ABSTRACT
Positive Psychology is a science that focuses on researching character strengths and other positive aspects of human cognition, affect and behaviour that contribute to understanding a ‘whole’ person. Psychotherapy is a predominantly deficit-oriented field that aims to fix pathologies and views people from the perspective of predominantly negative-biased psychological research. This chapter offers a unique evidence-based assessment of what researchers know of the positive side to human beings that is free from assumption that positive is the opposite of negative. This new perspective is particularly useful in sexual addiction therapy, which often deals with shame and negative self-perception and can assist sex addiction therapists in broadening their knowledge of their patient’ qualities, drawing effectively on their psychological resources to enhance wellbeing, not only reduce ‘ill-being’, and expanding their psychotherapeutic practice.
