Celebrating Strengths
Strength-based practice is one of those phrases that gets thrown around as a great idea, but like that backyard job that sits on the "to-do" list for years, it gets put in the "too hard...I don't have enough time for this" basket.
My heart has always been strength based. Looking for the things that are going well, the talents, gifts, skills and interests the child has and building on these rather than looking for all the things they can't do. It's tricky in the world of reports, where therapists are often asked to write about the child's worst day and highlight all the things they can't do. It just doesn't sit well and no one wants to read that report!
I love to be challenged, to forge ahead with a new way of talking about the AMAZING children that we work with. A way that inspires people to embrace them fully, to include them thoughtfully and to highlight their strengths. I was inspired to believe in peoples strengths, discover their motivations and celebrate their skills not just in word, not just in heart but in all that we do as therapists. I was inspired to make more room for the things that are going well, to acknowledge the true beauty of the gifts and talents that each child is developing. I encourage you to do the same.
We are all different and our difference does not make us less, it just makes us different. There is beauty in difference - the sunset full of a hundred colours is the one that takes our breath away.