History of method

 

Positive Psychotherapy was founded in 1968 by Prof. Dr. Nossrat Peseschkian. He is a professor specializing in neurology, psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychosomatic medicine. He was born in 1933 in Iran and has been living in Germany since 1954. He received his psychotherapeutic training in Germany, Switzerland and the United States.
Today he is known as the founder of Positive Psychotherapy, based on a transcultural approach. His work involves the investigation of the relationship between culture and disease and of the cultural concepts in 22 different cultural groups. He is also the founder and former director of the Wiesbaden Academy for Psychotherapy and the director of the International Academy of Positive and Cross-Cultural Psychotherapy – Peseschkian Foundation. He is a reader at the Academy for Higher Medical Education of the State Medical Chamber of Hesse, Germany.
An international lecturer, Prof. Peseschkian has given speeches at universities and colleagues amongst others in the USA, Hawaii, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Kenia, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Bolivia, Switzerland, Austria, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Germany.

His model of Positive Psychotherapy is a synthesis of psychodynamics and behaviour therapy that focuses on the positive aspects of conflicts and sufferings. He offers transcultural perspectives in the form of proverbs, myths and fables in which the patient may recognize himself in allegorical terms and thus be able to establish a new form of self-confidence and security.

In 1997 he was awarded the Richard Mertens Prize for his work “Computer Assisted Quality Assurance in Positive Psychotherapy”. This Prize is one of the highest awards of quality assurance in the medical field in Europe.
In January 2006, Prof. Dr. Nossrat Peseschkian received the Order of Merit, Distinguished Service Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz).

Prof. Dr. Nossrat Peseschkian is the author of numerous books on psychotherapy. 26 books on Positive Psychotherapy have been partly published in 23 languages, and have been among the first ones in Eastern Europe. The books have been translated in Chinese, Russian, English and Spanish. So in almost every part of the world people have access to the content. 260 articles have been published in scientific magazines.