Gratitude is an important part of increasing your well-being and happiness in your life. Psychological research has demonstrated — time and time again — the positive mood effects increasing gratitude in your life has.

But sometimes you need to visit the past in order to move forward in your future.

This video from Psych Central’s Daniel J. Tomasulo, Ph.D. discusses how to do a “virtual gratitude visit,” a simple exercise anyone can learn to do that may help in healing past hurts and increase your well-being when you can’t do an ordinary gratitude visit.

A gratitude visit is an exercise of positive psychology where, in the most simple terms, you write out a letter and deliver it to the person you want to express your gratitude to. Why would you want to try out a gratitude visit? As Dr. Dan notes:

• Increases our sense of well-being

• Can help change the way we think about the past
• Can make us feel good in the moment
• Helps us think more positively about our future

But sometimes the person you want to express your gratitude is no longer alive. In that case, you might try out the virtual gratitude visit.

Need more gratitude help? Check out: On Gratitude: A Simple Daily Exercise

Dr. John Grohol is the founder & CEO of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 15 Apr 2012
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.