What is Strength-Based Counselling?
The strengths of a person are the foundation of their character. They support them to know the core values and standards and the essence of who they truly are. Our strengths are our core patterns of thinking and moving that hold us when life is challenging.
Strength-Based Counselling stems from the fact that
every person is already complete and whole from birth.
It suggests that we focus on our strengths and clear anything else,
including behaviours and patterns, that prevent us from
feeling enough, lovable and complete as beings.
What is your purpose?
Every single person on this planet has a purpose. This does not necessarily mean a big job or great challenge, but more a way of being, moving and quality of life. What is your purpose? Strength-Based Counselling is based upon the concept that if a person builds their own strengths that they can overcome challenges and deal with issues and problems with greater clarity and strength than they may have known.
What are your strengths?
Strengths are not just what someone does. For example, being good at your work or a great parent, partner or colleague can be great attributes, however, there is more. Your strengths are also made up of the unseen characteristics of you. Your warmth, and care and ability to stay steady when things are challenging. Your insight and awareness, your sensitivity and ability to observe. All of these characteristics are the strengths that hold you steady and can support you immensely when there is a program or an issue.
Concepts
4 main concepts that make Strength-Based Counselling unique:
Strength mindset, over a deficiency mindset
Less emphasis on mental health issues and disorders, more focus on already positive aspects of the client’s life
Emphasis on the client being the expert rather than the therapist driving the process.
Supporting Awareness, Growth and Change.
Strength-Based Counselling and Appreciation
Strength-based counselling is all about awareness, growth and change. This starts with the ability to deeply appreciate what it is about us that is a strength.
What is the art of self-appreciation?
What if the way you were moving, speaking and thinking about yourself is making you feel tired, anxious, unhappy and possibly even unwell? How do we de-construct the images that we have about ourselves, both in our behaviours and in how we look and live in the world? How often do we run on auto-pilot, caring for others or about what others think, at the expense of ourselves? How often to we feel the struggle and exhaustion of not being real? Strength-Based Counselling is for those wanting to make a foundational change in their relationship with themselves and therefore others. It supports you through discovering the many simple ways to build your own awareness and strengths including developing self-care, self-love and appreciating who you truly are.
Appreciation is acknowledging the depth of our grandness. It holds us firm when we wobble, it ignites the fire from within and it encourages true expression in every way.
Appreciation confirms and celebrates our beauty as beings, erases jealousy, comparison and lack of self-worth. It is the antidote to self-doubt. Appreciation supports us in every relationship we have including self, family, community, work and the world.
How does Strength-Based Counselling work?
In the Strength-Based process, Kathryn works in stages. The stages take the client through a process that builds upon their strengths and at the same time clears the issues that prevent the client from being in the natural flow of those strengths. These issues may include:
Poor self-esteem
Negative thought patterns and self-talk
Negative Behaviours
Anxiety
Depression
Control issues
Communication and relationship issues
Issues stemming from living with disabilities
How can the Strength-Based therapy approach support you?
Strength-Based therapy can be incorporated into many different therapies. It can address conditions such as:
Depression
Anxiety
Substance abuse/use
Relationships
Emotional issues
Low self-esteem and self-worth
Supporting you to:
Resource your own strengths
Build confidence and restore self-worth
Develop true resilience and steadiness
Build on undeveloped strengths and sharpen tools to support stillness and harmony in the body.
To learn more about Strength-Based Counselling contact Kathryn on 0400 196 519 or send a message here.