Positive Psychology
Our Association has been promoting and advocating the application of positive psychology as it is a rapid advancement and a branch of modern psychology. It distinguishes itself from the traditional medical oriented clinical psychology by emphasizing the development of personal virtue in an attempt to achieve a better psychological state, life satisfaction and fulfilment; rather than viewing different mental health states from the perspective of pathology.
The "3-tier model”
In order to increase the understanding of positive psychology of the general public we adopt the "3-tier model” as the blueprint of positive psychology application. We pioneer on the aspects of promotion, prevention, and intervention through diversified means and channels.
We held a number of road shows and talks on the theme of positive psychology, explained its characteristics and applications. Simultaneously, we have developed several booklets, for example, "Gratitude Dairy” and "Hope Family” and "Psychological Resource” to facilitate the practice of positive psychology in daily life. Apart from this, Edutainment (Education plus Entertainment) approach is used to design various wellness programs to integrate elements of positive psychology into interest classes. Therapeutic groups based on positive psychology also allow participants to develop and utilize virtues instead of merely focusing on symptom reduction.
| Tiers |
Positive psychological services |
| 1st tier |
Public education (talks, road shows)
Publication of educational booklets
Development of questionnaire |
| 2nd tier |
Wellness programs |
| 3rd tier |
Therapeutic groups |
Introduction to the Positive Psychology Therapeutic Groups
Psychological Work Out – Positive Psychology Workshop
The activity introduces five elements of positive psychology: (1) Hope, (2) Psychological Resource, (3) Gratitude, (4) Savoring, and (5) Mindfulness to build up habits that cultivate positive emotions and flourish life.
Hope Group
The group aims to enhance hope-based cognitive style to strengthen the positive emotions of the participants. Meanwhile, it also helps participants to formulate methods to achieve goals and maintain agency thoughts.
Positive Psychological Resources Centre – Promotion of Positive Psychology
By consolidating the experience of promoting positive psychology to improve the well-being of both people in recovery and the public, a positive psychological service framework was developed with the support and professional guidance from Professor Samuel Ho of the Department of Applied Social Studies of the City University of Hong Kong. The framework incorporates elements of positive psychology including hopes, savoring, gratitude, and character strength as well as mindfulness.
A ”Positive-Psychological Resources Centre” (PPRC) was set up in The Wellness Centre (Tuen Mun- Wu King) to facilitate the buildup of well-being daily habits. Public education, workshops, therapeutic groups and self-help materials are available to meet the needs of different individuals. A series of workshops and workbook were developed to educate the community and to cultivate daily habits among the participants on developing mental well-being.
Positive Psychological Service Framework
Research and Application
To contribute to evidence-based practice, the agency-based clinical psychologists collaborated with Professor Samuel Ho, the Department of Applied Social Studies of the City University of Hong Kong, in research studies on positive psychology, including "Investigating the Role of Psychological Resources in the Relationship between Cognitive Processes and Psychological well-being”, "Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Psychological Resources Questionnaire in People with Emotional Distress”, and "The Role of Positive Cognition in Depression”.
The former two were an attempt to validate a Chinese scale that measures the psychological resources in people with emotional distress. A questionnaire, tentatively titled as "Chinese Positive Psychological Resources Questionnaires”, was developed to measure three factors, i.e. vitality, conscientiousness, and interpersonal strength.