ECCAY RESOURCES

The ECCAY resources can help professionals to use in practice the solution focused knowledge they have just acquired.

Exercise nr. 22

THE STRENGHTS CARDS

Minimum number of participants	Average time length	Individual setting	Group setting	Special Equipment	Unit	Online	Challenges/ competition
2	1h	yes	yes	The set of Strengths cards	1,3,4	yes	no

This exercise was inspired by using the “Strengths Cards” created by Prof. Ilona Boniwel and Dr. Charles Martin-Krumm as it can be a relevant support to work with young people at risk of social exclusion in the SFA mindset.

The strength cards are a set of 50 cards. Each one contains a photograph with the name of the strength on the front and on the back questions to identify it, its description and suggestions to both activate and develop it.

These cards can be used in many ways:

Individual setting: The client chooses 3 that they consider to be their most significant strengths.
Group setting: Each person chooses 3 cards that they consider to be their most significant strengths. This exercise can be completed by asking the participants to sort one or more strengths identified in the other participants. It is a ludic exercise because the participants move around the table putting them in an active position, consult the cards but do not take them, and must succeed in choosing 3 cards out of the 50 proposed.

In both cases, another exercise may be suggested: activate during a defined time a strength who would like to gain and see at the next session what happened. The use of scales would be relevant: On a scale of 0 to 10, the participant assesses where he/she is at the start and at the next session what change has progressed.

Toggle all

Aim / Benefits

Identifying one's strengths can foster optimism and self-confidence which are factors that encourage a dynamic of change. Appreciation of one's own strengths by other participants plus awareness of the potential of other participants help to create a positive group identity, and foster a collaborative work.

Proposing to acquire a desired force will take him out of his comfort zone and show him that there are other alternatives that he can control.

UNIT(s) related

UNIT 1: SFA considers the client as the expert of his/her own life. In this approach, the professional helps the youth to recognize existing resources, promotes a positive attitude, and works to lessen self-blame and self-deprecation. This creates hope in their empowerment.

UNIT 3: In this exercise youth are guided to discover alternative narratives about themselves, to perceive their own resources for problem solving and to consciously use them. It shows relationships as mutual influence and cooperative systems. The activity of each person identifying his or her strengths can be an opportunity for others to reflect on themselves, on how they look at others, and can change their way of thinking.

UNIT 4: This exercise is relevant in group work, as participants can realise the benefits of peer-to-peer interaction, thus promoting collaborative work.

How to do the exercise

Step 1 / Preparation:
Put all the cards on a table. Then give the instructions:
Here are 50 cards representing Strengths. Look at them carefully, briefly look at the description on the back to make your choice easier. You choose 3 of them representing the ones you consider as your main strengths, and name one you would like to gain.

Please do not take the cards so that everyone has a complete range of choices but you can write your choices on a paper. Then you will be asked to do two things:
1.     Please explain your choice to the others participants:
2.     Please provide concrete examples of times you have seen the other participants use the strengths they choose.

Step 2 / In turn, each participant explains his/her choices of 3 strengths to the others participants:
·        Why have you chosen these ones? Can you describe some examples of situations where you have used each of them?
·        Do you like having this strength?"
·        Why would you like to gain the strength named? What would it enable you to do?

Step 3/ In turn, each participant cites the strengths identified to the others:
Please give concrete examples of times you have seen or heard them use their strengths

Final step / Conclusion: You should invite the group to do a break before debriefing.

Debrief

In this step, you can ask them questions helping participants to analyse the activity experience in a more Solution oriented way. Following this logic, examples of questions you could ask.

·        Was this game helpful to you?
·        If not, why not ?
·        If yes, how was it useful?
·        What did you learn about yourself as a person in doing this activity?
·        What did you learn about the group, while doing this activity?

Specific materials

The set of STRENGTHS CARDS are available in English, French, German, Dutch in www.positran.fr
The cost is: 24€ (postage not included).
These cards can be used in many situations in face-to-face situations, in group sessions, in training, in coaching. But they can also be used in family, in team work…

Tips and Tricks

Make sure that this exercise takes place in a pleasant atmosphere.

Make it clear that this is not a competition between them, there are no good or less good strengths, but what is important is to identify in a positive way the potential they have to find solutions to the situations they encounter and that this potential is not fixed once and for all, but that it can evolve if they believe in their abilities. This is why suggesting to activate a resource they think they don't have is a way to experiment with. And if at the next session, the goal is not reached, the focus could be discussing about the step forward that has been made. The use of scales is a good technique for this.

On-line version

This exercise is relevant in a face-to-face setting because it puts the participants in motion around a table in a pleasant atmosphere conducive to creating links between them.

But it could be done online in small groups of 4 to 6. This requires the facilitator to create a slideshow with the card game.

Bibliography - Sitography

The Strengths Cards have been created by practitioner researchers in Positive Psychology. www.positran.fr

Strengths Theory is a central concept in Positive Psychology. These cards are used extensively in coaching but seem a useful technique for other approaches like SFA.

<< Back to exercises Print icon