Drug and alcohol workers’ view of positive psychology in the treatment of coexisting problems

PurposePositive psychology (PP) interventions have been suggested to be beneficial in the treatment of dual diagnosis (DD). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perspective of psychosocial intervention (PSI) workers to explore the potential of a positive strengths-based approach in DD recovery.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was employed with PSI workers who attended and observed a positive intervention delivered to DD clients. A focus group explored what these practitioners are already doing that resembles PP and their opinion regarding the utility of such interventions in recovery.FindingsFindings revealed that practitioners were already engaging in positive practice, however, randomly and infrequently with limited impact. Although this new approach was found valuable, potential challenges were identified and a possible discrepancy between staff views of clients and clients’ views of themselves in terms of their potential was detected.Research limitations/implicationsThe study involved a small and homogeneous sample. Further research is necessary to investigate staff views and ways of integrating PP with traditional treatment.Practical implicationsRather than merely attending to the psychological problems and dealing with symptoms, it is also necessary to directly target well-being to enable people to flourish with consideration of their readiness to change.Originality/valueAddressing a gap in the literature, the present study explored positive themes in current practice and forms part of the evaluation of a newly developed strengths-based approach for individuals with coexisting problems.