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Structuring a fifteen minute counseling session
Published in Marian Stuart, Joseph Lieberman, The Fifteen Minute Hour, 2018
Marian Stuart, Joseph Lieberman
Being open to possibilities is probably the hallmark of mental health. An impressive amount of data show that positive illusions, rather than accurate contact with reality, lead to a sense of well-being and mental health characterized by the ability to care for others and do creative work.7,8 As discussed previously, having a positive view of the self, an exaggerated belief in the ability to control the environment, and an optimistic view of the future is protective for mental and physical health. The practitioner’s job is to help patients focus on positive aspects of themselves and their lives. When the patient expresses doubt about the ability to overcome some obstacle, the practitioner’s confidence can be expressed by saying something like “You may have had problems with this in the past, but I see no reason that you cannot accomplish this now.”
Psychosocial and Spiritual Care
Published in Stephen R. Connor, Hospice and Palliative Care, 2017
Another author (Taylor, 1989) explored the adaptive use of positive illusions. These are the sometimes self-deceptive ways people help get themselves through difficult crises. “Repression and denial alter reality whereas illusions simply interpret it in the best possible light.”
Optimism and happiness
Published in Silvia Bonino, Coping with Chronic Illness, 2020
The discovery of the importance of the ways in which we interpret reality has led some to believe that there are “positive illusions,” real cognitive distortions about themselves and the assessment of their health, which would allow them to maintain optimism for the future and therefore could play a positive role. In the case of chronic disease, this optimism that does not take reality into account, and rather deforms it in its favor in a childish and egocentric way, cannot lead to constructive ways of living a situation of suffering and loss that will last forever. Over time, fruitful adaptation and development are not possible, if you do not start from the lucid recognition of the reality of the disease, with the limits that it imposes but it also offers the space for this realization. Although painful, and sometimes accompanied by moments of deep despair, this recognition is indispensable for finding new adaptations, new personal growth and new ways to fulfill oneself. In fact, it is not a question of exerting an unrealistic optimism and of cultivating easily deniable illusions, rather of engaging oneself in identifying which actions that are significant for us can be implemented, which allows one illness, to build a feeling of self-efficacy in this regard. In other words, the positive projects are those that are significant for themselves and for their identity, capable of giving meaning to their existence, and a confidence in their ability to be realized, based on the concrete knowledge of the strategies that can be used. The illusions do not allow this precise adaptation and indeed often give way to disillusionment and despair.
Predicting sexual satisfaction in Iranian women by marital satisfaction components
Published in Sexual and Relationship Therapy, 2023
Farideh Dehghani Champiri, Akram Dehghani
As the participants of the study were only limited to women, it might be helpful to look at this issue from a gender differences perspective. Niehuis, Lee, Reifman, Swenson, and Hunsaker (2011) reported that studies focused on gender differences consistently concluded that women idealized their partner more than men did. Some researchers claim that for women, idealizing a partner commonly leads to somewhat higher satisfaction. Furthermore, stronger idealization might predict later conflicts and doubts for both men and women. This is often probably due to the fact that the hypothesized role of positive illusions and idealizations protect them against threats (Murray, Holmes, & Griffin, 1996). Schulman’s (1974) study also revealed that women who idealized their partner perceived less conflict than did their “realists” or “pessimists” counterparts.
Development and Initial Validation of the Persevering Hope Scale: Measuring Wait-Power in Four Independent Samples
Published in Journal of Personality Assessment, 2023
Sandra Yu Rueger, Everett L. Worthington, Jr., Edward B. Davis, Zhuo Job Chen, Richard G. Cowden, Jaclyn M. Moloney, Elisha Eveleigh, Lauren B. Stone, Austin W. Lemke, Kevin J. Glowiak
Interestingly, Snyder (2002) has used goal-directed hope theory to refute criticisms of false hope. Specifically, they challenged the criticisms that inappropriate goals (e.g., goals that are too lofty) and inadequate strategies to achieve desired goals can lead to false hope, as well as the notion that hope based on illusions or unrealistic expectations represents false hope. On the contrary, they argued that positive illusions that fuel hope do so by providing a sense of agency, which motivates persistence in goal pursuits. Thus, their arguments against false hope are consistent with an aspect of hope that transcends the initial goal—a persevering hope that is operative in the face of lofty goals, even when there are no apparent pathways to those goals.
Posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic depreciation among people living with HIV: the role of resilience and HIV/AIDS stigma in the person-centered approach
Published in AIDS Care, 2023
Małgorzata Pięta, Marcin Rzeszutek
The second hypothesis was supported to a greater extent. Clusters of PTG and PTD related differently to resilience and HIV/AIDS stigma levels after controlling for socio-medical data. We found the following clusters of participants: cluster 1 (average PTG and average PTD) with average resilience and average HIV/AIDS stigma levels; cluster 2 (high PTG and high PTD) with low resilience and high stigma levels; cluster 3 (average PTG and high PTD) with high resilience and average stigma levels; and finally, in cluster 4 (high PTG and average PTD), participants declared low resilience and average stigma levels. Our results showed complex and heterogenous patterns of adaptation to living with HIV. High PTG levels in cluster 2 coexisted with low resilience and high stigma levels and in cluster 4 with low levels of resilience and average stigma. This may point to an increased need for positive reframing among people with lower levels of overall ability to bounce back from adversity. Simultaneously, high PTD levels coexisted with low resilience and high stigma levels in cluster 2 and high resilience and average stigma levels in cluster 3, which may speak for a significant role of stigma in enhancing PTD and resistance to positively reframe the HIV diagnosis in participants with high level of resilience. In general, our results are in line with the understanding of PTG and resilience as rather different theoretical constructs (see Westphal & Bonanno, 2007) or even speaking for a negative relationship between PTG and resilience among PLWH (Garrido-Hernansaiz et al., 2017). However, coexistence of high PTG and PTD in some clusters of patients with low resilience may raise questions about the possibility of viewing PTG as reflecting positive illusions instead of real growth (Zoellner & Maercker, 2006). High PTD levels observed in cluster 2 could indicate the devastating effects of HIV-related stigmatization (Rueda et al., 2016) and are in line with more general results linking PTD and negative disclosure (Taku et al., 2020). Due to the social reception of HIV infection and low HIV testing rates in Poland, PLWH can be exposed to multiple losses in various areas of life (Rosińska et al., 2016; Skonieczna, 2013; Van Damme-Ostapowicz & Sobolewski, 2015). This situation can also be reflected in cluster 3 participants, who despite their high resilience levels, regard HIV infection as a significant burden to their lives.