Observe the dialogue
Study the positive and negative thoughts and feelings that make up internal experience.
Robert M. Schwartz, PhD
The science of
emotional balance.
Psychologist, Researcher, Practice Director.
Since 1976, Robert Schwartz has studied how the precise balance of positive and negative thoughts and feelings relates to psychological health and optimal functioning.
Positive
Negative
Optimal
Zone
Zone
1.5 : 1
1.5 : 1
A calibrated model of emotional balance
1976Research begins
SOMStates-of-Mind Model
2026New world happiness study
The central question
What does a healthy mind sound like?
Well-being is not the absence of negative experience. Schwartz's research asks whether psychological health depends on a measurable relationship between positive and negative cognition and affect.
Measure the balance
Describe states of mind through ratios rather than treating positivity and negativity in isolation.
Locate the zone
Test whether different balances correspond with distress, normal functioning, and psychological flourishing.
The States-of-Mind Model
Balance is dynamic, not neutral.
The model proposes that functional people maintain a moderately positive internal dialogue. Negative experience remains present and informative—its contrast helps the whole system adapt.
Deviations from this balance have been studied across depression, anxiety, agoraphobia, psychotherapy outcomes, and optimal functioning.
Follow the research record.618
Original theoretical set point for the proportion of positive cognition within the internal dialogue.
A research model—not a self-diagnostic score.2026
Latest publication
Emotional balance
and world happiness
A new evaluation of how well the States-of-Mind model fits international happiness data, published in The Journal of Positive Psychology.
Read the article ↗Selected work
Five decades of inquiry
2026Emotional balance and world happiness: evaluation of the states-of-mind model-data fitThe Journal of Positive Psychology↗2002Optimal and normal affect balance in psychotherapy of major depressionBehavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy↗1989Cognitive balance and psychopathology: Evaluation of an information processing modelClinical Psychology Review↗1986The internal dialogue: On the asymmetry between positive and negative coping thoughtsCognitive Therapy and Research↗
Clinical practice
The art and science
of psychotherapy.
Robert Schwartz founded and directs a multi-specialty psychological group practice of nine therapists. His work integrates cognitive and psychodynamic psychotherapy with decades of research into change.
- Mood disorders, including depression and anxiety
- Executive stress management and coaching
- Sex therapy and relationship concerns
- Compulsive and addictive behavior
Clinical services and research information are presented separately. This website does not provide medical advice or emergency care.
About Robert Schwartz
Researcher. Clinician.
Builder of better questions.
Robert M. Schwartz, PhD, is a psychologist whose work spans positive psychology, cognitive and affective research, psychotherapy, sex therapy, and executive coaching.
His published work traces a consistent question: can the balance within our internal dialogue help explain both psychological distress and optimal human functioning?