“A Posse Ad Esse”
(Latin for From Possibility to Reality)
“It is better to believe than to disbelieve; in so doing you bring everything to the realm of possibility” – Albert Einstein
Applied Positivity Enterprise Sdn Bhd, a private limited company, is very much a project-based company in training service sector (Education, Development and Skills Training) and is a Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) Registered Training Provider in Malaysia. We use problem-based methodology of tripartite approach – what it is, what to do and how to do it; and customizing the training programmes that are relevant and complementary to the needs of education, mental health and safety system in Malaysia.
We put a lot of thoughts and effort into carefully constructing our evidence-based, specialist, holistic and integrated action-oriented project proposals. Dr S H Lua as the company’s Director of Training and Programme Development, is a driving force behind a dedicated, passionate and committed team. We are driven by a passion to produce and develop something unique, to change and transform people’s lives by making the impossible becomes the possible and that is when passion matters. It is the zest, the enthusiasm, the giving the little bit more, going extra mile no matter what, that makes real positive difference and open up so much of insurmountable opportunities and possibilities.
The question is ‘why not?’ as nothing ventured, nothing gained. To quote Charles Dickens, “The most important thing in life is to stop saying: ‘I wish’. And start saying: ‘I will.’ Consider nothing impossible. Then treat possibilities as probabilities.” ‘Why not’ in creating exciting and challenging opportunities and possibilities. ‘Why not’ in creating a sense of wellbeing, sense of belonging and enthusiasm. ‘Why not’ in creating M.I.N.D. (pronounced as individual letter) in dealing with psycho-social problems and issues. It is not a utopian philosophical position. It is a positive practical crucial position in understanding and training our mind to see the positivity in everything as being non-judgmental, for our minds are the major source of both our sufferings as well as fulfillment and happiness. It is important to relate what is going on inside us. Minds are like parachute. If they are closed, they would not hold us up. It is thinking of a clear, concise and unclouded mind that makes us what we truly are.
We utilise the concept of Wise Mind which is one of the three mind states that includes Emotion Mind and Reasonable Mind – the core components of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). According to Dr Marsha Linshan, Reasonable Mind is considered as a logical and fact-based; on the other hand, Emotion Mind is ruled by emotions which can be impulsive thinking due to intense feelings and a sense of Its urgency. The Wise Mind is the balance of both Reasonable Mind and Emotion Mind where reason and emotion come together as a wholesomeness of mind and heart resulting in inner wisdom of a healthy state of mind – “there is a wisdom of the head, and a wisdom of the heart” (Charles Dickens). In order to uncover and have an access to the WISE Mind, we create an acronym M.I.N.D. within the powerhouse of the mind, i.e. what state our mind and heart are in when we are reacting and responding to the environment of struggles, challenges and obstacles. None of us are responsible for all things that happen to us, but we are responsible for the way we act when things do happen. To quote, Mahatma Gandhi, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony.”
M.I.N.D. stands for:
M – MINDFULNESS/Awareness; for instance, we tend to spend so
much time worrying about tomorrow – what will happen?
What will I do? – that we forget about today – here and now.
“Do not look back. No one know how the world ever began.
Do not fear the future. Nothing lasts forever. If you dwell on
the past or the future, You will miss the MOMENT.”
– Unknown
I – IDENTITY/Self-as-context in knowing and understanding
deep-down who are you? How do you define yourself?
What makes you who you are?
“Identity cannot be found or fabricated but emerges from
within when one has the courage to let go.”
-Doug Cooper
N – NON-JUDGMENTAL as an age-old saying – don’t say ‘no’ and
don’t say ‘yes’. Acceptance is the key even though it is
painful, only then you can look at what is actually there in
front of you, now and here.It is Psychological Flexibility in
Openness, Acceptance, Engagement.
“Mindfulness is paying attention, on purpose, non-
judgmentally, in the present moment”
– Jon Kabat-Zinn
D – DIRECTION – Purpose/Values in life. Our life and identity
are often defined by something, some events, some
incidents, i.e. we are often defined by our job role or be
defined by our mental state. We need to define ourselves
by finding the values and directions in our life. Life is not
about speed. It is about direction – where are you going?
What is your purpose? Effort without direction is wasted
energy.
“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and
direction.”
– John F. Kennedy
We seek to become the frontline mental health and psychological wellbeing provider based on Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACTraining) and Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT) approaches by serving a widely diverse population / groups that can be applicable across the wide spectrum of problems and issues associated with stresses and burnout at workplace, primary care and school settings.
We have shred away from diagnoses, using non-pathology-driven and transdiagnostic approach, nonsydromal model, within a positivist and psychological paradigm. We hope to develop a blueprint for mental health with wellbeing orientation. Mental health is not a destination but a process – something we can sense but we can’t see. It is about how to
drive (process), not where we are going (destination). We need to focus on making ACTraining and associated FACT (Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) training programmes accessible to all levels of professionals and general public, by increasing recognition of the importance of mental health awareness. ACTraining adapts Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles for non-therapeutic workplace settings.
Being a social enterprise company, we work and collaborate with government agencies to achieve social impact through creating a public-private partnership (PPP). We are taking positive initiatives to think of effective groups training in resilience and wellbeing preventive programmes and developing psychological flexibility that is the key
process for enhancing psychological health and values-oriented behavioural effectiveness by building resilience and empowerment to thrive in the workplace.
We design, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of Resilience Skills Training (RST) for children and young people in schools (SALUS Programme); ACTraining for teachers, employees, managers and leadership training in the workplace (HRDF Training Programme), and ACTraining and FACT programmes for medical residents under the
Housemanship Training Programme, practitioners, primary care professionals.
We have also implemented our Alternative Positive Therapeutic Education based on 3Ts Programmes (Teaching, Training, Therapy) that focus children and young people’s strengths, interests and needs in achieving confidence, integrity and excellence, rather than lashing out their ‘labelled’ self and often than not being bogged down in the labelling process.
These training programmes are more demand driven in the 21st century way of dealing with our thoughts and emotions by being resilience and discovering our inner self which is at the root of our problems, i.e. who we really are, not necessary what people think we are – personal empowerment in responding to the ever-changing and unpredictable,
volatile 21st century. If we can go deep into ourselves, by opening up inwardly in ourselves, we will find we possess exactly what it is we desire. As stated by the Foresight Report on mental capital wellbeing project 2008 (UK), “Making the most of ourselves in the 21st century”, in dealing with stress and burnout issues as a 21st century syndrome. In doing so, we aim to utilize the concept of ‘sisu’ (the Finnish art of inner strength). ‘Sisu’ in Finnish means strength, perseverance in dealing with difficulties and challenges since we are battling with our own mind every single day.
Download: Applied Positivity Enterprise Sdn Bhdompany – Company Profile
Applied Positivity 