The broaden and build effects of a positive psychology clinical peer group — ASN Events
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  3. The broaden and build effects of a positive psychology clinical peer group

The broaden and build effects of a positive psychology clinical peer group (#668)

Lorraine Gahles-Kildow, PhD 1 , Helene Moore, PsyD 2 , Phoebe Atkinson, LCSW-R 3 , Nancy Kirsner 4 , Margarita Tarragona 5
  1. Lorraine Gahes-Kildow PhD LLC; Growpositive LLC, Scotch Plains, NJ, United States
  2. Osher Center for Integrative Health, Northwestern Medecine, Chicago, Ilinois, United States
  3. Wholebeing Institute, Hardwick, Massachusetts, United States
  4. Dr. Nancy Kirsner, PhD,TEP,OTR,PA, Miami, Florida, USA
  5. Grupo Campos Eliseos, Mexico City, Mexico

Apply Presentation: c) Experience it

Fredrickson’s broaden and build theory states that positive emotions broaden one’s thoughts/actions and build one’s resources (psychological, intellectual, physical, and social) (Fredickson, 1998, 2001, 2004). Our clinical peer group, an IPPA initiative facilitated by Margarita Tarragona, practiced positive emotions.  By cultivating positive emotions during the pandemic, we promoted healthy coping strategies, gained international perspectives and produced compassion and self-compassion.  This increased our mindfulness/awareness, our vitality and creativity, and enabled us to make sense of life through meaning and purpose. We survived and thrived. This emerged on a subjective level and it broadened out to the clients/groups we work with.  In our group presentation, each member will share our own case study (case 1) and those we treated or coached as case 2. Our peer group started and ended with positive emotions, thus, we shined a light on them and then processed, theorized and created goals for future applications. We found that love “sparked” urges of comfort and safety with families, friends and in our group itself.  Interest “sparked” the urge to explore and be creative within our locked-down limits and promoted collaboration to share our resources. We found gratitude, practiced savoring and built resilience. Finally, hope served as a gateway to many positive emotions creating an upward spiral countering the downward spiral of negative emotions (Fredrickson, 2004: Tomasulo, 2020; Garland et al. 2010).  By applying Positive Psychology Interventions (PPI) monthly over 2 years, we found that we could endure distress and negative emotions while simultaneously experiencing mental wellbeing and resilience. This too, translated to our clients and groups.  In essence, we did find that PPI served to buffer, bolster and build mental health during adversity (Waters et al. 2021).  Overall, our international grass roots project produced the “broaden and build” effect around the world.

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