Happiness Exercises — They Work!
A new perspective in the field of Positive Psychology asks mental health treatment providers to move their focus beyond reducing or eliminating symptoms, and instead shift their attention to increasing positive experiences and well-being.
One field of psychology that may be especially well-suited for this challenge is positive psychology. The goal of the positive psychology movement is to move beyond the disproportionate focus on pathology and disorders and to work toward building positive qualities in individuals and institutions. The field of positive psychology has led to the development of positive psychology interventions (PPIs): brief exercises with the goal of increasing positive emotions and positive states.
Researchers aimed to find whether these happiness exercises increase in-the-moment happiness in people.
Happiness Exercises
Three of the five happiness exercises used in a recent study were modified versions of exercises that have been previously shown to be effective in enhancing positive effects. These exercises were:
- Three Good Things: participants enter text describing three good things that happened to them that day
- Experiencing Kindness: participants describe one act of kindness they performed and one they witnessed that day
- Savoring: participants enter text describing two experiences they savored
Two exercises were created by our team based on relevant findings and existing practices. These exercises were:
- Rose, Thorn, and Bud: participants enter text into three textboxes describing, in turn: the highlight of their day (rose), a challenge of the day (thorn), and something they look forward to tomorrow (bud)
- Reliving Happy Moments: participants browse pictures on their own smartphone, select one picture capturing one of their happy moments, and enter text describing this moment
Results from recent studies are promising. Preliminary evidence showed that brief, self-administered, text-based happiness exercises can be effective in impacting in-the-moment happiness. Further, participants in several of these studies indicated that these exercises were easy to complete, taking only three to four minutes on average. These findings support the notion that happiness is an important target that can and should be addressed during mental health treatment and efforts to support improvement.
These happiness exercises under the umbrella of PPIs were originally tested for use in nonclinical populations, though a growing body of research suggests that they may be useful tools to supplement treatment for a wide variety of pressing concerns.
Portions of this are from an article in Counselor Magazine by Melissa R. Schick, MA, Hannah A. Carlon, Susanne H. Hoeppner, PhD and Bettina Hoeppner June 15, 2020
