In a recent issue of Mentor Coaching, I argued that 'positive thinking' can be a tyranny, that it is superficial, and there is no evidence that repeating positive mantras changes anything. I also believe there is an important place in our lives for negative thinking as it stops us being foolhardy or taking risks which might expose us to unnecessary risks: "Maybe I shouldn't borrow that thousand pounds to bet on that horse - it might not win". In this case a bit of negative thinking could save you getting into debt by taking an unnecessary risk.

In contrast to the positive thinking approach, positive psychology points to the important of positive emotions, such as feelings of happiness, love and fulfilment. Such emotions boost your capacity to solve problems and enable you to build relationships and social capital. People who are born optimistic experience such emotions easily and naturally. Positive psychologists have found through research that those of us who are born pessimistic, find it harder to experience or express positive emotions and are more likely to suffer from mental and physical ill health. However pessimists can learn to be optimistic and positive psychologists like Martin Seligman have developed evidence based research which demonstrates that tools such as "disputation" enable us to do so.

Using "disputation"

"Disputation" encourages individuals to examine the evidence underlying their negative thoughts. So any resultant upturn is positive thought is based on solid evidence, rather than just on wishful thinking.

When you work with a client who is having recurring negative or pessimistic thoughts, ask her to put her negative thoughts under scrutiny, evaluate them and if they are questionable, dispute them. So if their recurring thought is "I'm no good at public speaking", ask your client to list the talks they have given, the feedback they received, what they have learned and the improvements they have made. Then ask your client to use all the evidence to challenge and dispute the recurring thought. They will probably reveal that at least some of the time they did speak well and got positive feedback, but they have been ignoring the evidence. The aim is to begin to truly believe that being good at public speaking is indeed possible and to feel optimistic about approaching the task in the future. This contrasts strongly with the positive thinking approach which would simply have the client repeat over "I am a brilliant public speaker".

Disputation is not a quick fix - it takes commitment and focused work to change thinking patterns. The results however are embedded and long lasting.

You can find out more in Martin Seligman's book Learned Optimism.

Marianne Craig, MCC