Positive Psychotherapy and Integrative Psychotherapies

¶ … positive psychotherapy and integrative psychotherapies offer multidisciplinary and multimodal interventions for clients, and both are grounded in empirical evidence. Moreover, there is significant crossover between these two psychotherapeutic approaches especially because integrative therapies may include positive psychotherapy within the treatment rubric. There are also some key differences in theory and practice between positive psychotherapy and integrative psychotherapies. Thus, it may be helpful to delineate the theoretical foundations and proposed treatment strategies of positive psychotherapy and the integrative psychotherapies in order to determine what best suits the philosophical alignment of the therapist as well as the unique needs of the client.

The firmest common ground between positive psychotherapy and integrative therapies is their mutual interest in "the process of change," stressing the future more than the past (Norcross & Beutler, 2014, p. 508). Moreover, both positive psychotherapy and integrative psychotherapies are essentially "ecclectic" in that they draw from various theoretical and clinical stances (Norcross & Beutler, 2014). The difference between these two therapeutic modalities is how exactly to go about coaching the client toward a change orientation, via the release of dysfunctional cognitive schema, hindering emotional states, or "bitter memories," as they are called in the positive psychology framework (Rashid & Seligman, 2014, p. 483).

Both positive psychotherapy and integrative therapies value the role of evidence-based practice, including the use of standardized assessment procedures. However, integrative psychotherapies are more prone to valuing formal intake assessments and DSM-based diagnoses than positive psychotherapy. Positive psychotherapy is more humanistic in its approach to intake assessment and diagnoses, preferring strength and values assessment instead (Rashid & Seligman, 2014). Neither overemphasizes the role that psychopharmacology plays in treatment, although Norcross & Butler (2014) admit that integrative therapies are strongly suited towards the integration of psychopharmacological interventions with psychotherapy. Both positive psychotherapy and integrative psychotherapies have a holistic facet and encourage the use of mindfulness in their treatment interventions (Norcross & Beutler, 2014; Rashid & Seligman, 2014).

Positive psychotherapy is more firmly focused on a specific theoretical and clinical foundation than integrative psychotherapies by definition, as the latter purposefully blends aspects of various modalities. Thus, it is possible for one therapist to embrace the use of cognitive behavioral therapy with one client and psychoanalysis with another. A positive psychotherapist remains consciously adapted to the application of core principles and practices. These include the creation of psychological and emotional distance from unpleasant or "bitter" memories, encouraging the client to refer to trauma in the third person (Rashid & Seligman, 2014). There is no such allowance in integrative psychotherapies per se, but its eclectic nature might allow for such an approach when dealing with specific clients. The positive psychotherapist also stresses forgiveness and gratitude as standard treatment interventions. Without denying negativity, the therapist encourages the client to encounter negativity with a positive mindset (Rashid & Seligman, 2014). These approaches are echoed in some of the potential avenues for applying integrative therapies such as acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and transtheoretical psychotherapy (Norcross & Butler, 2014). As integrative therapies are fundamentally change-based, the need to dwell on the past is sublimated for the need to focus on coping mechanisms and constructive, proactive solutions.

Integrative psychotherapies are proactive and change-based, and positive psychotherapy are too. The difference is that positive psychotherapy emphasizes internal changes even more than external changes. Internal changes would be shifts in attitude, global responses, feelings, and cognitions. Integrative psychotherapies are likewise concerned with cognitive and emotional changes via differential responses to trigger circumstances, but there may be more attention paid to action and behavior vs. positive psychotherapy. With both integrative and positive psychotherapies, the role between the therapist and client is rooted in mutual respect and shared values (Norcross & Butler, 2014).