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Universal · Self-Esteem

Personal Strengths Inventory

Five domains — how the client uses, underuses, and overuses each

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Strengths inventory for clients who default to what's wrong. Five domains, each with prompts. Then: how the client uses these strengths, where they underuse them, and where they overuse them (every strength has a shadow).

How I think
Curiosity, judgement, love of learning, perspective, creativity
Which of these are true of me? A recent example.
How I persist
Bravery, honesty, patience, discipline, follow-through
Which of these are true of me? A recent example.
How I connect
Kindness, loyalty, humor, warmth, capacity to be moved
Which of these are true of me? A recent example.
How I organize
Fairness, teamwork, leadership, planning, keeping promises
Which of these are true of me? A recent example.
How I hold things
Forgiveness, humility, self-regulation, gratitude, hope
Which of these are true of me? A recent example.
Top three strengths I want to lean on more
Where I underuse them — and one place to try this week
Where I overuse a strength until it becomes a cost (e.g. loyalty → self-abandonment)
Someone who has seen a strength in me before I saw it in myself
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About this worksheet

A strengths inventory for clients who default to what's wrong. Structured across five domains drawn from the character-strengths literature — how I think, how I persist, how I connect, how I organize, how I hold things — each with prompts and space for a recent example. Then the sheet asks three questions most strengths lists don't: which top three does the client want to lean on more, where do they underuse a strength they clearly have, and — critically — where do they overuse a strength until it becomes a cost. Loyalty overused becomes self-abandonment. Discipline overused becomes self-punishment. Kindness overused becomes people-pleasing. Every strength has a shadow, and naming it prevents the worksheet from turning into empty affirmation.

When to use it

  • Depression and low self-esteem where the client can't name a strength unprompted.
  • Burnout, particularly in high-functioning clients whose strengths have become their trap.
  • Chronic self-criticism, perfectionism.
  • Early therapy — establishes a shared vocabulary that isn't only about deficits.
  • Post-treatment reviews — pair with the therapy progress review sheet.

How to use it

  1. 1
    Fill one domain per sitting

    Attempting all five at once flattens the reflection into a checklist. One domain, one recent example, sit with it.

  2. 2
    Always include a recent example

    'I'm kind' is empty; 'yesterday I noticed my colleague was distracted and asked how she was' is real. The example is the strength.

  3. 3
    Ask about underuse

    The most useful field. The strength the client has and doesn't use is where the next intervention often lives.

  4. 4
    Name the shadow

    Where the strength has become a cost. This is the field that separates a strengths inventory from a self-esteem pep talk.

  5. 5
    Borrow an outside witness

    Someone who saw a strength in the client before they saw it themselves. Bypasses the internal filter.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the VIA Character Strengths assessment?+

No — this is a clinical worksheet inspired by the character-strengths tradition but not the VIA instrument. Use the VIA Survey (free at viacharacter.org) for formal assessment; use this sheet for clinical reflection and work with the shadow side of strengths.

What if the client insists they have no strengths?+

Very common in depression. Slow down, use the outside-witness field first, and start with 'how I hold things' (forgiveness, humility, self-regulation) — clients in depression often have strengths in this domain they haven't noticed.

Why include the shadow / overuse column?+

Because a strengths list without the shadow becomes toxic positivity. Naming that loyalty can become self-abandonment or that discipline can become self-punishment is what makes the sheet clinically useful, not just affirming.

Is this worksheet free?+

Yes. Free printable PDF. Sign in to TherapistAssist to send as a secure client link.

Worksheet — Personal Strengths Inventory — provided by TherapistAssist for clinical use. Not a substitute for assessment or treatment.