Positive Psychology and Flourishing: Understanding the PERMA Model of Well-Being
We’ve all heard about the importance of looking at the glass half full, finding the bright side, and making lemonade out of lemons. While these familiar phrases might capture some of the ideas behind positive psychology, there is much more depth, and even science, behind what it means to live a fulfilling and healthy life.
As I’ve learned through studying the work of Martin Seligman, positive psychology is about much more than simply thinking positively or trying to find the best in every situation.
While psychology has historically devoted a lot of attention to understanding distress, dysfunction, and what goes wrong, positive psychology asks us to also consider what goes right. What helps us thrive? What gives our lives meaning? And what allows us to feel fulfilled, connected, and like ourselves?
I think this perspective can be especially valuable in therapy.
When clients come to therapy, they’re often understandably focused on what is “wrong,” what is causing them stress, or what they wish they could change about themselves or their lives. Therapy certainly gives us a place to work through those things, but positive psychology encourages us to widen the lens. Along with addressing what is difficult, we can also pay attention to the strengths we already have, the parts of our lives that are working, and the things that make life feel good and worth living.
So, what does that actually look like?
In an effort to better understand what helps people not only feel better, but truly flourish, Seligman developed the PERMA model of psychological well-being.
Key Takeaways
PERMA stands for positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment.
Flourishing does not require us to pretend that the hard parts of life are not there. It is not about forcing ourselves to be positive, ignoring what hurts, or finding a silver lining in every difficult situation. We can struggle and flourish at the same time.
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What Is PERMA?
P stands for positive emotion, which includes more than just happiness. It can include gratitude, hope, excitement, contentment, and the other positive emotions we experience throughout our lives.
E stands for engagement, or the state of flow we reach when we become fully absorbed in something we are doing, sometimes to the point that we lose track of time.
R stands for relationships and highlights the importance of connection, belonging, and feeling supported by others.
M stands for meaning, or having a sense of purpose and feeling connected to something larger than ourselves.
Finally, A stands for accomplishment, which includes working toward our goals, recognizing our strengths and progress, and experiencing the satisfaction that comes from achieving something that matters to us.
Together, these five areas give us a broader way of thinking about what it actually means to be doing well.
What Flourishing Actually Feels Like
Now, don’t get me wrong, flourishing does not have to look like being happy all the time, having everything figured out, or balancing everything perfectly.
In fact, flourishing can look much more realistic and attainable than that. It might look like practicing gratitude even when things are going wrong, getting lost in a hobby you love, spending time with someone who makes you feel heard and understood, finding purpose in something that matters to you, or recognizing the progress you’ve made instead of only focusing on how far you still have to go.
These things may seem small, but they are also everyday opportunities to bring more positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment into our lives.
And maybe that is one of my favorite things about positive psychology: flourishing does not require us to pretend that the hard parts of life are not there. It is not about forcing ourselves to be positive, ignoring what hurts, or finding a silver lining in every difficult situation. Two things can be true at once. We can be stressed and still feel grateful. We can be going through something difficult and still laugh with someone we love. We can feel uncertain about where we are going and still be proud of how far we have come.
We can struggle and flourish at the same time.
How Do I Begin To Flourish?
Flourishing doesn’t have to require completely changing or transforming our lives.
Sometimes, all it takes is noticing what helps us feel more connected, engaged, capable, or like our true selves, and intentionally making more room for those things in our everyday lives.
If this concept or approach resonates with you and you want to learn more, I highly recommend reading Martin Seligman’s Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being.
Seligman takes a much deeper look at the science behind well-being, the PERMA model, and how we can intentionally create more opportunities to flourish in our everyday lives.
Final Thoughts
This blog is not intended to disregard the effectiveness or importance of traditional approaches to mental health treatment, but rather to highlight another way we can think about and care for our mental health.
Positive psychology serves as a reminder that taking care of ourselves doesn’t have to involve strictly focusing on the negative or what is going wrong in our lives.
It can also look like recognizing what is going right, appreciating the people and experiences that bring us joy, noticing our strengths and progress, and making more room for the things that help us feel most like ourselves.
There will always be parts of life that are difficult, uncertain, or outside of our control. Positive psychology doesn’t ask us to ignore those things. Instead, it reminds us that even when things are hard, we can still pay attention to the parts of our lives that bring us connection, meaning, fulfillment, and hope.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Positive Psychology
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Positive psychology is an area of psychology that focuses on what helps people live fulfilling, meaningful, and healthy lives. While a lot of psychology understandably focuses on reducing distress, treating symptoms, or understanding what is going wrong, positive psychology asks us to also pay attention to what is going right. This can include our strengths, relationships, accomplishments, sense of purpose, positive emotions, and the activities or experiences that make us feel most like ourselves. It is not about ignoring the negative or simply “thinking positive,” but recognizing that taking care of our mental health can also involve building upon the things that are already helping us thrive.
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The PERMA model was developed by Martin Seligman as a way of understanding five areas that can contribute to our overall well-being and ability to flourish: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Positive emotion includes feelings like gratitude, hope, joy, and contentment. Engagement refers to those moments when we become fully absorbed in something we are doing, sometimes to the point that we lose track of time. Relationships include the connections that help us feel supported, understood, and like we belong. Meaning comes from having a sense of purpose or feeling connected to something that matters to us. Accomplishment includes working toward our goals, recognizing our progress, and feeling proud of what we have achieved. Together, these areas encourage us to look beyond simply asking, “Am I happy?” and think more broadly about what helps us feel fulfilled and well.
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Positive psychology can be incorporated alongside other therapeutic approaches to help widen the lens beyond only what a client wants to change or “fix.” Therapy can absolutely provide space to work through anxiety, grief, low self-esteem, relationship difficulties, or other challenges while also exploring questions like: What is already working? What strengths have helped you through difficult things before? Where do you feel most supported? What gives you a sense of purpose? What are you proud of that you may not be giving yourself enough credit for? Positive psychology does not replace working through difficult experiences. Instead, it gives us another way to understand the whole person by recognizing their strengths, relationships, values, accomplishments, and the resources they already have to draw from.
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Practicing positive psychology does not have to mean making huge changes to your life. It can start with small, intentional choices, like writing down a few things you are grateful for after a hard day, picking back up a hobby you love, spending time with someone who makes you feel heard and supported, working toward a meaningful goal, or actually giving yourself credit for the progress you have made. You do not have to have everything figured out or be positive all the time to flourish. Sometimes, it starts with simply noticing the people, activities, experiences, and parts of yourself that help you feel more connected, engaged, capable, and like yourself, and intentionally making a little more room for them in your everyday life.
