Massive spread of misinformation over social media during the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the mental health of populations. Social media are among the cheapest and most quickly accessible information sources for a large section of the public, in search of news that is reliable, true, precise and based on conscientious editing. From a Positive Transcultural Psychotherapy (PPT) viewpoint, these secondary capacities – reliability, honesty, precision and conscientiousness – are among other psychosocial norms that sustain psychological well-being, including primary capacities such as time, trust, hope, security and doubt. Also, from a PPT perspective, the energy and time spent by a person in online spaces and activities affects the well-being in the four life dimensions, while those primary capacities (and emotional needs) remain at the basis of emotional well-being. The research employed the systematic review of literature in several open-access scholarly websites from February 2020 to March 2022. The paper reviews the existing research on how disinformation and excess time in fake news spread over social media has the potential to corrode the abovementioned actual capacities, trigger negative emotions, mislead the public in undertaking wrong decisions for their health and well-being, and constitute a serious threat to both public health and social order, as well as to individuals’ sense of security.
Why traditional games and how to transform them into powerful psycho-social and holistic instruments in Positive Group Therapy? The paper aims at looking at the space that Positive Transcultural Psychotherapy [PPT after N. Peseschkian, since 1977]TM can provide for the Positum MGS approach in utilizing traditional and transcultural games with a psycho-social aim in groups. Pandemics, wars and natural disasters such as earthquakes – among many other traumatic events – can result in forced displacement and migration for masses of populations, including children, and have severe consequences in the holistic health of affected people. The paper looks at the foundations of Positive Group Therapy, its interaction with the Positum MGS approach within it, and the value they can create for healing trauma in groups when integrating such tools as traditional games. The paper analised the research and practice in the field, demonstrating the great value of traditional and transcultural games in strengthening the identity and sense of belonging, as key resources for building resilience for individuals in groups and through group work sparked by traditional games transformed into psycho-social ones. The features, principles and strategies of the Positum MGS approach within the framework of PPT are further explained, and cases of practical application from recent years are discussed in the light of theoretical concepts of Positum MGS and PPT.
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