Well-Being Therapy in Dutch mental health care

Relapse after treatment of mental disorders is a major problem. Enhancing psychological well-being and resilience may reduce the risk of relapse in patients with mental disorders. Well-being therapy tries to address these factors. The original model of well-being therapy was developed by the Italian psychiatrist Giovanni Fava. It is based on a conceptual model of six dimensions of psychological well-being: environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life, autonomy, self-acceptance, positive relations with others (Ryff, 1989). The results of the research on the effectiveness of the therapy are promising, at least in Italy. At the University of Twente we developed a protocol of the therapy based on the original model and made it suitable for patients in community mental health centres. It is our aim to conduct efficacy studies at a larger scale and to implement well-being therapy in the Dutch mental health care. The adapted protocol will be presented as well as a case study based on the application of the protocol with a client who suffered from a major depressive disorder.