26 Top Positive Psychology Interventions + How to Apply Them

For many years, the prime focus of psychology was to diagnose and treat people with mental health problems and psychopathological issues.

However, this focus began to shift in 1998, when Dr. Martin Seligman and Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi popularized the concept of positive psychology, an offshoot of clinical psychology that crafted new, positively focused interventions.

According to this new positive psychology paradigm, individuals were encouraged to work with their inner strengths to promote flourishing and the optimal functioning of people, groups, and institutions (Gable & Haidt, 2005).

This new focus represented a dramatic shift from the earlier problem focus that dominated psychological thinking for many years and continues to shape psychological interventions today.

In this article, we’ll explore how positive psychology can serve not only as a remedy for problems but also as a framework to make our work, studies, and personal lives more fulfilling.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our five positive psychology tools for free. These science-based exercises will explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology including strengths, values, and self-compassion and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or employees.

What Are Positive Psychology Interventions?

Positive psychology interventions, or PPIs, are a set of scientific tools and strategies that focus on increasing happiness, wellbeing, and positive cognitions and emotions (Keyes et al., 2012).

Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) defined PPIs as psychological interventions that primarily focus on elevating positive feelings, positive thoughts, and positive behavior. According to Sin and Lyubomirsky, all positive psychology interventions have two essential components:

• Focusing on enhancing happiness through positive thoughts and emotions
• Strategies to sustain these effects in the long term

Perhaps the most detailed definition of PPIs is that proposed by Parks and Biswas-Diener in 2013. According to them, positive psychology interventions are those that:

• have an existing body of research to support their reliability;
• address one or more constructs of positive psychology;
• are scientifically proven and evidence-based; and
• benefit us for a lifetime.

Existing research shows that, over the years, psychologists have focused more on treatment than on prevention (Bolier et al., 2013).

Psychotherapy and positive psychotherapy sessions developed and popularized in the past mostly offered solutions to anomalies like depression, anxiety, stress, panic, trauma, and so on. As such, prior to the 2000s, there were few resources available that could support flourishing and individual wellbeing in the absence of psychopathological conditions.

Nowadays, studies have suggested that happiness can be achieved and enhanced through various channels and practices, including sensory awareness, social communication, gratitude, and cognitive reframing.

Today, all these interventions are clustered under the umbrella of practical techniques known as ‘positive psychology interventions’ (Parks & Schueller, 2014) and applied in both clinically distressed and non-distressed populations, with results showing their effects are consistently positive among both (Bolier et al., 2013).

Types Of Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs)

In terms of content, a review of the literature reveals that PPIs can be divided into seven categories (Parks & Schueller, 2014).

1. Savoring PPIs

Savoring interventions improve happiness by concentrating on enhancing the enjoyment of particular experiences (Peterson, 2006). They aim to assist people in recognizing and appreciating all facets of an experience, whether they be social, emotional, sensory, or physical (Kabat-Zinn, 2009).

Although savoring and mindfulness are similar, savoring is different in that it places more emphasis on purposefully intensifying pleasant experiences than on detachedly witnessing them. Everyday moments—such as eating, smelling, or watching a scene unfold—become opportunities for savoring when approached with conscious attention (Bryant et al., 2005).

Because PPIs consistently increase happiness and self-satisfaction, research indicates that they may be particularly useful in treating mood disorders and depression (Bryant, 2003).

2. Gratitude Interventions

Steve Maraboli said, “If you want to find happiness, find gratitude.” This is precisely the target of gratitude-based PPIs. Gratitude evokes strong feelings of positivity in people who express it and those who receive it (Parks & Schueller, 2014).

Such interventions are categorized into two types:

• Self-reflective practices—for example, writing a private gratitude journal that we use as a tool for self-expression.
• Interactive methods, where we actively express our gratitude to others by saying ‘thank you,’ giving small tokens of appreciation, or paying gratitude visits.

No matter what type of practice we follow, gratitude interventions have empirically demonstrated benefits for increasing happiness and satisfaction (Wood et al., 2010). Gratitude is such a powerful emotion that by merely identifying and naming the incidents and the people we would like to thank, we can feel more positive and motivated from the inside (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Seligman et al., 2005).

3. Kindness Boosters

Studies indicate that happiness and kindness go hand in hand as kindness is a trait almost all happy people possess (Aknin et al., 2012).

PPIs focused on kindness can be simple acts like volunteering for a noble cause, donating something, or helping a stranger in need. Another example is random acts of kindness, which further reinforce happiness and positivity.

A related PPI is ‘prosocial spending’. This involves willingly buying something for someone as a gesture of goodwill. This might be taking your spouse out for a romantic dinner at your favorite place, giving your child the toy they’ve been asking for, or buying a meal for a homeless person you see every day at the bus stop.

It is not about how much money you spend. The goal of kindness activities is to promote happiness through altruistic, selfless contentment (Howell et al., 2012).

4. Empathy PPIs

Healthy social bonds—both personal and professional—are essential for happiness and inner peace (Diener & Seligman, 2002).

Empathy-oriented PPIs strengthen positive emotions in interpersonal relationships by fostering effective communication, broadened perception, and bridging the gap between self and others. (Davis et al., 2004).

PPIs that promote empathy include activities like loving-kindness meditation and mindfulness practices, where individuals create positive feelings toward themselves and others by being more mindfully connected to the present (Fredrickson et al., 2008).

The core principle behind this is to help us understand others’ perspectives and build stronger connections (Hodges et al., 2011).

5. Optimism Interventions

Optimism interventions aim to foster a balanced and realistic perspective on life events by reshaping explanatory styles—the habitual ways people interpret the causes of positive and negative situations (Seligman, 2006).

These PPIs aim to reduce pessimism and counter learned helplessness, where individuals feel powerless to change their circumstances (Peterson & Steen, 2002). They help people become more resilient and motivated to work toward their goals by teaching them to reframe failures as brief and specific, and achievements as long-lasting and personal.

Common PPIs include cognitive restructuring exercises that challenge negative thought patterns and the “Best Possible Self exercise,” which asks clients to envision and write about a future in which they have achieved their goals.

Fundamentally, optimism interventions foster agency and hope, empowering people to face obstacles head-on and persevere through them while improving wellbeing and life satisfaction.

6. Strength-Building Measures

As the famous saying goes, “It is within yourself that you will find the strength you need.” Strength-based PPIs convey a similar message.

Strengths in positive psychology refer to internal capacities and values, such as humor, prudence, and social intelligence (Parks & Biswas-Diener, 2013).

Studies have illustrated that awareness and acknowledgment of such internal capacities help reduce symptoms of depression and increase self-contentment (Seligman et al., 2005). They are what psychologists refer to as ‘practical wisdom’ (Schwartz & Sharpe, 2006) and help us use our vitality wisely.

7. Meaning Oriented PPIs

This category of PPIs helps us identify what is meaningful in life, why it matters, and how to pursue it because people with clear goals and expectations are more likely to feel happy and content (Steger et al., 2008; Steger et al., 2009).

Meaning-oriented PPIs include activities like finding meaning in our daily activities, setting realistic goals, and employing effective means to achieve them. They can also involve simply reflecting on our thoughts and emotions (Grant, 2008).

Meaning-oriented PPIs are widely used for treating stress disorders, especially PTSD, where a person needs guidance to find the lost happiness in life and cope with the aftereffects of a disaster (Folkman & Moskowitz, 2000).

How Do They Work?

Unlike general psychology interventions that aim to bring about change at a cognitive or affective level, PPIs are directed toward improving what is already within us.

Today, these interventions are widely used in fields such as mindfulness, life coaching, and relationship counseling, as well as general psychotherapy. If you use coaching in your practice, see our guide on positive psychology coaching vs. life coaching to understand the differences in scope, methods, and evidence base.

PPIs do not rely on symptomatic treatment or quick fixes. Whether addressing a psychopathological condition or guiding someone toward greater wellbeing, they target the root causes of difficulties. They also help individuals recognize the sources of their problems and encourage them to embrace change wholeheartedly.

There is overwhelming evidence supporting the efficacy of positive psychology interventions. However, why they work so well, and how their effects are so deep-rooted, is still a vast area of study.

One study conducted on the role of time focus and the effectiveness of PPIs revealed that the two operating factors that contribute to the success of these interventions are a shift of attention from negative to positive and internalization of positive emotions.

The study was conducted on a sample of 695 participants, and each of the participants was assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. Results showed that subjective feelings of wellbeing significantly improved from pre- to post-intervention, indicating the effectiveness of the PPIs in real life (Wellenzohn et al., 2016).

How Effective are They?

Positive psychology encompasses both treatment and prevention.

PPIs can be useful for treating depression, anxiety, and stress disorders (Seligman et al., 2006). This was demonstrated in a study conducted on terminally ill adolescent patients. The purpose of the experiment was to evaluate how positive thinking exercises influenced coping strategies and helped the patients manage their disease with resilience.

In the study, teenage cancer patients were treated with PPIs and showed improved coherence and better stress management. The study was a milestone in the field of positive psychology as it not only demonstrated the effectiveness of these interventions but showcased the incredible power adolescents possess when it comes to dealing with life-threatening situations and critical health conditions.

Fordyce’s 14 Fundamentals of Happiness

The effectiveness of positive psychology interventions was also evidenced by Michael Fordyce (1977, 1983), whose study found that students in a happiness program derived greater happiness by applying the fourteen fundamentals of happiness.

Fordyce’s fourteen fundamentals include:

1. Being more active and busy
2. Spending more time socializing
3. Being productive at work
4. Being more organized and well-planned
5. Reducing worries and negative contemplations
6. Having fewer and more realistic expectations
7. Practicing positivity through optimistic thinking and reasoning
8. Being more focused and mindful of the present
9. Developing and maintaining a healthy personality
10. Becoming more empathetic
11. Being authentic
12. Replacing negative thoughts with positive ones
13. Valuing close relationships
14. Focusing on your own happiness

Fordyce’s findings suggested that PPIs improve our state of wellbeing for at least six months by impacting these fourteen fundamental factors of happiness.

A Look at the Research Article: Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions

Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions was an effort by Seligman and colleagues (2005) to outline the surprising benefits of the science of happiness and related interventions.

The paper aimed to review the recent growth in the field of positive psychology and reveal how and why PPIs enhance individual happiness through the lens of character strengths and virtues.

What is CSV?

Character Strengths and Virtues (CSV) was a compact handbook of several critical aspects of positive psychology, including active interventions and evidence promoting happiness as a scientifically attainable state of mind.

Authors Peterson and Seligman (2004) argued that, like the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) that encompass almost all aspects of psychopathologies, the CSV captures the core facets of psychological wellbeing.

In the Positive Psychology Progress paper, the researchers asserted that people derive happiness according to the specific virtues they subscribe to (Peterson et al., 2005):

Using assessments like the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Steen Happiness Index (SHI), and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), the research established a relationship between five PPIs and emotional wellbeing:

• Gratitude visit – Participants wrote a letter of gratitude to someone who has been especially kind to them but never properly thanked, then delivered them in person within a week.
• Three good things in life – Each night for a week, participants recorded three things that went well that day along with their causes, fostering reflection on positive experiences.
• You at your best – Participants wrote about a time when they were at their best, identifying the strengths shown, and reviewed the story daily for a week to reinforce these strengths.
• Identifying signature strengths – Participants completed the character strengths survey, noted their top five strengths, and focused on using them more often over the course of a week.
• Using signature strengths in a new way – After completing an online character strengths survey and receiving feedback on their top five strengths, participants used one of these strengths in a new and different way each day for a week.

These PPIs were shown to be more effective at reducing depression scores and increasing happiness scores than a placebo control exercise that involved writing about early memories.

The authors explained that we have a natural inclination toward discovering ways to be happy, and PPIs serve this purpose well, validating the potency of PPIs for use in clinical and non-clinical contexts.

Follow the link to view the original research paper.

5 Examples of Interventions in Use

Although there are many widely used positive psychology interventions, here is a selection of five that are arguably the most common.

1. Mindful Interventions

The works of Kabat-Zinn (2009) and myriad other mindfulness teachers detail how mindfulness fosters happiness and awareness.

As a positive psychology intervention, mindfulness is typically used in combination with other psychotherapeutic practices, life coaching, and clinical approaches. Popular mindfulness-based PPIs include activities like sensory awareness, guided meditation, breath control, and careful observation.

2. Gratitude Exercises

Gratitude turns what we have into enough.

Melody Beattie

Simple gratitude practices like journaling, self-compliments, or sending thank you notes have the power to cultivate authentic happiness. Studies have shown that practicing gratitude exercises in this way can even allow us to derive more pleasure from social relationships (O’Connell et al., 2018).

3. Objective Assessments

In clinical setups and counseling practices, PPIs are often administered in the form of objective measures like the Mental Health Continuum, Authentic Happiness Inventory (Shepherd et al., 2015), Orientations To Happiness Questionnaire (Peterson et al., 2005), and Subjective Assessment of Accomplishment and Positive Relationships Scale (Gander et al., 2017).

The scores of these tests indicate the happiness level of the respondents and how positive interventions impact them. These tests are mostly administered by experts, although some of them can be taken as self-tests.

4. Positive CBT

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has existed since the advent of psychotherapy and is still a widely used approach for treating many psychological disorders.

Positive CBT is a modification of classical CBT with a shift in focus from symptom reduction to wellbeing promotion. As a strengths-based intervention, positive CBT tries to identify the strengths of clients rather than identifying and addressing only manifested problems.

For example, if a person who has been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) seeks positive CBT, the therapist will aim to not only reduce the client’s obsessive ideations but bring their attention to their positive strengths (e.g., a loving nature, communicativeness, insightfulness, etc.) and work toward building them.

The key focus of positive CBT is to make individuals feel better by helping them identify and capitalize on their innate potential (Bannink & Jackson, 2011).

5. Active Aging PPIs

Active aging, also called positive aging, healthy aging, or optimal aging (Cosco et al., 2013) promotes the idea of growing old gracefully.

Much like the famous quote by William Shakespeare, “With mirth and laughter, let old wrinkles come,” active aging PPIs encourage the older population to accept their aging and live through it with joy.

One study by Vera Roos and Ronette Zaaiman (2017) revealed that older people who were guided to look toward the brighter side of life and motivated to live the rest of their lives with dignity and joy survived diseases and losses better than those who didn’t.

Participants of the program, all of whom were 60 or above, reported having found the lost meaning in their lives and agreed to practice positivity as a daily habit after the study’s completion.

A List of Positive Psychology Interventions

The purpose of positive psychology is to:

develop sound theories of optimal functioning and find empirically supported ways to improve the lives of ordinary and extraordinary people.

Kauffman (2006)

PPIs are the means to achieve this goal and invite happiness back into our lives. Out of the many mental health interventions that professionals use today, here is a run-down of some of the most popular ones that you might find useful.

The Imagined Self Technique

Imagined Self is a guided PPI that involves imagining your ideal self and feeling the joy that you would feel had you realized this vision. Research shows that this exercise acts as a catalyst, energizing people to begin creating the life they want to live so they can enjoy all its attendant pleasures (Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006).

The steps are simple:

• Imagine yourself in the future, living the life you have dreamt of with all the people you want to share it with.
• Imagine you have achieved everything you are currently striving for and that you are proud of your achievements.
• Immerse yourself in that imagined self and try to embody the happiness and positivity you believe you would feel.
• Next, ask yourself what you can do to reach this reality. Journal your responses.

Yoga

Positive psychology is secular in all aspects but embraces wellbeing-focused practices like yoga, meditation, and mindfulness.

It recognizes the Buddhist principles of mindfulness and fosters spiritual liberation through yoga postures and meditation (Cerezo et al., 2014; Cohn et al., 2014). Any yoga practice, be that flow meditation, laughter yoga, or other popular methods, renders a relaxing feeling to the mind and the body and is an effective way to enhance subjective feelings of wellness.

If you are a beginner, here are some positivity-enhancing yoga techniques that you can try.

Forgiveness Exercise

Holding grudges drains our inner peace. A beautiful positive psychology intervention that we can follow as a daily practice and build into our personality is the art of forgiving.

This exercise helps us free ourselves from past resentments and focus on life in a new way. The practice is simple.

• Take a piece of paper and name some people and incidents from the past that hurt you.
• Beside each, describe how the negative encounter upset you. Try to name all the feelings you experienced (for example, sadness, anger, insult, hopelessness, heartbreak, betrayal, hate, etc.).
• While you are writing about these encounters, notice if the pain of these feelings begins to arise in your body.
• Now, close your eyes, take two deep breaths and relax for a few seconds.
• Next, imagine each name or incident on the list and in your heart, say “I forgive you.” Alternatively, if you were at fault, admit it and ask for the person’s forgiveness.
• Notice how this exchange of forgiveness liberates you from pent-up grudges and makes you feel empowered from the core.
• Open your eyes, and on the paper where you listed the grievances, write in bold, “FORGIVEN” and “FREE.”

Positive Affirmations

Positive affirmations, like compliments, are ‘verbal sunshine’ that can bring an immediate sense of pleasure and pride. These simple statements that we say aloud to ourselves each day redirect the mind to focus on the positive in ourselves and push us to act more positively.

Here are some examples of positive affirmations we can choose to say to ourselves to help let the light enter our mind:

• I deserve to be happy.
• I love my body and my mind deeply.
• Today, I will reflect only on the good things in life.
• I forgive myself for all past mistakes.
• I hold no grudges against anyone.
• Whatever has happened is for the good.
• I will live in the present.
• From today, I will abandon old habits and embrace new and better ones.
• I am grateful for everything I have received.
• I am a fighter, and I will overcome this.
• I will love myself more from today onward.
• Everything is okay and I am at peace with myself.

3 Interventions Designed to Promote Wellbeing

Although there are a great many interventions dedicated to promoting wellbeing, the following three are well-known and easy to apply.

1. Have-a-Good-Day Exercise

Available from the Positive Psychology Toolkit©, this exercise helps users generate new insights about what makes for a good day and set new goals to strengthen daily wellbeing.

The thinking behind the exercise is that most of us have never deliberately thought about what makes for a good day. However, by stopping to consider how daily events align with our preferences, we can take control of our own happiness.

The activity proceeds in a series of three steps.

1. First, clients are invited to take two weeks (or a month) to rate their impression of each day on a scale ranging from ‘It was one of the worst days of my life’ (1) to ‘It was one of the best days of my life’ (10). In addition to providing these ratings, clients are asked to keep track of the activities undertaken on these days.
2. Secondly, clients respond to a series of open-ended questions exploring the commonalities between the activities that made some days pleasant and some days less pleasant.
3. Finally, clients reflect on their previous answers to identify strategies to weave more positive events (and fewer negative ones) into their average day.

If you’re interested, you can find more information on the Have-a-Good-Day exercise by accessing it in the toolkit.

2. Dr. John Barletta’s Wellbeing Workbook

Dr. John Barletta’s Wellbeing Workbook is a practical, evidence-based guide designed to help people build healthier, happier, and more fulfilling lives. The workbook combines reflective exercises with structured goal-setting to increase self-awareness, clarify values, and create sustainable routines.

Inside, readers will find tools such as the Wheel of Life for lifestyle review, activities for clarifying values and strengths, strategies for overcoming procrastination and unhelpful thinking, and exercises to boost optimism, resilience, and emotional intelligence. It also includes guidance on building positive relationships, managing transitions, and creating a personal mission statement.

By working through the activities, readers develop their own Positive Personal and Professional Progress Plan—a step-by-step framework for turning hopes into concrete actions that enhance wellbeing across personal, family, career, and community life.

Here is the workbook.

3. Because I Am Happy—A Happiness Guide

In a manual  titled, ‘The hidden driver of success,’ Dr. Scott Bolland and Dr. Bernadette Alizart provide a series of easy-to-follow PPIs. The manual also contains valuable information about the science of happiness.

With beautiful pictorial descriptions, relatable references, and point-blank practical tips, this is a valuable resource that we can follow to let more happiness into our lives.

Here is the guide.

Using Interventions in the Workplace

Employee wellbeing is a significant concern for organizations today.

With high rates of clinical depression, poor work-life balance, and stress disorders among professionals all over the world, promoting happiness at work has become a necessity.

According to Shawn Achor, “Happiness inspires productivity” at work, and this is the primary driving force behind implementing positive psychology principles at work.

Using PPIs in the workplace promotes a healthier performance culture. Such PPIs focus on elements like empathy, meaning, communication, strong character, and self-confidence. They aim to support job satisfaction, emotional resilience, and healthy competition among employees.

Here are two workplace PPIs to consider.

1. Mindfulness Programs at Work

Organizing mindfulness campaigns in the workplace is a growing trend nowadays. These programs focus on building emotional awareness at work, enhancing decision-making power, fostering self-esteem, and expressing gratitude.

An example of such training is the Mindfulness at Work program that delivers an array of useful work-related mindfulness exercises that promote the overall wellbeing of employees and managers.

2. Health Promotion Workshops

The Dalai Lama once said, “Happiness is the highest form of health.”

An individual who is struggling with health conditions is less likely to derive pleasure at work. Therefore, health promotion in the workplace is beneficial in many ways.

• It promotes awareness of different health issues that may be related to stress and burnout.
• It reduces employee dissatisfaction that leads to unexpected resignations and absences from work.
• Health awareness curtails health insurance burdens faced by organizations.
• It ensures a healthy work-life balance among employees.

5 Interventions to Use in a Work Environment

There are naturally constraints in the workplace that necessitate choosing appropriate PPIs wisely. With this in mind, the following five interventions are proposed for a work environment.

1. The Innovation Time Technique

This workplace-related PPI, popularized at Google headquarters, encourages employees to spend some time brainstorming and pursuing their passion project. The motive of this intervention is to let individuals enjoy autonomy and invest time in something they love.

2. Gratitude Interventions

Gratitude interventions in all their forms are an essential workplace PPI, which can be used alone or in combination with other interventions. Their purpose is to enhance contentment and joy among employees.

Some examples of gratitude interventions include:

• Gratitude journaling
• Group gratitude exchange sessions
• Sending gratitude notes
• Self-gratitude exercises
• Guided gratitude meditations

3. Feedback Mechanisms

Feedback is essential for self-improvement. Employees who can accept constructive criticism and use it to build their professional skills are happier and more satisfied with their jobs than others (Sommer & Kulkarni, 2012).

Some ways to incorporate active feedback mechanisms in workplace PPIs are:

• Daily stand-ups, where employees and supervisors discuss their progress and share their plans ahead.
• Feedback assessments and surveys administered frequently.
• One-on-one feedback sessions, where both the employee and the supervisor have the freedom to present their opinions and work for a peaceful resolution.

4. Stress Management Exercises

Stress and burnout are unfortunate realities in many professions. Therefore, stress-management assessments and exercises are important tools to promote the overall physical and mental wellbeing of employees and managers.

For support with this, here is an article discussing successful workplace stress management.

5. Workplace Boundaries Worksheet

Uncertain or nonexistent boundaries can quickly result in stress, resentment, and burnout because we spend a large portion of our week at work. In this free worksheet, employees recognize and establish healthy boundaries that safeguard their wellbeing and job satisfaction.

The activity starts with a work assessment, in which participants consider typical problems like working unpaid overtime, missing breaks, taking on too much, or accepting impossible assignments.

After that, they are instructed to establish boundaries with phrases like “I need,” “I expect,” or “I want” for every problem they looked at. By clarifying needs and expectations, employees gain a clearer picture of how to communicate their boundaries and improve their experience at work.

How Can Interventions be Used to Increase Student Happiness?

Professor Shannon Suldo, the face of a leading school psychology program at the University of Florida, conducted a large study on why happiness levels differ so much among students in similar situations, exploring the factors that influence their mindsets.

Her research on youth happiness in educational institutions emphasized the use of positive psychology interventions for fostering student happiness and joy (Suldo, 2016).

The study conducted on student happiness by Lea Waters (2017) is noteworthy here. In her research, she mentions that 25% of Australian adolescents suffer from mental disorders or distress owing to several factors like family disputes, financial crises, body shaming, and even the indirect effects of global warming.

According to Waters (2017), the use of PPIs in schools by teachers or school counselors can go a long way in supporting students facing anxiety, depression, and stress. Some of the effective PPIs mentioned in Waters’ study (2017) include:

• Hope inducing interventions, like motivational speeches and one-on-one coaching sessions. These can help students to look ahead positively to their future and build self-worth (Snyder, 1995).
• School-based gratitude interventions, like offering gifts and thank you notes. Small expressions of gratitude were shown to enhance life-satisfaction and reduce symptoms of depression among student participants (Froh et al., 2008).
• Peace-enhancing positive psychology interventions, like mindfulness practices, compassion exercises, and group meditation sessions were shown to help students discover serenity and release stress (Keegan & Barrere, 2009; Levine, 2009).

4 Interventions to Use in School

Below, you will find interventions that can be very empowering in a school environment and have a lasting impact.

1. Character Strengths

Professors Chris Peterson and Martin Seligman’s Character Strengths Test works to assess six key character strengths:

• Wisdom and knowledge
• Courage
• Humanity
• Justice
• Temperance
• Transcendence

(Peterson & Seligman, 2004).

By inviting students to take the test, they can discover their innate gifts and capabilities, boosting self-esteem and encouraging them to express more of their strengths in their school life and beyond.

2. Positive Relationships Intervention

This intervention is designed to deepen appreciation for others and strengthen social bonds. Participants respond to a series of open-ended prompts that encourage them to reflect on the qualities, strengths, and resilience of people in their lives.

• Think of a family member you admire and reflect on why you admire them.
• Describe one strength possessed by a friend of yours.
• Write about someone who has struggled in life and emerged from the struggle successfully.
• For the person above, write about the skills you believe helped them overcome their stress and restore their happiness.

3. Bounce Back Resilience Program For Kids

This PPI builds wellbeing by making students more emotionally resilient. It is suitable for children from kindergarten to middle school. The program focuses on strategies that help young people understand and cope with life stressors more effectively.

The contents of the program help children to identify their emotions, bounce back from sadness, and chase their aspirations joyfully.

Learn more about the program here.

4. The Passport Program

The Passport Program is used in schools, training, and workshops for adolescents, usually in grades 9-12. The intervention aims to prevent depression among kids by promoting positive education concepts like self-confidence, self-esteem, problem-solving, adjustment, and decision-making.

The curriculum comes in a handy booklet form.

Interventions to Use with Depression

Dealing with depression is like

being colorblind and constantly told how colorful the world is.

Atticus

Positive psychology has contributed much when it comes to helping people understand and overcome depression. Here are some PPIs designed to do just this.

MoodJuice Self-Help Depression Guide

The MoodJuice workbook helps people to identify the symptoms of depression and find ways to overcome it. The exercises involve multiple choice questions related to our thoughts, feelings, and physical symptoms; and the scores indicate the intensity of depressive symptoms.

With lucid pictorial explanations and evidence-backed examples, this workbook is a first choice for many professionals and individuals seeking help for depression.

Depression Self-Management Toolkit (DSMT)

Created by Angela Gervais and Sheila Olver Szakács, leading professionals in the field of mental health and occupational therapy, the DSMT is a step-by-step guide to fight depression in an organized way.

The toolkit contains brief explanations of the causes and symptoms of depression, followed by standardized tests and assessments to understand the severity of the condition. The exercises focus on related physical indicators of depression, such as hypertension, cardiac dysfunction, and sleep problems, offering a systematic approach to resolving depression at its core.

Antidepressant Skills Workbook

The Antidepressant Skills Workbook (ASW) is a collection of all the essential strategies that can help users overcome depression.

Authors Dan Bilsker and Randy Paterson have put years of research into this manual, which demonstrates how shifting focus from the negative to the positive can allow us to emerge as happier individuals and combat depression via a scientific approach.

Helpful Resources From PositivePsychology.com

We are a leading provider of positive psychology interventions that can support you and your clients, no matter whether you’re a psychologist, coach, or other helping practitioner.

Check out the following additional reading, which contains many more free tools:

• 22 Best Counseling Interventions & Strategies for Therapists
• 19 Mental Health Exercises & Interventions for Wellbeing
• 13 Social Work Interventions & Methods for Helping Others

To gain access to our most powerful interventions, consider a subscription to the Positive Psychology Toolkit©. This library of over 600 evidence-based tools contains validated assessments, worksheets, journaling prompts, meditations, and much more—all designed to give clients actionable strategies and promote sustained engagement.

For more science-based ways to help others enhance their wellbeing, this signature collection contains 17 validated positive psychology tools for practitioners. Use them to help others flourish and thrive.

A Take-Home Message

Happiness is always around us; we only need to look for it in the right place. As Colette beautifully put it,

What a wonderful life I have… I only wish I had realized it sooner.

Positive psychology is not a last resort to fight distress or disappointments. It is a gentle way of reminding us that life isn’t all about adding glories and abandoning pains.

If we have the power to love ourselves and others, the determination to work dedicatedly, and the gift of waking up with new energy each day, we already have enough to be thankful for. The interventions discussed throughout this article are all powerful reminders of this truth.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our five positive psychology tools for free.