More About Character Inner-Strengths,

Self-Resilience and Positive Psychology

Related Counseling 

As your holistic WellBalance™ collaborator, I believe it is informative for you to know which Character Inner-Strengths I personally bring to our Proactive SheChange™ counseling process.

for more info about Signature Character Strengths & the Positive Psychology approaches, or to take the VIA Survey, please click here:

A person’s Character Strengths, especially those marked as the Top 5 Signature [Highest] Personal Strengths, as they are outlined by Social Scientist, and Positive Psychology, founder, Dr. Seligman and his staff are, “the ones to pay attention to and find ways to use and nurture more often,” throughout our lives, in order to successfully bring about an increased sense of positive-self regard, health, and authentic happiness.

Values-In-Action[VIA] Character Inner-Strengths are related to the ageless Virtues In Action (the virtues of Wisdom & Knowledge, Courage, Humanity & Love, Justice, Temperance, Transcendence).  Discovering what your Signature Character Strengths are contributes to your knowing who you are. 

Isn’t that one of the essential life questions we all want answered? (“Who am I?”) Character is different from personality, aptitude and talent in this way; your Signature VIA Character Strengths define you at your core mind-body-spirit Self in a wholly positive manner. They're what some call, your "Higher Self", and are important indicators of your unique Life's Purpose.

"Indeed, Aristotle argued that actions undertaken for external reasons are not Virtuous, precisely because they are coaxed or coerced."  

         ~ Dr. Martin Seligman

 

According to Dr. Seligman, Positive Psychology has 3 pillars:

1. the study of positive emotions.

2. the study of positive traits, foremost among them the strengths and virtues, but also the "abilities" such as intelligence and athleticism.

3. the study of positive institutions, such as democracy, strong families, and free inquiry, that support the virtues, which in turn support our positive emotions.

The positive emotions of confidence, hope, and trust, for example, serve us best not when life is easy, but when life is difficult. Which is why they can be powerful allies for clients who often come to seek help precisely because you the chances are great that you've lost meaningful connection with these positive emotions.

Additionally, Dr. Seligman’s landmark research on finding authentic
happiness through cultivating our Character Strengths and Self-Resilience reverberates with the essence of our most ageless wisdoms, which have also informed us that, “by identifying the very best of ourselves, [even in the face of great adversity] we can improve the world around us and achieve new and sustainable levels of authentic contentment, gratification, and meaning.”

In my work with interested clients, we'll use the VIA [Values-In-Action] Character Strengths Survey to identify your 5 Signature [Highest] Character Strengths, measured on a scale of all 24 Character Strengths.  

This empirical tool has been rigorously developed through the relatively new Science of Positive Psychology (pioneered by Martin Seligman starting in 1998) over the years. 

It's an effective tool to use to further develop a solid sense of healthy self-regard as well as help identify and honor what matters most to you in life.  It can greatly assist you to identify and create a purposed/ purposeful and meaningful lifestyle or lifework that you love. 

In addition, the VIA approach can be used to help increase an innate Character Strength, which you might choose to further develop;

such as Gratitude, which is the Character Strength that correlates with the highest level of life satisfaction and authentic happiness, according to Dr. Seligman.

So I trust that you can see how mindful use of this client-affirmative tool from the Science of Positive Psychology dove tails succinctly with my long held preference of using a strengths-based perspective as a guide to helping you to successfully make positive change in areas that actually matter most to your deepest "quality of life" needs . . . which at the same time restores your inherent peace of mind . . .

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 So here's my Top 5 Character Signature Inner-Strengths, according to my March, 2011 VIA Survey of Character Strengths results:

1^st Character Inner-Strength ~ Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith
Having strong and coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the Universe; knowing where she fits “in the larger scheme”. A womin whose beliefs shape her actions, and are a source of genuine comfort for her.

2^nd Character Inner-Strength ~ Honesty, authenticity, and genuineness
An honest womin, not only by speaking the truth, but by living her life in a genuine and authentic way.  Down to earth and without pretense; a womin who enjoys being thought of as being a "real" person.

3^rd Character Inner-Strength ~ Kindness and generosity
A womin who is kind and generous to others, and who is never too busy to “do a good turn”.  A womin who enjoys doing good deeds for others, even if she does not know them well.

4^th Character Inner-Strength ~ Judgment, critical thinking, and open-mindedness
Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who she is. As a womin who does not jump to conclusions, she relies mainly on solid evidence to make important decisions. She's a womin who is able to change her mind [in light of new evidence/ information].

5^th Character Inner-Strength ~ Love of learning
A womin who loves learning new things, whether in a class or on her own. She has always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

Authentic happiness comes from identifying and cultivating your most fundamental strengths and using them every day in work, love, play, and parenting.

 ~ Martin Seligman

 

You will free your Self when you learn to be neutral and follow the instructions of your heart without letting things perturb you . . .This is the Way of Maat . . .

                ~ Kmt / Afrikan Spiritual Wisdom

 

Hopefully, this gives you some insight as to how it is that my own strengths, philosophy and working style are authentically geared to enhance your individual [and unconventional] growth and independence.

And how they'll enable me to naturally see, promote and encourage your own unique abilities and authentic sense of Self-Balance, confidence, and capacity while assisting you to;

• identify, face and make difficult life choices;
  
• to recognize and exercise your own inner-most intuitive capacity to discover and act upon what is "best for you" in resolving your problems;
  
• and indeed, to learn to honor and utilize your most fundamental Character Strengths in your day-to day process.
  

And just to clarify ~ while I prefer to use this particular approach when working with you ~ it'll be completely up to you to decide whether you wish to use this Character Signature Inner-Strengths approach as part of your own Proactive ReShape™ SheChange Plan™. 

We'll typically discuss your decision during our first session. Also, if you initially decide to not include this approach in your plan, you're always free to include it at any point during the course of our mutual process.

Honoring that we each have an innate psyche/ body and energetic wisdom as to how to move ourselves beyond our mental and emotional places of being stuck, or in pain due to personal problems is essential in my working with you to help you to find a renewed sense of day-to-day SistahPeacefully WellBalanced™ Self-Regard.

I believe that everyone needs to be listened to sincerely, supported and mindfully encouraged through the course of her process of ReShape™ Self-SheChange™ renewal, growth and transformational SheChange™.

 . . . I'll proactively work with and assist you as you progressively resolve or minimize those places of difficulty, crises, distresses or procrastinations that have significantly frustrated, impeded or derailed you . . . and in doing so have also impaired your inherent peace of mind . . .

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DISCLAIMER: All information on our site and regarding our products is provided for informational / educational purposes only and should not be used  as a substitute for the advice of your own medical/ health care professional.

Please do not use the information supplied by SistahPeace WellBalance™. . . to diagnose or treat any health problem or disease. If you suspect that you have a medical problem /condition, please consult your medical/ holistic health care professional.





 Wise Quotes To Actively Live By:

Enlightenment is but a recognition, not a change at all.  ~  Anonymous

We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.

     ~  The Talmud