24 November 2015

How to Be More Grateful – It Will Improve Your Happiness!

With the mounting number of stressors in our lives it is understandable that we are vulnerable to being goal oriented and committed to working towards new material possessions for ourselves. We have an increased tendency to ruminating about the past and worrying about the future with a detrimental impact on engaging in the moment (mindfulness) and being grateful for what we have in our lives right now.

Research has consistently demonstrated that gratitude is strongly associated with happiness and well being. Gratitude allows an individual to recognise the goodness in their life and to appreciate what they have, tangibly and non-tangibly. There are a number of ways you can encourage yourself and your patients to cultivate gratitude.

• Keep a gratitude journal by writing down each day something that you are grateful for
• Write a thank you note to someone for the role they play in your life or for what they have done for you
• Consider people in less fortunate positions than you are in and be grateful for your good fortune
• Spend money on experiences that you can experience gratefulness for rather than material possessions.

While CBT is the gold standard treatment option for the management of depressed mood, positive psychology principles like Gratitude are undoubtedly other very helpful approaches to improving mood and well being and can be applied adjunctively to clinical treatment programs.