Character Strengths and Recovery from Addiction

ISSUP Kenya present their Webinar on Insights from Positive Psychology and Psychology of Religion as applied to treatment and recovery from addiction.

There is an ample body of literature that suggests that there is a strong association between spirituality and addiction. More recently, mindfulness is shown to prevent addiction and maintain recovery. The presentation will focus on the mechanism behind this association considering character strengths, as conceptualised, measured, and operationalised (in interventions) within positive psychology, as mediators in the association between spirituality and recovery from addiction.

At the end of the webinar, the participant should be able to:

• Define Character Strengths as virtuous habits, as conceptualised within Positive Psychology;
• Explain the association between character strengths, spirituality, and recovery from addiction; 
• Consider how to apply Character Strengths-based interventions in facilitating recovery from addictive behaviours.

Presenter:
Rev. Dr Sahaya G. Selvam, PhD
Don Bosco Youth Educational Services, Nairobi — Kenya

Originally from India, he has been working in the academic and youth ministry contexts as a Catholic priest in East Africa since 1992. He has separate undergraduate degrees in Philosophy, Sociology, and Religious Studies, and master’s degrees in Philosophy (India) and in Psychology (London), specialising in the Psychology of Religion and Positive Psychology. He completed his PhD in Psychology at the University of London in 2012. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed academic journal articles and book chapters, and written several books, including “Pastoral Psychology for Africa” (Nairobi: Paulines, 2019).

He is trained in Narrative Therapy, Ignatian Spiritual Accompaniment, and a licenced user of Griffiths Ill Early Childhood Assessment. Selvam is a registered member and senior supervisor at the Kenya Counsellors Psychologists Association. He is the founding chair of the Positive Psychology Association of Kenya. He runs Character Coaches Training programmes with his team, forming Character Clubs in schools and youth centres in Kenya. He is also an Associate Professor and Research Associate at Marist International University College, Nairobi.

Webinars and online events delivered and hosted by the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) are provided for informational purposes only. They are educational in nature and do not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.