Reducing Stress With Positive Psychology in the U.S. Army
This paper examines how Positive Psychology, combined with the Master Resilience Training (MRT) competencies of self-awareness, self-regulation, and mental agility, can help reduce stress in high-tempo Army organizations. Drawing on the Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness (CSF2) framework, the paper explores how resilience training delivered through a "train-the-trainer" model improves soldiers' psychological and emotional health. The paper reviews the evidence base for each MRT competency and argues that embedding resilience skills into everyday unit activities — rather than treating them as standalone training events — is essential for sustaining positive psychological outcomes across the force.
- Introduction: CSF2 program and soldier resilience overview
- Positive Psychology and Resilience in the Army: Positive Psychology principles applied to Army training
- Self-Awareness: Meta-cognitive skills and character strengths training
- Self-Regulation: ATC model and emotional regulation techniques
- Mental Agility: Problem-solving and catastrophic thinking reduction
- Conclusion: Embedding resilience into Army culture long-term
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper is tightly organized around three MRT competencies, giving each its own section and making the argument easy to follow.
- It grounds practical Army training recommendations in peer-reviewed psychology research, particularly the Lester et al. longitudinal studies and Peterson and Seligman's character strengths framework.
- The conclusion effectively calls for cultural integration of resilience skills rather than one-time training, moving the argument from theory to sustained implementation.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied framework analysis: it takes an established psychological model (Positive Psychology / CSF2) and maps its components onto a specific professional context (Army leadership), showing how each component addresses a concrete operational problem. This technique is useful in applied fields where students must bridge academic theory and real-world practice.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a framing introduction that establishes the CSF2 program and its resilience-training rationale. A conceptual section on Positive Psychology follows, defining key terms such as R/PH and the "train-the-trainer" model. Three body sections then address each MRT competency in turn — self-awareness, self-regulation, and mental agility — with supporting evidence. The conclusion synthesizes the findings and advocates for embedding resilience practices into everyday Army culture.
Introduction
The prolonged deployment of U.S. Army forces across different regions in combat situations has prompted senior leadership to address the mental health of soldiers, ensuring they are capable of coping effectively with traumatic incidents and overcoming feelings of desolation and depression that can damage psychological well-being. The main aim of CSF2 is to improve the resilience and psychological health (R/PH) of soldiers through specifically designed courses addressing four main areas. Academic research outcomes have been drawn upon in designing these interventions (Lester et al., 2011).
Soldier R/PH is the ability to cope effectively and pragmatically with traumatic and stressful situations (Cornum, Matthews, & Seligman, 2011; Reivich, 2010). CSF2 is grounded in the premise that R/PH can be learned, practiced, and improved through proper training (Reivich, Seligman, & McBride, 2011). CSF2 resilience training is an intervention in which Master Resilience Trainers (MRTs) — Noncommissioned Officers (NCOs) who undergo specialized resilience training — train others in their unit to recognize and improve their psychological and emotional potential to cope with stressful and challenging situations. The CSF2 model operates through a "train-the-trainer" methodology. The objective of these exercises is to make soldiers aware of the importance of maintaining mental fortitude through strong relationships, particularly when facing the stressful combat situations that are a routine part of soldiers' lives. The overall focus, therefore, is on improving the R/PH of the soldier (Lester et al., 2013).
Positive Psychology and Resilience in the Army
Soldiers are trained to counter the predisposition toward negativity, to cultivate positivity, and to concentrate on strengths rather than weaknesses. This is accomplished through exercises that emphasize positive feelings and positive events in their lives. Rather than dwelling on negative thoughts, soldiers are taught to seek out positive experiences by reflecting on positive outcomes, understanding what positive events mean, and identifying actions that lead to positive results (Lester et al., 2011).
Resilience, in this context, means the ability to respond capably to challenging situations and to sustain those outcomes in the future. There is substantial evidence suggesting that resilience corresponds to, and is fostered by, various psychological and interpersonal factors measured by the Global Assessment Tool (GAT), the majority of which relate to coping effectively with different circumstances. Research in this area confirms that while resilience is not equally distributed among all individuals, it can be taught and developed (Lester et al., 2011).
The Army's CSF2 program utilizes procedures intended to improve psychological strength and positive performance and to reduce maladaptive reactions (Cornum et al., 2011, p. 4). As Cornum and colleagues explain, CSF2 seeks to promote R/PH proactively — by realizing human potential through attention to positive emotions, strengths, institutions, and relationships at the societal level. This emphasis reflects the understanding that soldiers who possess these attributes are more resilient and have the cognitive resources to respond to challenging situations, regulate emotional and mental changes caused by stress, maintain supportive social and family structures, and appreciate the relevance of their work and lives (Lester et al., 2011).
Self-Awareness
The primary approach CSF2 takes toward building these strengths is helping soldiers develop meta-cognitive skills that improve resilience. The program is designed to help soldiers understand how and why they think in certain ways and how particular beliefs may influence their responses to situations. Resilience, according to CSF2, is an ongoing process rather than an end state. While some soldiers are undoubtedly more resilient than others, the development of R/PH is a process accessible to all. Indeed, one of the first lessons imparted to Master Resilience Trainers (MRTs) is that the development of resilience is a learning process that everyone should practice (Lester et al., 2011).
This module of training focuses on improving soldiers' character. Participants are taught to recognize their own top strengths and to appreciate the strengths of others, as well as how to leverage those strengths to overcome challenges and build cohesive teams. The training centers on identifying character strengths that, as Peterson and Seligman (2004) established, are valued across all societies and cultures. Recognizing such strengths in oneself and in others is essential to team formation. A second unit helps soldiers understand how their individual strengths, combined with those of their peers, can collectively overcome challenges. Specific exercises are designed to promote these realizations. Identifying one's core strengths, motivations, beliefs, character, and life vision defines spiritual fitness. These components — which represent the essence of a person — enable one to build inner strength, derive meaning from experiences, act ethically, endure hardship, and remain adaptable in the face of adversity. Spiritual fitness is developed through personal, philosophical, psychological, and/or religious teachings or beliefs and forms the foundation of character ("Training," 2014).
Conclusion
The CSF2 system is designed to help shift focus — not just to one that equates emotional well-being with physical well-being, but from a perspective on prevention to that of cure (Casey, 2011). The system aims to improve the R/PH of soldiers, which is understood to reduce the probability of recognizable psychological disorders among Army personnel. The resilience component of CSF2 has the capacity to enhance well-being and positive behavioral attitudes and capabilities in soldiers, which in turn may improve unit effectiveness (Lester et al., 2013).
There is substantial evidence that MRT skills produce constructive outcomes for the mental resilience of soldiers. Training soldiers in MRT — or even embedding MRT mentors within select units — has a positive effect on soldiers' R/PH. Research has shown that soldiers feel more empowered when they have the backing and support of their unit's leadership. Taken together, the findings suggest that soldiers' R/PH levels can be improved through intervention systems that rely on a "train-the-trainer" approach (Lester et al., 2011).
Equally as important as conducting Resilience and Performance Enhancement training is embedding those skills into Army culture. This means that resilience skills must become a part of regular Army activities and daily life. Integrating resilience and performance capabilities into all forms of unit exercises, tailored to unit-specific needs, is the process through which soldiers learn to apply the training to help themselves and their colleagues. Unit leaders can embed resilience thinking by using these skills in everyday activities. Doing so does not require additional time; rather, it improves the quality and outcomes of existing activities. Soldiers will not fully internalize these skills through theory alone; they respond more readily to practical, engaging instruction that develops their individual well-being through the relationship between positive psychological constructs and greater psychological safety — meaning that working on such variables can drive a meaningful increase in resilience ("Training," 2014).
References
"Training; Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness," Army Regulation 350-53, (2014).
Casey, G. W., Jr. (2011). Comprehensive Soldier Fitness: A vision for psychological resilience in the U.S. Army. American Psychologist, 66, 1–3.
Cornum, R., Matthews, M. D., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Comprehensive Soldier Fitness: Building resilience in a challenging institutional context. American Psychologist, 66, 4–9.
Lester, P. B., Harms, P. D., Herian, M. N., Krasikova, D. V., & Beal, S. J. (2011). The Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program Evaluation Report #3: Longitudinal analysis of the impact of Master Resilience Training on self-reported resilience and psychological health data.
Lester, P. B., Harms, P. D., Herian, M. N., Krasikova, D. V., & Vanhove, A. (2013). The Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness Program Evaluation Report #4: Evaluation of resilience training and mental and behavioral health outcomes.
Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. New York, NY: American Psychological Association and Oxford University Press.
Reivich, K. J. (2010). Master resilience training trainer manual. Unpublished manual, copyright 2010 by the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, U.S.
Reivich, K. J., Seligman, M. E. P., & McBride, S. (2011). Master Resilience Training in the U.S. Army. American Psychologist, 66, 25–34.
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