DOWNLOAD MY CLASSNOTES IN PDF: PP 13 Positive Interventions
Gratitude Visit/Letter. Participants are to write and deliver a letter of gratitude in person to someone who had been especially kind to them but had never been properly thanked.
Gratitude Journal (Counting Blessing) Participants are to write down three things that went well each day and their causes every night for one week.
Positive Emotion Portfolio: Pull together objects and mementos that create for you a heartfelt connection with forms of positivity (Joy, Contentment, Love, Compassion , Amusement, Awe, etc). Assemble these into a portfolio, a physical collection that you build as a shrine to each shade of positivity. Each portfolio might contain photos, letters, quotes, or objects that carry deep personal meaning for you.
You at your best. Participants were asked to write about a time when they were at their best and then to reflect on the personal strengths displayed in the story. They were told to review their story once every day for a week and to reflect on the strengths they had identified.
Identifying signature strengths. Participants are asked to take the survey, (www.viastrengths.org) to note their five highest strengths, and to use them more often during the next week.
Using signature strengths in a new way. Participants were asked to take our inventory of character strengths online and to receive individualized feedback about their top five (“signature”) strengths (Peterson et al., 2005a). They are then asked to use one of these top strengths in a new and different way every day for one week.
After completing this activity, take some time to reflect on the questions that follow:
1. As you look at the grudge surrounded by the sea of gratitude, are you able to see the situation differently? Do you feel any differently about the person? Why or why not?
2. Do you feel any more ready or willing to work toward forgiveness (remember, forgiveness is for you, not the person who wronged you)? Why or why not?
3. If the person who wronged you is someone you would like to continue a relationship with, do you feel as if you are now in a better position to work toward reconciliation? Why or why not?