Strength-Based therapy is a form of positive psychotherapy and counseling that focuses more on a person’s virtues than vices. It looks more at your strengths than your weaknesses. This allows a person to build a foundation based on one’s qualities, become more resilient and have a more positive view of what’s around.
Anyone with low self-confidence or poor self esteem or anyone who has faced abuse can use this model. It’ll help you see yourself as a survivor instead of a victim. The therapist might ask you to recall a disturbing incident in your life and then put down all the qualities in you that made you come out of the situation. Please note, this model does acknowledge your suffering and pain; just because it focuses on the positive does not imply that it does not acknowledge the negative. This model can be used for people of all ages, couples and families.
The model wants for you to tap into and reuse the qualities that you employed previously in order to face your present stressors. It makes you believe that you already have what it takes; you just have to claim it back.
How people respond to situations in life depends on whether they are acting from a position of strength or deficit. To come from a place of deficit is more likely to stress one out. To come from a place of strength allows one to have some faith in one’s abilities and keep moving forward.
Seek a counselor, psychotherapist or social worker who has education and experience in the strength-based model. Also, keep in mind that you must be comfortable with this professional; just their expertise is not enough.
