I am Sara; I am strong [Loving/loved; grateful; wise; curious...]

In positive psychology yesterday, we focused on the concept of character strengths. Identifying personal strengths is one of the fundamental components of positive psychology, and so Mads decided that to really understand the process/relevance/potential use, we should work with them first hand.

Class discussions in small groups

The first part of class was lecture based, and we learned about the science behind character strengths. We discussed that strengths are trait-like in that they are relatively stable over time, though they can be cultivated and developed. They are a source of authentic energy and provide personal meaning without external reward or validation. Just as in the field of PP there is the notion that the lack of pathology does not automatically equate to well being, in the understanding of character strengths we discussed that just because someone is not unkind does not inherently mean that they are kind.

The last piece of background info that I will explain here is part of our discussion of why identifying and understanding strengths is important at all. There is research to suggest that in order to best be able to use/apply our strengths, we must first be able to identify them and understand them. This is something I can totally relate to, and something that I have seen many times including at the YMCA summer camp I work at. When we discussed the YMCA Core Values (respect, caring, honesty, responsibility) with our campers the first day, they were best able to refer to them throughout the week when we not only talked about their definitions, but also had them draw pictures of times in their lives when they had used those values. One girl, Maya, identified that she is responsible when she empties the dishwasher. Jack explained that he was respectful when he listened to his teacher during aftercare. Then throughout the week they were much more receptive to redirection when we said, “Jack, remember how respectful you are? That is such an important value that you have. Can you please get in line with the group?”

My top strength cards

Anyway back to class: prior to Monday’s meeting, we had each taken one of the main assessments of character strengths, the VIA (Values in Action) Questionnaire. It is a 240-item questionnaire that assesses the extent to which you embody 24 empirically identified strengths. You can find the FREE assessment here, and I highly recommend it if you have 20 minutes and want to boost your self-esteem and personal awareness. I promise that the questions go very quickly, and at the end of the assessment you will have a ranked list of 24 strengths. It was fun (and for most of the people in my class, spot on).

A quick shot of the table groups 

When we got to class, Mads gave each of us a set of these “strength cards” (seen in the pictures here) that have a photo representing the strength on one side and a description of it on the other. After finding the cards for our top 5 strengths, we got together with a partner who possessed at least three of the same top 5 and then engaged in discussions and activities with him/her. I worked with Christie, someone who I had gotten to know on the study tour, and we managed to get a discussion going that helped me to understand some interesting things about the relationship between my strengths (particularly how they build on one another), how they have developed over time, and how I can continue to build them into my life.

We also had to make a diagram with our top 5 (or 6) strength cards to show the relationship between them. It wasn’t as easy as it may sound, but in the end I created a strength tree. Shown to the right, my tree has broad roots of Capacity to love and be loved (#1 strength), Zest/Passion, and Love of learning (#3). There is a trunk of Perseverance, and limbs of Social intelligence and kindness (#5), and another branch of Perspective (#4) and Leadership. Even at the risk of being too corny, I added Gratitude (my #2 strength) as a sun to the left of the tree; it enables me to appreciate and strive to apply all of the other strengths. Even if it sounds a little cheesy, everyone in my class really enjoyed it. Other people made pyramids, flow charts, arrows, circles, and staircases.

We ended our class with some discussions of how to apply strengths (using the cards or otherwise) to work with clients. We talked about the intersection between motivation and strength identification, and about accessing your strengths to overcome obstacles. 

When I got home I eagerly got out my strength cards to show Helle. She was very, very skeptical about the whole concept (which I thought was really interesting). She asked why it would be important to think about those things, and said that it is more important to focus on your weaknesses so that you can improve. I challenged her by saying that perhaps we need to focus on both; looking at your strengths will not only provide you with energy, but can also give you potential ways to overcome/improve your weaknesses. Interestingly, without my prompting, she took my deck of cards and began to go through it. She picked out 6 cards and announced that those were her strengths. She wondered aloud what Lars would think her strengths were, and then decided to pick out his top five strengths. 

Lars hard at work picking out his and Helle's strengths

We then devised a system/activity by which they each independently selected their own top 5 strengths and the other's top 5 strengths, and then compared their lists. They really got into it and we had a discussion about the discrepancies that existed between them. Helle brought up an interesting point, which was that in successful relationships it is important to have shared values, but is also a good thing when partners have different strengths. I have asked Mads for a deck of the adolescent/school-aged version of the cards (in Danish) because we decided it would be fun to do this activity with Mira and Kasper (and perhaps for them as a family). It was so cool to get to apply what I'd learned all morning to an activity with my host family. Yay learning in action! (something that combined a bunch of my strengths!) :)