Positive Psychology in Coaching: The PERMA Model, VIA Strengths, and What the Research Shows

Positive psychology in coaching describes a scientifically grounded approach that does not fix problems but deliberately builds on existing strengths and wellbeing. Two tools form the foundation:

• PERMA comprises five measurable building blocks of wellbeing: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment.
• The VIA strengths survey maps 24 character strengths to six virtues and takes 10 to 15 minutes, with no added cost.
• A meta-analysis of 24 studies shows moderate effects on wellbeing (g = 0.50) and performance (g = 0.42).
• In Switzerland, universities such as the University of Zurich offer recognized continuing education in positive psychology.

This article shows how PERMA and VIA combine into a three-part coaching arc, and what the current evidence actually proves.

What is positive psychology?

Positive psychology is the scientific study of what makes people flourish, rather than only repairing what is broken. Martin Seligman coined the term in 1998 as president of the American Psychological Association. His argument was simple: for half a century, psychology had focused almost exclusively on illness, deficits, and suffering. The counterpart, the question of a life that goes well, stayed underexplored.

This shift in perspective is decisive for coaching. A deficit-focused conversation asks: "What is going wrong and how do we fix it?" A strengths-based conversation asks: "What already works and how do we build on it?" The difference sounds subtle but changes the entire dynamic of a session. Clients who work with their strengths take ownership of their goals faster.

The distinction matters. Positive psychology is not whitewashing and not "just think positive". It does not ignore negative feelings but puts them in context. Seligman himself stresses that optimism is learnable without blanking out reality. This grounding is exactly what makes the approach compatible with serious coaching.

Read also: Wirkt Coaching wirklich? Was die Forschung zur Wirksamkeit zeigt

What does PERMA mean in coaching?

PERMA describes a model of five building blocks that together make up wellbeing, and in coaching it serves as a map for goal work. Seligman introduced it in 2011 in his book "Flourish". The core idea: wellbeing cannot be reduced to a single measure such as life satisfaction. It consists of five distinct elements, each measurable on its own.

The five building blocks at a glance:

• P - Positive emotions: Joy, gratitude, confidence. Not as a permanent state, but as a regular experience.
• E - Engagement: Being fully absorbed in an activity, often described as flow. Time passes without you noticing.
• R - Relationships: Resilient connections with other people. The single strongest predictor of a fulfilled life.
• M - Meaning: The sense of serving a purpose larger than yourself.
• A - Accomplishment: Competence, progress, and reaching goals for their own sake.

In coaching, PERMA is rarely used as a lecture. It serves as a diagnostic grid. A client says they feel "somehow burned out" but cannot name the cause. Going through the five blocks one by one often reveals a clear pattern: accomplishment is high, relationships are thin, meaning has vanished. That gives the work a direction that "less stress" never could.

How do you measure PERMA in practice?

The PERMA Profiler is a scientifically validated questionnaire with 23 items that captures each of the five blocks separately. A coach can use it at the start and end of a process and document a visible change. That replaces the vague feeling "I am doing better" with a traceable trajectory. In practice this means progress becomes measurable without becoming clinical.

What is the VIA strengths survey and how do you use it?

The VIA strengths survey is a scientifically developed instrument that reveals the individual ranking of 24 character strengths. VIA stands for "Values in Action". Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman published the classification in 2004 after a multi-year review of philosophical and religious traditions worldwide. The result is a catalogue that holds across cultures.

The 24 strengths map to six overarching virtues:

• Wisdom: Creativity, curiosity, judgment, love of learning, perspective
• Courage: Bravery, honesty, perseverance, zest
• Humanity: Kindness, love, social intelligence
• Justice: Fairness, leadership, teamwork
• Temperance: Forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation
• Transcendence: Appreciation of beauty, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality

The survey contains about 96 questions and takes 10 to 15 minutes. It is available on viacharacter.org with no added cost, in several languages. The result is a personal ranking from the strongest to the least pronounced strength.

The real value lies not in the test but in the work that follows. The top five strengths are called "signature strengths". They feel authentic to the person and cost little energy. A client discovers, for instance, that "curiosity" and "love of learning" sit at the top, even though their job demands pure routine. That discrepancy explains their exhaustion better than any stress analysis.

Read also: Coaching-Methoden im Vergleich: GROW, OSKAR und systemische Ansätze

How do you combine PERMA and VIA in a coaching arc?

PERMA and VIA complement each other because one defines the goal and the other shows the path to it. PERMA reveals which area of wellbeing is thin. VIA reveals which resources the person brings to change exactly that area. In practice, this fits into a clear three-session arc.

Session 1: Mapping the situation with PERMA

The first session is for diagnosis. The coach has the client complete the PERMA Profiler beforehand and discusses the profile together. Rather than searching for solutions immediately, this session stays with understanding. Which block is high, which is low? Where does the result surprise? A client in a leadership role may realize that their accomplishment is at the top while their engagement is at rock bottom. They achieve everything but no longer burn for anything.

Session 2: Making resources visible with VIA

In the second session the VIA survey comes into play. The client brings their strengths ranking. Now it is about coupling: which top strength could be deployed deliberately to reinforce the weak PERMA block? If engagement lies fallow and "creativity" sits high, a concrete hypothesis emerges. Perhaps the activity lacks a creative element the person has been suppressing.

Session 3: Action and anchoring

The third session translates the insight into a small, repeatable action. The research calls this a "strengths intervention": the person uses a signature strength every day in a new way. It is one of the best-documented exercises in positive psychology. The coach helps size the exercise realistically and anchors it in the client's everyday life. The result is not a grand plan but a small habit that holds.

This arc is deliberately lean. It runs in one-on-one coaching just as well as in a structured coaching program over several weeks. What matters is the sequence: first the map (PERMA), then the resources (VIA), then the action.

Is strengths-based coaching evidence-based?

Strengths-based coaching is evidence-based, even though the effect sizes are more modest than early enthusiasm suggested. The evidence has grown more solid and at the same time more sober over the years. That is a mark of quality, not a flaw.

The frequently cited foundation comes from the meta-analysis by Sin and Lyubomirsky from 2009. It evaluated 51 studies and found a moderate effect on wellbeing (r = 0.29) and on reducing depressive symptoms (r = 0.31) Source: Sin and Lyubomirsky, 2009. Translated: the exercises work, but they are no miracle cure.

A recent meta-analysis from 2025 looked specifically at the workplace context. Across 24 studies, it found moderate and over-time-stable effects on subjective wellbeing (g = 0.50), psychological wellbeing (g = 0.46), and performance (g = 0.42) Source: Social Sciences, 2025. For coaching practice the stability is especially relevant: the improvements did not fizzle out after a few days.

For those who prefer even more caution, Donaldson and colleagues offer an honest corrective. Their meta-analysis of 22 studies found only a small effect on desirable work outcomes (g = 0.25) Source: Donaldson et al., 2019. The truth lies between these values. Strengths-based coaching is effective, but the effect depends heavily on clean execution. This is exactly where craft separates from hope.

In addition, Gallup offers a practical observation from working life: people who use their strengths daily are, by their data, about six times more likely to be engaged at work Source: Gallup. That is not a meta-analysis, but it matches the mechanism PERMA and VIA jointly address.

Read also: Mindfulness and Coaching shows a second evidence-based path to more presence in coaching.

Read also: Supervision und Intervision für Coaches: Wozu brauchen Coaches regelmässige Begleitung?

How does positive psychology differ from self-help?

Positive psychology differs from self-help through its scientific testing and its skepticism toward quick promises. Self-help books often live on a single catchy idea and personal anecdotes. Positive psychology demands controlled studies, replicable effects, and the open reporting of disappointing results too.

The second difference is humility about limits. A good strengths-based coach does not promise permanent happiness. They work with probabilities and small, verifiable steps. When a method shows only a small effect in the research, that is not hidden but put in context. For Swiss clients this honesty is an anchor of trust, because here understatement beats big words.

Read also: Spotting Good Coaching: 7 Quality Markers places strengths work within the markers of serious practice.

For coaches this also means a clear boundary with therapy. Positive psychology complements treatment, it does not replace the treatment of mental illness. Drawing that line cleanly is part of professional diligence. Those who stay in regular exchange with peers, for example through supervision and intervision, recognize such borderline cases earlier.

Read also: Coaching, therapy, counselling or mentoring? draws the lines between the formats clearly.

Are there positive psychology trainings in Switzerland?

Positive psychology trainings exist in Switzerland at university level, foremost at the University of Zurich. Its Department of Psychology runs a recognized university continuing-education program in positive psychology over two semesters Source: University of Zurich. Demand is high, and waiting lists are not rare.

Alongside this, a broad landscape of private providers offers modules on resilience and positive psychology. Here a close look at quality pays off. A recognized certification and a traceable scientific basis are the decisive criteria. Formal training with a university affiliation carries more weight in the market than a weekend certificate without an exam.

For retirement planning during such training, one Swiss detail is relevant: self-employed people without a pension fund may contribute up to CHF 36'288 to Pillar 3a in 2026 and claim it for tax Source: bsv.admin.ch. Coaches who invest in their own education should know both levers: the training itself and its tax treatment.

How do you integrate positive psychology into your existing coaching offer?

You integrate positive psychology best by not selling it as a new label but weaving it as a clean method into your existing work. Most coaches already work intuitively strengths-oriented. The step to positive psychology is replacing that gut feeling with a validated grid and verifiable exercises.

A pragmatic entry looks like this:

• Start with one tool, not both. The VIA survey is the lowest-barrier start because it is available with no added cost and immediately opens a conversation.
• Build a clearly named format. Instead of "coaching" you sell, for example, a "strengths sprint" over three sessions. A name makes the offer tangible and bookable.
• Document the change. A before-and-after with the PERMA Profiler gives you evidence of your work's effect that you can show in conversations and on your profile.
• Secure quality. Exchange regularly with peers and stay with the serious evidence.

This is exactly where organizing your offer becomes the real hurdle. A well-thought-out three-session arc helps little if booking, payment, and between-session support sink into chaos. An all-in-one platform for coaches removes exactly this friction for you.

On bondigoo, the strengths sprint can be mapped as a structured coaching program that sequences the three sessions cleanly and supports the exercises between appointments. The professional scheduling handles the planning so you can concentrate on the content. For your clients' spontaneous follow-up questions, live sessions without waiting are a good fit, and the integrated client management keeps the progress of each strengths profile in one place.

The appeal is not the technology but the attention regained. Those who hand off the administration free their head for what positive psychology is about: the genuine encounter with a person's resources. In the bondigoo coach directory, clients who are looking for exactly this strengths-oriented approach can find you.

Ready to position your strengths-based approach professionally?

Start your coaching business on bondigoo now and offer your positive psychology formats on a platform that takes the administration off your hands.