Discussion: Identifying Personal Strengths in Counseling

There are many core skills that are critical to becoming a successful counseling professional. Empathy for the client, active listening, and authenticity are some of the skills that are key to understanding and helping clients. You will be better able to develop these skills once you have assessed your own strengths and challenges. Understanding your existing strengths and objectively assessing challenges you may face are key to building core counseling skills.

For this Discussion, you will take the Survey of Character Strengths from the VIA Institute on Character. This self-assessment will help you analyze your character strengths, and act as a foundation for developing critical counseling skills. It can also aid you in developing your Self-Care Plan.

To Prepare:

• Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider your personal character strengths and how they will contribute to your counseling skill development.
• Take the VIA Survey of Character Strengths found in the Learning Resources and save your results for your Discussion.

By Day 3

Based on your VIA survey results, post an analysis and explain the strengths that will help you thrive as a counselor. Discuss any results that you found surprising, as well as results that you were expecting.

Read your colleagues’ postings.

By Day 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues’ posts. Note what similarities and differences you observe in your assessment results. Discuss how these strengths might complement each other in a professional counseling setting.

Return to this Discussion to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any insights that you have gained because of your colleagues’ comments.