[5-Bullet Friday] Moving Beyond Languishing (+ Science-Based Tool)

Dear {NAME}, This week, we're exploring the subject of languishing. 1. Food For Thought If you are not meeting your potential, you are languishing. While traditional psychotherapy focuses on mental illness and positive psychology emphasizes ‘flourishing,’ we often forget to reflect on what it means to ‘languish.’ And yet, it’s vital. Languishing is associated with poor mental health–including depression–and limits our wellbeing. And while Martin Seligman’s PERMA model receives a great deal of attention, it is not the only one associated with moving away from languishing. The I-FLOW model recognizes the importance of subjectivity and positions realistic optimism and flow at its epicenter while identifying personal development as the path from languishing to flourishing. 2. Inspiring Quote "When the body is sad, the heart languishes" – Albert Camus 3. Free Science-Based Tool Experiencing positive emotions is a crucial ingredient in human flourishing.  In this exercise, the client is asked to choose a positive emotion and create a portfolio for later reflection and savoring. [[Link](. 4. Book Recommendation Finding flow: the psychology of engagement with everyday life - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. A central figure in the positive psychology movement, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, asks, "What are we missing?" Based on thousands of interviews, Csikszentmihalyi found that we are most happy when we challenge ourselves with tasks demanding a high degree of skill and commitment and undertaken for their own sake. [[Link](. 5. A Question For Your Clients How would you describe your current state of well-being – are you flourishing, languishing, or somewhere in between?  When clients arrive in therapy, it can be because they have a problem they wish to solve or a change they would like to make in their lives. Asking whether they are flourishing or languishing encourages the client to reflect on their current state and can be followed up with a more open-ended question, such as "why do you think that?" Speak soon, Seph Seph Fontane Pennock Co-founder, PositivePsychology.com P.S., For our signature collection of tools to move from a state of languishing to a state of flourishing, try our [17 Positive Psychology Exercises](. © PositivePsychology. com Sent to: {EMAIL} |  PositivePsychology.com, Gandhiplein 16, 6229HN Maastricht, The Netherlands Don't want future emails? [Unsubscribe](