AUTHOR=Bohlmeijer Ernst , Westerhof Gerben 

TITLE=The Model for Sustainable Mental Health: Future Directions for Integrating Positive Psychology Into Mental Health Care

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.747999

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.747999

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=This position paper proposes a model for systematic integration of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) in mental health care. On the one hand PPIs can contribute to the decrease of dysfunctional processes underlying mental illness. This evidence is at the core of the new domains of positive clinical psychology and positive psychiatry. On the other hand, a growing number of studies demonstrate that mental health is not merely the absence of mental illness. Mental well-being represents a related but separate dimension of mental health. Mental well-being reduces the risk of future incidence of mental illness and is highly valued by people receiving psychological treatment as an important aspect of personal and complete recovery and personal growth. This makes mental well-being a vital outcome of mental health care. PPIs can directly increase mental well-being. The model of sustainable mental health is presented integrating the science of positive psychology and mental well-being into mental health care. This heuristic model can guide both practitioners and researchers in developing, implementing and evaluating a more balanced, both complaint- and strength-oriented, treatment approach. The role of gratitude interventions is discussed as an example of applying the model. Also, three potential modalities for implementing PPIs as positive psychotherapy in treatment: positive psychotherapy as primary treatment, as combinatorial treatment and as intervention for personal recovery of people with severe or persistent mental disorder. Finally, we argue that longitudinal studies are needed to substantiate the model and the processes involved.