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Cited by 95Psychological Well-being and Life SatisfactionPsychotherapy Techniques and ApplicationsAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Well-being therapy in depression: New insights into the role of psychological well-being in the clinical process: F AVA et al.

Open access
Fava, Giovanni A., Cosci, Fiammetta, Guidi, Jenny, Tomba, Elena·2017·Depression and Anxiety
DOI 10.1002/da.22629
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Abstract

A specific psychotherapeutic strategy for increasing psychological well-being and resilience, well-being therapy (WBT), has been developed and validated in a number of randomized controlled trials. The findings indicate that flourishing and resilience can be promoted by specific interventions leading to a positive evaluation of one's self, a sense of continued growth and development, the belief that life is purposeful and meaningful, the possession of quality relations with others, the capacity to manage effectively one's life, and a sense of self-determination. The evidence supporting the use of WBT and its specific contribution when it is combined with other psychotherapeutic techniques is still limited. However, the insights gained by the use of WBT may unravel innovative approaches to assessment and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, to be confirmed by controlled studies, with particular reference to decreasing vulnerability to relapse and modulating psychological well-being and mood. An important characteristic of WBT is self-observation of psychological well-being associated with specific homework. Such perspective is different from interventions that are labeled as positive but are actually distress oriented. Another important feature of WBT is the assumption that imbalances in well-being and distress may vary from one illness to another and from patient to patient. Customary clinical taxonomy and evaluation do not include psychological well-being, which may demarcate major prognostic and therapeutic differences among patients who otherwise seem to be deceptively similar since they share the same diagnosis.

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Crossref · 10.1002/da.22629

Cites

78 of 78 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Psychotherapeutic interventions aimed at psychological wellbeing are not suitable for application as a first line treatment of an acute psychiatric disorder.

    “Psychotherapeutic interventions aimed at psychological wellbeing are not suitable for application as a first line treatment of an acute psychiatric disorder 20,64 .”

    From The pursuit of euthymia (2020) · cites this paper as [64]

    The Conclusions (section 5; page unavailable) say well-being therapy appears particularly suited to the residual phase of mood and anxiety disorders, and section 4.1 describes treating acute depressive symptoms before psychotherapy in a sequential model. The paper does not establish that all psychotherapy aimed at psychological well-being is unsuitable as first-line treatment for every acute psychiatric disorder; it says treatment selection depends on clinical judgment. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The clinical benefits of WBT in increasing the level of recovery have been documented in depression and generalized anxiety disorder.

    “While the clinical benefits of WBT in increasing the level of recovery have been documented in depression 64 and generalized anxiety disorder 19 , this appears to be a possible target for a number of other mental health problems.”

    From The pursuit of euthymia (2020) · cites this paper as [64]

    Section 4.1 (Relapse prevention; page unavailable) reports lower relapse rates in recurrent depression after sequential CBT and WBT, but says the trials cannot establish whether WBT itself was the effective ingredient. The paper explicitly links an increased level of recovery to a generalized-anxiety-disorder study; in the citing sentence, that condition has a separate citation. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Well-being therapy (WBT) is a manualized, short-term psychotherapeutic strategy that emphasizes self-observation, with the use of a structured diary, homework and interaction between patient and therapist.

    “Well-being therapy (WBT) is a manualized, short-term psychotherapeutic strategy that emphasizes self-observation, with the use of a structured diary, homework and interaction between patient and therapist 14,20,64 .”

    From The pursuit of euthymia (2020) · cites this paper as [64]

  • There are no documented side effects due to WBT or the control condition.

    “There are no documented side effects due to WBT [19–21] or the control condition”

    From Protocol and methods for testing the efficacy of well-being therapy in chronic migraine patients: a randomized controlled trial. (2018) · cites this paper as [20]

    Section 4.1 (page not provided) describes outcomes for WBT and comparison treatments, but does not report side effects for either. Searches for “side effects” and “adverse events” found no passage documenting their presence or absence. (LLM, conf=0.70)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. [3]3. Beck, A. T, Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: The Guilford Press.
  2. [20]20. Emmelkamp, P. M. G., Bouman, T. K., & Scholing, A. (1993). Anxiety disorders. Chichester: Wiley.
  3. [34]34. Fava, G. A., Rafanelli, C., & Tomba, E. (2012). The clinical process in psychia- try. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 73, 177-184.
  4. [48]48. Joseph, S., & Wood, A. (2010). Assessment of positive functioning in clinical psychology. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 830-838.
  5. [63]63. Singer, B. H., Ryff, C. D., Carr, D., & Magee, W. J. (1998). Life histories and mental health: A person-centered strategy. In A. Raftery (Ed.), Socio- logical methodology (pp. 1-51). Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
  6. [64]64. Sonino, N., & Fava, G. A. (2003). Tolerance to antidepressant treatment may be overcome by ketoconazole. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 37, 171- 173.

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Authors
Fava, G. A., Cosci, F., Guidi, J., & Tomba, E.
Affiliations
  • University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
  • University of Florence (IT)
  • University of Bologna (IT)
Corresponding author
Fava, Giovanni A.
ORCID
Venue
Depression and Anxiety
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2017-04-18
Volume
34
Issue
9
Pages
801-808
ISSN
1091-4269 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1002/da.22629
OpenAlex
W2606439218
Cited by
95
References
78
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2
FWCI
1.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Depression and Anxiety (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) (submittedVersion)
  • Florence Research (University of Florence) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Pfizer
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords
well-being therapy, psychological well-being, depression, resilience, eudaimonia, self-determination, positive psychology interventions, relapse prevention, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, self-observation, homework, patient heterogeneity
MeSH terms
Depression, Depressive Disorder, Humans, Personal Satisfaction, Psychotherapy

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