Different forms of abuse worksheet
Using a character strengths worksheet can be a powerful tool to boost clients' self-esteem and reframe their perspective.
This article provides an overview of character strengths worksheets for therapists, the benefits of using a strengths-based approach, and how to identify strengths with clients.
We’ve also included a free downloadable strengths inventory worksheet to save to your electronic health record (EHR) and use in your practice.
What are character strengths?
Character strengths are positively valued traits that are reflected in our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. These strengths describe the core components of our personality.
For example, you might admire your partner’s humility or cherish your grandma’s forgiveness.
We all have different strengths to varying degrees, and they define how we think and learn, navigate challenges, relate to others, self-regulate our emotions, and connect with the world.
Understanding our strengths helps us feel connected to our values, live a happier and more purposeful life, strengthen our resilience, and have meaningful relationships.
Research shows that character strengths are also associated with school achievement, physical and psychological well-being, and can even decrease symptoms of depression.
Character strengths list
Psychologists Martin Seligman and Christopher Peterson developed the most well-known classification of strengths. Together with another psychologist, Neal Mayerson, they created the VIA Institute on Character (formerly called Virtues in Action) to help people identify their character strengths.
VIA defined 24 character strengths into six core virtues.
Wisdom: Strengths that help you think and learn, including creativity, curiosity, judgment, love of learning, and perspective.
Courage: Strengths that help you navigate challenges include bravery, perseverance, honesty, and zest.
Humanity: Relationship strengths include kindness, love, and social intelligence.
Justice: Strengths rooted in fairness, leadership, and teamwork.
Temperance: Strengths include forgiveness, humility, prudence, and self-regulation.
Transcendence: Strengths that help connect you to something greater include appreciating beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, and spirituality.
Prompts to help clients discover their strengths
Sometimes it can be challenging to identify strengths, but using a strengths inventory worksheet can be helpful.
These reflection prompts, also included in the character strengths worksheet, may help:
How would your closest friends describe your strengths?
What are you good at?
What are some qualities that you like about yourself?
How do I approach challenges?
What gives your life meaning?
What do you tend to do when you’re feeling overwhelmed? Something that helps calm and ground you?
When have you felt most proud of yourself?
Which specific tasks come naturally to you?
What has helped you get through difficult times?
What do you most enjoy doing?
Tell me about a time you surprised yourself.
Describe a recent win (big or small) that you experienced recently.
What traits do you appreciate in others?
What skills or traits have helped you adapt to change?
What are you doing now that you couldn’t have imagined a year ago?
What kind of person do you want to be, and what strengths already reflect that?
Some other ways to identify strengths include:
Ask others: Ask friends, family, or coworkers about three strengths they see in you.
Values in Action (VIA) survey: Complete the VIA self-assessment, which takes approximately 12 minutes.
Work performance review: Ask your coworkers or boss, or look at your latest performance review, to identify compliments from others about your skills and what you do well.
How to use the identifying strengths worksheet
You can download and use the character strengths worksheet in several ways:
Print or screen share the strengths inventory worksheet and use it as a session psychoeducational prompt
Use the character strengths worksheet in supervision sessions
Give the strengths inventory worksheet to the client to remind them of what you discussed during therapy
Ask the client to reflect on the strength-based prompts between sessions and report their reflections at their next therapy appointment
Sources
Azañedo, C. M., Artola, T., Sastre, S., & Alvarado, J. M. (2021). Character Strengths Predict Subjective Well-Being, Psychological Well-Being, and Psychopathological Symptoms, Over and Above Functional Social Support. Frontiers in Psychology.
Niemiec, R. M., & Pearce, R. (2021). The Practice of Character Strengths: Unifying Definitions, Principles, and Exploration of What's Soaring, Emerging, and Ripe With Potential in Science and in Practice. Frontiers in Psychology.
Schutte, N.S., Malouff, J.M. (2019). The Impact of Signature Character Strengths Interventions: A Meta-analysis. J Happiness Stud.
VIA Institute on Character. About.
VIA Institute on Character. (n.d.). The 24 Character Strengths.
Wagner L, Ruch W. (2015). Good character at school: positive classroom behavior mediates the link between character strengths and school achievement. Frontiers in Psychology.
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