Positive Psychotherapy is a short-term psychotherapeutic method, with a psychodynamic model, a humanistic world-view, and a transcultural approach. It has been developed since 1968 by Prof. Dr. Nossrat Peseschkian, MD., PhD., and his co-workers in Germany, and is today an officially accepted method in the field of postgraduate training in many countries.
The method of Positive Psychotherapy based on transcultural researches in over 20 cultures, and based on three main principles:
Since 1968, Positive Psychotherapy is applied mainly in the following areas: psychotherapy, counselling, education, prevention and management training. In Germany, the Wiesbaden Academy of Psychotherapy is licensed by the State Medical Chamber in Hessen for the postgraduate training of physicians in psychotherapy, and by the State Ministry for Health Professions for the training of psychologists. Since 1971, more than 38,000 doctors have been trained in Germany, Switzerland and Austria with this method, and since the late 1980s several thousand colleagues in Eastern European countries. Today, Positive Psychotherapy has been established in more than 24 countries, and introduced in more than 60 countries worldwide. Its affairs are coordinated by the International Center of Positive Psychotherapy, which has its headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany, with 45 trainers and lecturers. It has organized already four World Congresses for Positive Psychotherapy – in St. Petersburg, Russia (1997), in Wiesbaden, Germany (in 2000), Bulgaria (in 2003) and in Cyprus (in 2007). Besides training, teaching and practical psychotherapy, a main emphasis has been transcultural research. In 1997, a quality assurance and effectiveness study was undertaken in Germany, and the results show the high effectivity of this short-term method. The study was awarded with the Richard-Merten-Prize 1997. Prof. Dr. Nossrat Peseschkian was in 2006 distinguished with the Order of Merit – Distinguished Service Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 2007 with the International Avicenna-Prize from the Association of Iranian Physicians and Dentists in Germany and in Geneva. Today there are more than 25 major books on Positive Psychotherapy, of which some have been published in more than 26 languages. About 20 Ph.D. dissertations have been prepared with topics related to this new concept.