Increasing Psychological Well-being in Clinical and Educational Settings Interventions and Cultural Contexts

The volume deals with strategies aimed to increasing psychological well-being both in clinical and non-clinical settings, with a special focus on the impact of cross-cultural influences on these processes. A neglected aspect in psychotherapy research is the fact that a single approach may not be suitable for everyone even within a cultural context. Cultural diversity may mean having more models available for the individual patient, or some models and dimensions of well-being being more salient according to the cultural background. Promoting well-being in Eastern individuals means focussing more on their positive interpersonal relationship, sense of interconnection and contribution to the society; whereas for a Western individual reaching autonomy and independence and realizing one’s inner potential could be much more important. The book will be organized into two parts: the first one will deal with individual psychotherapy/positive interventions in various clinical domains, which will be rooted in specific cultural frameworks. The second part of the book will deal with the promotion of well-being in children and adolescents. This part will encompass interventions also in non-clinical contexts, such as schools, institutions and educational settings. A particular emphasis will be given also on preventive approaches, once again where cross-cultural differences play a crucial role. There are countries where interventions are focussed on the positive integrations of immigrant individuals (i.e., European countries such as Italy, Germany and Spain, or Australia), whereas other countries have already faced these issues some years ago (i.e., USA, UK, France) and strategies for improving well-being rely more on positive emotions, emotional intelligence and positive learning processes. Another aspect which will be covered in this volume is on promoting resilience in high -risk young populations (e.g., youth from divorced families, or in the child welfare system).