Congresses

Promote well-being to promote mental health

The consideration that health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO) makes it appropriate to consider mental health and mental illness as two related but distinct factors. Therefore the absence of mental illness does not imply the presence of mental health understood as a condition of completely mentally healthy functioning (flourishing), just as the absence of mental health does not imply the presence of mental illness but could lead to the condition of languishing (Keyes).
In diagnostic terms, the usefulness of operationalizing and adopting the diagnosis of mental health can be underlined. If you want to promote well-being, you must be able to document the degree of well-being before and after the intervention.
In clinical and applicative settings, two relevant examples in line with the repercussions of the WHO definition of mental health are represented by Well-being Therapy and Subjective Well-Being Training. The first proposal, elaborated by Fava, is based on the idea of inserting a phase of well-being promotion in place of relapse prevention to complete the therapeutic process. The second proposal, elaborated by Goldwurm starting from the Fordyce model, is based on the idea that it is important to promote complete well-being in the general population.
Positive psychology can help to understand the role of a person’s strengths and well-being in counteracting the development of mental illness, improving both the understanding of aetiological mechanisms and the treatment of treatment-resistant disorders. Scientific and applied research need an integrated perspective that overcomes the positive/negative opposition.

Editorial

This monographic issue, unlike many issues of the journal, focuses on health rather than on pathology, on protective factors rather than on risk factors and broadly outlines a hi­storical excursus of the “positive” perspective in the medicine-psychology interface. It is known that since the Second World War, the WHO has defined the concept of health […]

The therapist’s toolbox in nature

After briefly summarizing the beneficial effects, on a physiological and psychological level, of contact with nature, the main aspects of the setting are considered, the places, the recipients, the characteristics of the therapist who decides to work in nature, the different roles they co- ver and the types of activities organized in the natural environment. Having described the spe- cific tools, techniques and skills of the therapist in nature, Nature Therapy is defined, which can be considered a form of psychotherapy: two people – client and therapist –and the relation- ship that develops between them, to which Nature is added as partner and co-therapist. Nature Therapy can be implemented in various ways: Forest Therapy, Adventure Therapy, Wilderness Therapy, Ecotherapy. The best known and most studied is the forest bath. These experiences involve the five senses and numerous psychophysiological functions. Finally, Mountain Therapy and Walking Therapy are described, along with some examples of their implementation.