Be your own therapist

Positive psychology involves more than just thinking happy thoughts. Positive psychology focuses on the strengths and virtues that help people thrive, such as courage, gratitude, compassion, resilience and creativity. While most therapists attempt to "fix what's wrong," positive psychologists also want to "build what's strong."

Therapists who practice positive psychology help individuals see their strengths and virtues and find ways to foster them. They also help people identify positive experiences and the circumstances that brought them about, as well as encourage behaviors that give life a sense of meaning and purpose. Here are some positive psychology techniques you can try:

Identify and use signature strengths. Write down your top five strengths and try to use them more and in new ways each day.  

Keep a gratitude journal. Often recommended by Oprah Winfrey, this positive psychology technique involves writing down each evening three good things that happened to you and noting why you think they happened. Many people focus on negative emotions or events and ignore the positive ones. Keeping a gratitude journal is a way to shift your focus to the more positive aspects of your life and to reflect on them.

Express appreciation to other individuals. Extend your gratitude to the important people in your life. 

Perform acts of kindness. Turning your focus to improving the lives of people around you can increase your own happiness. Try to help others in ways both random (like holding the door open for someone or letting someone go in front of you in line) and planned (such as volunteering or donating blood).

Do it yourself and save big bucks.