The Individualized and Cross-Cultural Roots of Well-being Therapy

Abstract

AbstractIn this chapter we examined the concept of psychological well-being, its cultural underpinnings and its clinical implications. A specific psychotherapeutic strategy for increasing psychological well-being, Well-being therapy (WBT), is described with special reference to the promotion of an individualized and balanced path to achieve optimal human functioning, avoiding the polarities in positive psychological dimensions. WBT has been developed and tested in a number of randomized controlled trials. The findings indicate that optimal human functioning can be promoted by specific interventions leading to a positive evaluation of one’s self, a sense of continued growth and development, the belief that life is purposeful and meaningful, the possession of quality relations with others, the capacity to manage effectively one’s life, and a sense of self-determination.KeywordsGeneralize Anxiety DisorderCognitive Behavioral TreatmentOptimal ExperienceAllostatic LoadResidual SymptomThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.