Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) Service Learning Projects

Document Type

Working Paper

Date of this Version

5-1-2017

Abstract

Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers (TROSA) is a structured, two-year residential program that provides comprehensive therapeutic care and vocational training to support long-term recovery within a community setting. Peer support and mutual responsibility for each resident’s recovery is foundational to TROSA’s mission, exemplified by “Each-One-Teach-One.” This credo articulates the reciprocal nature of TROSA residents’ experiences: gratitude for the support received then reaching out to give back. In response to TROSA’s success in assisting individuals to maintain long-term recovery, resident numbers and consequently therapeutic and vocational staff hires have substantially increased. This growth presents challenges to maintaining TROSA’s core values of social connections and trust among staff. With consideration of TROSA’s mission, and the literature demonstrating the contributions of communication, gratitude, and high-quality connections to reinforcing social connections and trust, we present MAGIC, or Meaningful connections And Gratitude along with Improving Communication. The plan’s modular and flexible components can be incorporated into daily activities, while a dedicated MAGIC Day can strengthen its components within TROSA. This two-part proposal aims to provide research-informed positive psychology applications to encourage and reinforce the social connections and trust that already exist and are vital for therapeutic communities like TROSA.

Keywords

positive psychology, social connections, trust, gratitude, meaningful connections, communications, therapeutic community

Included in

Psychology Commons

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Date Posted: 04 May 2017