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STAR

Guide Number 5

Developing Strengths,

Skills & Goals Mental Health Services

January 2012

Developing Strengths, Skills and Goals

System to Aid Recovery 2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

These Guides are derived from the contributions of many health

professionals, primarily the late Professor Ian Falloon.

This Guide Belongs To: __________________________________________

Clinical Therapist Name:

________________________________________________________________

Contact Number:_______________________________________________

Date Received:_________________________________________________

Date Completed:_______________________________________________

Key Support Person:_____________________________________________

Doctor/Psychiatrist:______________________________________________



INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE

The System To Aid Recovery (STAR) provided by Mental Health Services is

made up of a series of Guides. These Guides are designed to strengthen

your skills and knowledge and to support your treatment plan. They will be

of most benefit when you participate as fully as you can in the process. The

Guides are designed for you and your family and provide information about

how to manage mental disorders and their impact.

Reflective Questions

Questions designed to help you think about the information and begin

applying it.

Summary

A small review of what was covered in the Guide.

Worksheets

Activities designed to help with your recovery.

Education

Information on mental disorders and strategies for recovery.

Notes

These pages are designed for you to write down any questions and to write

notes that you find interesting or helpful.

The Goal of this Guide

To help consumers and families recognize and utilize their strengths in

treatment and recovery and to develop skills that support the recovery

process.


INTRODUCTION

This Guide on Developing Strength, Skills and Goals will help you to explore

the more positive aspects of your life and to identify current strengths and

skills that can be built on to assist in the treatment and recovery process.

These strengths and skills relate to you whilst there may be resources you

can identify within your family, social networks or community.

Firstly, you will need to spend time with your Clinical Therapist going through

the first section of this Guide which reflects on your existing strengths. Then

you can have a look at your skills and decide which of your skills support

recovery and treatment and which skills you could develop.

We have also included a section on goal setting

to help focus the direction of treatment. There are

four sections in this Guide to help you. They are:

1. Strengths, skills and recovery.

2. Applying your strengths.

3. Skills identification and plan.

4. Goal Setting.

Remember: These may take some time to work through. It is a good idea to

take your time and work with your Clinical Therapist and supportive family

and friends.

1. STRENGTHS, SKILLS AND RECOVERY

Being aware of your strengths and skills is a great way to start looking at

what tools you already have which can assist in recovering from your

disorder and/or managing the disorder over long periods of time.

The difference between strength and skills can be seen this way;

Strength is something which all people have like talents, positive attitude,

patience and confidence. Looking at strength is about opening up new

opportunities and focusing on the possibilities rather than the problems.

Alternatively a skill is something that you can do, like riding a bike, reading

and writing, holding conversations.

The reason strengths and skills are looked at during treatment is to improve

your quality of life, sense of competency and life satisfaction. They are

designed to help you achieve your goals and to achieve mutually satisfying

relationships between people like landlords, employers, friends, clergy,

teachers and others.

The purpose of focusing on your strengths is to assist you in identifying,

securing and sustaining the range of resources from both the environment

and personally that you need to live and work and rest.

People who

are successful

in living use

their

strengths to

attain their

aspirations

Charles A Rapp 1998




Worksheet 5A - WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS?

Have a look at this sheet and circle any strengths you feel you have.

Energetic

Honest

Happy

Creative

Co-operative

Democratic

Warm

Adaptable

Positive

Resourceful

Resilient



Page 2-Worksheet 5A Strengths Continued

Patient

Reliable

Organised

Responsible

Add additional

Strengths Here

This activity is adapted from the strengths based cards

activity available from St Luke’s in Bendigo Australia

www.stlukes.org.au

http://www.stlukes.org.au/



2. APPLYING YOUR STRENGTHS

Now that you have been able to identify you strengths, have a look at the

table on the next page and begin exploring how your strengths relate to

your recovery and treatment.

You will see an example in the first line which

will give you an idea of how to complete this

table.

When you look at the “what do I want to do in

the future” column it will be important to begin

thinking about goals you may have already set

with your Clinical Therapist. These goals can be

longer term or may be short term goals. If you

have not currently set any goals refer to the

end of this Guide for some pointers on goal

setting.



Worksheet 5B - STRENGTHS APPLICATION

What’s going on

today? (Choose a

current dilemma)

What has

worked for me

in the past?

What do I

want to do

in the future

Relevant

Strengths

Example:

Forgot to take

medication

Notes to myself

Take my

medication as

prescribed

Persistence

Patience

Tenacity



3. SKILLS IDENTIFICATION AND PLAN

Research shows that several skills are important to recovery. They include;

Communication (Guide 6).

Problem analysis and problem Solving (Guide 7).

Stress management (Guide 4).

Anger management (Guide 18).

Coping with substance use (Guide 31).

Developing rewarding activities (Guide 19).

Vocational and employment skills (Guide 26).

Developing and maintaining relationships (Guide 25).

Managing housing (Guide 28).

The System To Aid Recovery (STAR) has separate targeted therapies and/or

Guides in each of these areas. You can use the following inventory with

your Clinical Therapist to help identify possible areas of strength and areas

for learning.

Work your way through this list to identify existing skills. When you have

completed it come back here and complete the following three

statements.

Q. When you think about your skills, what three things do you think you do best?

1. _______________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________

Q. Which of your these skills do you see as relevant to your treatment and

recovery?

1. _________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________



Worksheet 5C-SPECIFIC SKILLS INVENTORY

Communication Skills

Putting across our positive

feelings

Putting across our unpleasant

feelings

Turning down requests

Listing to other people

Beginning and ending

conversations

Telephoning people inviting

them to participate in something

Writing letters

Anger Management

Coping with unpleasant feelings

Leaving stressful situations

Responding to untrue

accusations

Expressing angry feelings

Responding to criticism

Taking a time out

Disagreement with another’s

opinion without arguing

Waiting for your request to be

granted

Problem Solving

Decision making

Looking at alternative actions

Planning and taking steps to

resolve issues

Developing strategies

Reviewing progress

Family

Caring for babies or children

Caring for sick children

Caring for a group of children

Caring for a child (not your own)

overnight

Housing

Knowledge of first aid or CPR

Caring for a pet

Cooking

Shopping

Banking

Paying bills

Garden maintenance

Employment Skills

Listening to others

Following verbal instructions


Asking for feedback about job

performance

Joining ongoing conversations

at work

Disagreeing with another’s

opinion without arguing

Asking for information

Solving problems

Coping with Substance use

Coping with negative feelings

Employing alternatives to drugs

and alcohol use

Refusing alcohol or street drugs

Leaving stressful situations

Utilising social supports

Compromise and negotiations


Solving problems

Developing Intimate Relationships

Giving complements

Accepting compliments

Asking someone for a date

Expressing affection

Refusing unwanted sexual

advances

Compromise and negotiation

Stress and Relaxation

Knowing how to relax

Having identified methods for

dealing with stress

Saying no to stressful events

Rewarding Activities

Having a defined hobby

Doing this hobby regularly

Organizing yourself

Planning for spending time on

activities.



4. GOAL SETTING

This activity is designed to help you get the very best out of setting your

personal goals. Personal goal setting is a process with stages you can work

through in order to set and achieve goals. It's not always easy knowing

what it is you want when you're beginning to set goals.

When you set out to achieve a goal or goals, you want to be sure that goal

belongs to you and not anyone else. For example, if you have a weight loss

goal, make sure your goal is 100% what you want and that it is not simply a

goal to please someone else. To be successful in setting and achieving your

personal goals, you must:

Be clear about your own personal values.

Be clear about what it is you want.

Know what it will mean to you personally to have it and the

positive changes it will bring into your life.

Take some time now to consider what is important to you in life at this

particular time. For instance, when you think about your health, what are

the things you value most highly? Write a list of 3 things you consider to be

of personal importance:



Once you've compiled your list, rank them in order of priority - for example,

supposing ‘taking medication’ is the first value on your list of 3. Is this where it

belongs - in 3rd place or do you value it much higher in, say, 1st place?

Place a number to the left of your list to reflect their order of importance.

Your top value should be No. 1 and so on.

How to write your goal:

Being goal smart means that when you write your personal goal or goals,

they are specific and clearly define the positive changes you want to bring

into your life. You will also need to phrase your goal in positive terms, using

positive language. That means - no use of the terms 'try, attempt, must, must

not'.

Do any of the following represent one or more of any of your own written

personal smart goals?

Example of goal-setting with negative focus:

I must lose weight.

I must eat less sugary food.

I must stop eating junk food.

I must do more exercise.

When you focus on the negative aspect, you put pressure on yourself. What do

you suppose happens when you tell yourself you must do something? The more

you tell yourself this, or, that you must not do something, the more you are

programming your brain to focus on the bad habit. When you keep it

realistically positive, your focus becomes positive too;

that's being goal smart!

Example of goals that are vague:

Take regular exercise and get into shape.

Eat more healthily.

Take better care of my skin.

Try not to get so stressed.

While the above are valid and worthwhile goals,

what they all have in common is, they are vague. If you consider 'take

regular exercise and get into shape' for example, a definition of regular will

differ from person to person. Regular might mean daily but it could just as

easily mean weekly or fortnightly. The same applies to 'get into shape', what

does that mean to you? Are you aiming to get into a clothes size 10, 12, 14

or just to achieve an overall level of fitness. Be specific and state exactly

what it is you want.



Some goal smart examples with positive focus:

Take a look at the following re-written example of smart goals. They are

goal smart because they focus specifically on the positive changes you

want to bring in.

S - specific, significant, stretching.

M - measurable, meaningful, motivational.

A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented.

R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented.

T - time-based, timely, tangible, track-able.

Smart goal examples with a positive focus

Get fit by exercising 3 times per week.

Eat a healthy low fat diet.

Cleanse and moisturise my face twice daily.

Enrol in a relaxation exercise course to combat stress.

Have a go at setting a goal

S

M

A

R

T A goal smart strategy is to have a reward lined up: A most important part of

your personal goal settings is to ensure you set yourself a reward you will

reap once you have achieved your goal - something to aim for. It doesn't

have to be extravagant. Just something you regard as a 'treat', - a token to

say 'well done' once you've met your weekly target. For now, go ahead

and set yourself a small reward.



NOTES:

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We Value Your Feedback Date: _____/______/_____

This evaluation is designed to provide feedback regarding the System to

Aid Recovery (STAR). Please take a moment to fill in this form and return it to

either your Clinical Therapist or to the reception desk. You may like to post it

in by sending it to South West Healthcare Mental Health Services, Koroit

Street, Warrnambool, Vic 3280.

If 1 is the worst it could possibly be and 5 is the best, rate the following

statements about this STAR Guide and associated activities

Was the Guide… 1 2 3 4 5

Easy to read?

Easy to understand?

Easy to follow?

Suited to your needs?

Were the activities in the Guide… 1 2 3 4 5

Useful?

Easy to follow?

Did they work?

1. Did you complete most of the activities in this Guide with your

Clinical Therapist or did you complete them in your own time?

Clinical Therapist Completed in own time

Did not complete most of the activities

2. Were there any problems with this material?

Yes No Unsure

3. What were they?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

4. What recommendations do you have for improvements?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Thank You – This form is private and confidential

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