Support Worker Resources

When we use a strengths-based approach with children, it can help to:

• empower children with knowledge 

• develop confidence and language 

• foster curiosity to learn about others 

• encourage appreciation of differences

• improve their realisation that the world needs lots of different strengths 

• highlight positive features

Allison et.al. (2003) argue that 'evidence supports ...... work that advocates a strengths perspective, and highlights how resilience framed in family (and social) rather than individual terms enables a greater appreciation of how strengths may be harnessed' (p. 263).

With parents and families, a strengths-based approach can help support workers to:

• show gratitude for each other’s strengths 

• appreciate differences 

• take some of the tension out of the relationship when they realise why some children behave the way they do (or their partners)
  

When working with children from these communities, it can be useful to use a strengths-based approach to:

• develop an appreciation of the sense of meaning defence personnel attribute to service (e.g. through rituals)
  

• develop an appreciation of the dedication to supporting the community that first responder families have

• understand the importance of support within the community (formal and informal) 

• develop an appreciation of self-regulation (self-control ) to follow directions from command
  

• appreciate the defence and first responder community's value of bravery and perseverance (resilience).

To summarise, we need to ask 'What's strong?' rather than 'What's wrong?' This can be very difficult to do because most of us are used to working with a deficit-based approach.

Something to consider: Reflecting on your professional work with young children and their families, how would you define and explain a strengths-based approach to colleagues during a team meeting?