Achieve Your Potential with Positive Psychology

299 Pages·2014·14.901 MB·English

by  Tim LeBon

Achieve Your Potential with
Positive Psychology
Tim LeBon
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Tim LeBon is a UKCP registered psychotherapist. He specialises
in CBT, positive psychology and philosophical approaches to
help people to overcome depression, anxiety and other mental
health problems. He combines a private practice as a therapist
and life coach in London with working for the NHS as a CBT
therapist. He is also an experienced educator, teaching positive
psychology, CBT and personal development at several London
colleges and universities.
He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford where he gained a
first-class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and later
returned to Oxford to study at the Oxford Centre for Cognitive
Therapy, where he was awarded a distinction in a Diploma in
CBT. He was the founding editor of Practical Philosophy and is
the author of Wise Therapy (2001). He lives with his family in
Surrey. His website is http://www.timlebon.com.
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Achieve Your
Potential with
Positive Psychology
Tim LeBon
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First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Hodder & Stoughton. An Hachette
UK company.
First published in US in 2014 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
This edition published 2014
Copyright © Tim LeBon 2014
The right of Tim LeBon to be identified as the Author of the Work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Database right Hodder & Stoughton (makers)
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You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this title
is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: on file.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Paperback ISBN 978 1 444 19092 2
eBook ISBN 978 1 444 19099 1
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank all those who have helped me with this
book. Many have generously offered me advice, including
Ryan Niemiec, Mike Steger, Paul Wong, Stefan Schulenberg, as
well as Ian Morris and Jules Evans. I would also like to thank
my students on various positive psychology courses over the
years, particularly at City University and City Literary Institute,
for making teaching the subject a very enjoyable experience.
A particular debt is owed to all those who agreed to submit
case studies. I would also like to express my gratitude to Ilona
Boniwell and Nash Popovic who started me on my positive
psychology journey and with whom I worked at University of
East London (UEL) for a number of years.
In the cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) world, I would
like to thank all my colleagues at TalkPlus for their support
and wisdom. Particular thanks go to Nigel Sage for sharing his
‘Step-by-step planning tool’. In the philosophical world, I have
benefited especially from my discussions with David Arnaud,
Shamil Chandaria and Antonia Macaro over many years. I
would like to express particular gratitude to David for his
helpful feedback on several chapters.
Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to
my family for their forbearance and tolerance during ‘the year
of writing the book’. I dedicate this book to my wonder-full
children, Mike and Katie.
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Contents
Introduction xi
How do you create a science of well-being?
Positive psychology’s progress
About this book
1 Happiness and positive emotions 1
What is happiness?
How can happiness be measured?
Why is happiness important?
The broaden-and-build theory
Activity scheduling and behavioural activation
The 3:1 positivity ratio – a cautionary tale?
Could too much happiness be a bad thing?
2 What makes people happier? 19
Is happiness all in your genes?
How important are life circumstances?
National differences in happiness
Hedonic adaptation and the hedonic treadmill
Can positive psychology make people lastingly happier?
Is it possible to say how much of our happiness can be
attributed to different factors?
3 Values, well-being and flourishing 35
Are positive emotions all there is to well-being?
The role of ethical philosophy
Philosophical theories about well-being
Flourishing: objective list theories of well-being
Which theory of well-being is best?
4 Strengths 57
Why strengths?
What are your strengths?
Evidence that a strengths-based approach is beneficial
Are you the best judge of your strengths and weaknesses?
Should you be using your strengths more often or more wisely?
Which strengths should you use?
Which of the three inventories should you use?
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5 Accomplishment and achievement 77
Is accomplishment due to nature or nurture?
How positive psychology can help you achieve more
The darker side of achievement
6 Meaning and purpose 97
The pioneering work of Viktor Frankl
Measuring meaning and purpose
The benefits of meaning and purpose
Is the search for meaning a good idea?
Is it true that ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’?
The four ingredients of a meaningful life – WIST
Step-by-step planning to increase meaning and purpose
7 Flow 117
What is flow and why is it important?
The eight most important characteristics of flow
The sources of flow
How to increase flow
Microflow
The benefits of flow
Flow and psychotherapy
Limitations and dangers of flow
8 Relationships 135
What are the ingredients of a successful intimate relationship?
Empirically validated findings on how to improve relationships
How positive psychology can bolster Gottman’s principles
Active and constructive responding
Friendships and positive work relationships
9 Managing difficulties: resilience and CBT 153
Resilience
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Thinking traps
What to do about realistic negative thoughts
Changing your behaviour
Problem solving
The body and resilience
Other ways to help you be more resilient
Real-time resilience
Problem-specific CBT
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10 Emotional intelligence, meditation
and mindfulness 187
What is emotional intelligence?
Why is emotional intelligence important?
How to become more emotionally intelligent
Our evolved brains
What is mindfulness?
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
Meditation
11 Wisdom 205
What is wisdom?
Psychological theories of wisdom
Do you get wiser as you get older?
The wisdom in positive psychology
The need for practical wisdom
The potential contribution of philosophy
12 Positive psychology in practice 227
Positive psychology self-help
Positive psychology coaching and psychotherapy
Positive CBT
Positive psychology in education
Positive psychology in the workplace
Appendix A: The thoughts and behaviours log 241
Appendix B: The positive psychology toolkit 247
Further reading 249
Recommended websites 261
Endnotes 263
Index 273
Contents ix
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