healthier, more creative, more motivated, and more likely to reach their goals.

How Positive Psychology Helps Coaches

Clients pay coaches for many reasons, but they usually pay coaches to improve their lives. When an individual has a disorder or a mental disease, they seek out a counselor a psychiatrist, but when they come to a coach, they usually want to focus on their strengths, talents, and attributes.

Coaches use positive psychology tools such as the VIA Survey of Signature Strengths to identify virtues and strengths, and then help clients create strategic plans to use those strengths to reach their goals. Being a positive psychological coach gives you more tools to help your clients reach their goals and the outcomes they desire.

Fields of Research for Positive Coaches

When using psychology, positive traits and questions should be explored. Before working with clients, coaches should explore and research the following fields so they have a better grasp of how to incorporate them into their sessions:

• Happiness – what makes people happy and the different manifestations of happiness for different people?
• Success – how do individuals define success?
• Growing from adversity – how do people react to adversity and challenges and how can they learn and grow from them?
• Gratitude – how does being grateful equate with success and happiness?
• Curiosity – how being curious and a lust for exploration brings about happiness and success.
• Optimism – how to help pessimists become more optimistic and how optimism is a driver of happiness and success.

4 Positive Psychology Steps to Use With Clients

• Acknowledge the good. People often focus on the bad, but when your client can turn the focus to what is good, more good will follow.
• Recognize Strength and Virtue. Everyone has strengths and abilities – it’s your job as a coach to help your clients find theirs.
• Say thanks. Being grateful is all about understanding one’s place in the world – getting clients to understand and accept gratitude will help them become more optimistic and better able to reach their goals.
• Understand the self. Understanding one’s motivations, strengths, and abilities forms the basis of positive psychology. Positive coaching is measurable, and better able to produce significant results.

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Fred Philips
Business Coach
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