Well-being Therapy: Review of Studies Evaluating the Effectiveness and Prospects for the Development of a Positive Psychotherapeutic Strategy

Well-being therapy was developed in the 1990s on the basis of a model of psychological well-being describing the components of positive psychological functioning, and then revised within the framework of the concept of euthymia, defending the idea of a balance of positive and negative psychological characteristics. Being a short-term psychotherapeutic strategy, well-being therapy includes from 8 to 20 sessions grouped into three stages: the preparatory stage of therapy is aimed at identifying and integrating episodes of well-being into daily life; the main stage consists in identifying thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that lead to a decrease in well-being; the final stage consists in cognitive restructuring using specific models of psychological well-being. A review showed that well-being therapy is effective in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder, depressive and cyclothymic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as in lifestyle changes in somatic diseases, prevention of relapses of depressive disorders, therapeutic resistance to antidepressants, antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, adaptation to learning, reduction of death anxiety in the elderly, and prevention of addictive behaviors in adolescents. The prospects for the development of well-being therapy include its introduction into other psychotherapeutic approaches, expanding the scope of its clinical and nonclinical implication, using it as a method of prevention and treatment of somatic and psychosomatic diseases.

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