Intro to Positive Psychology: Well-Being Science for Healthcare Professionals
Positive psychology is the science of well-being. It provides healthcare professionals with evidence-based tools to build resilience, strengthen relationships, and balance physical and mental health and wellbeing.
By Anna Wong
Illustration by Kateryna Kovarzh
Positive psychology is the science of well-being.
Positive psychology is a evidence-based approach to understanding how people and communities flourish. For healthcare professionals, positive psychology offers practical, evidence-backed strategies to sustain our energy, prevent burnout, and support both ourselves and our patients.
Historically, psychology had focused on mental illness and dysfunction. Positive psychology, emerging as a field of study in 1998, focuses on mental well-being flourishing.
Positive psychology asks the question: How can we help people move north of neutral? Better than baseline?
The Case for Clinician Well-Being
Healthcare is rewarding, but it is also demanding, emotionally intense work. We build relationships, witness suffering, make complex decisions, and often work in environments stretched by “do more with less” pressures. Burnout, compassion fatigue, and empathic strain are common occupational hazards.
Too often, the response to clinician stressors are shallow. Wellness initiatives show up as pizza lunches, motivational posters, or reminders to “download a mindfulness app.” These may bring temporary relief, but they don’t address the root causes of strain, nor do they equip clinicians with tools to manage the complexity of human-care work.
Clinician well-being must be treated as seriously as any other clinical outcome. Research is clear:
When clinicians are thriving, medical errors decrease.
Patient engagement and satisfaction improve.
Staff retention strengthens, reducing costly turnover.
Teams perform at higher levels.
Supporting clinician well-being is not just about preventing burnout. It’s equally about cultivating the conditions for peak performance and compassionate effective care.
Expanding PERMA to PERMA-V
The PERMA model is a framework for flourishing and well-being developed by Dr. Martin Seligman, founder of the field of positive psychology.
The PERMA model describes five pillars of well-being:
Positive Emotion – Experiencing joy, gratitude, or hope in balance with difficult emotions.
Engagement – Being fully absorbed in meaningful activities, sometimes called “flow.”
Relationships – Building supportive, positive connections with others.
Meaning – Pursuing purpose beyond oneself, often by using strengths in service of others.
Achievement – Setting and accomplishing valued goals, building confidence and agency.
PERMA became a cornerstone model of well-being science. But it faced critique: flourishing is not just “in the head.” Our bodies play an equally important role in wellbeing. That’s where the H (Health) or V (Vitality) comes in.
PERMA-H emphasizes Health as foundational: physical health, sleep, nutrition, and movement are inseparable from mental well-being (Butler & Kern, 2016).
Others frame it as PERMA-V, with Vitality capturing the energy and resilience that flow from both physical and psychological resources (The Flourishing Center).
As a physiotherapist, this resonates deeply with me. My graduate studies in physical therapy was focused heavily on the body and physical health. My graduate studies in positive psychology leaned more toward the mind and the brain.
The truth is that we cannot separate the mind and the body. Flourishing and well-being requires both. Whole-person well-being integrates mind and body. Sometimes well-being generated through is top-down processes (mind that influences the body), and sometimes it is bottom-up processes (the body that influences the mind).
Clearing Up Misconceptions
Because of its name, positive psychology is often misunderstood as needing to be positive all the time, in an annoying Pollyanna sort of way. A few important clarifications:
Not Toxic Positivity: It is not about ignoring challenges or “looking on the bright side” no matter what. It acknowledges suffering while also building pathways forward.
Not Happiology: It is not about being happy all the time. The goal is sustainable flourishing. It’s about learning to function well: emotionally, socially, and physically.
Not Self-Help: Positive psychology is a science. Its tools, known as positive psychological interventions, are tested in randomized controlled trials. Unlike anecdotal advice in self-help books, these practices are evidence-based.
Take-Away Action: The PERMA-H Self-Check
Take a quick inventory of your own well-being across the six pillars of PERMA-H.
For each pillar, reflect on the prompts and rate yourself from 1 (very low) to 10 (very high).
P – Positive Emotion
How often do I experience emotions like joy, gratitude, or hope in my day-to-day life?
Do I have a balance of positive and negative emotions?
E – Engagement
How often do I feel fully absorbed in activities (“in flow”)?
Do I bring mindful presence into my work and daily routines? Do I spend my attention mostly in the present moment, or too much in the past, or too much in the future?
R – Relationships
Do I feel supported and connected in my personal and professional relationships?
Am I investing in building high-quality, positive connections?
M – Meaning & Mattering
Do I feel my work and life are connected to a purpose beyond myself?
Do I feel valued and have opportunities to add value?
A – Achievement
Am I setting and reaching goals that matter to me?
Do I feel a sense of progress and agency in my life?
H – Health (Vitality)
Am I taking care of my body with sleep, nutrition, movement, and rest?
Do I feel a sense of physical vitality and aliveness?
Look at your ratings. Which pillar feels strongest right now? Which one needs attention?
Choose one small action this week to strengthen the pillar that feels lowest. Over time, these intentional steps build a more balanced and sustainable foundation for well-being.
Final Thoughts
Positive psychology is not a quick fix or a superficial smile. It is a science of flourishing that honors both the challenges and the strengths of being human.
For healthcare professionals, it provides the evidence-based frameworks we need to sustain ourselves while we care for others.
When we care for clinician well-being with the same rigor we apply to patient care, everyone benefits: clinicians, patients, and the healthcare system as a whole.
References & Suggested Reading
Butler, J., & Kern, M. L. (2016). The PERMA-Profiler: A brief multidimensional measure of flourishing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 6(3), 1–48. https://doi.org/10.5502/ijw.v6i3.526
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper Perennial.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218
Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Positive emotions broaden and build. In P. Devine & A. Plant (Eds.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 47, pp. 1–53). Burlington: Academic Press.
Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truth in ancient wisdom. Basic Books.
Popova, E. (n.d.). The PERMA-V model of flourishing. The Flourishing Center. Retrieved from https://theflourishingcenter.com
Prilleltensky, I. (2021). How people matter: Why it affects health, happiness, love, work, and society. Cambridge University Press.
Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Free Press.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5
Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410–421. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.60.5.410
