Prompt Library

Strengths & Identity

Twelve prompts for the work of seeing oneself clearly. Useful for Tier 1 classroom guidance, for clients rebuilding identity after a setback, and as a counterweight in caseloads where every other intervention is deficit-focused. Strong identity work is preventive medicine.

12 prompts Approx. ages 6 through adult ASCA-aligned (M1, M3, M5)

Before you begin

Strengths-based work has a research base older than most clinicians realize. Saleebey's strengths perspective in social work (1996) and Rashid's positive psychotherapy (2015) are the academic anchors; resilience research from Ann Masten's lab — what she calls "ordinary magic" (Masten, 2014) — gives the empirical backbone. The point is not toxic positivity. It is the well-evidenced finding that what clients can build on is at least as clinically actionable as what is broken, and often more.

Spotting strength

1. The team in your corner

Resourcing · Ages 6+
"Build a circle of everyone — or everything — that has your back. People, animals, characters from books, anyone. Real or imagined. They can be standing close or far, in any order."
What to watch for Note who is there, where they're placed, and who is missing. Pets and stuffed animals count and matter. Photograph or screenshot the build — clients return to this image when they're depleted, and it becomes a touchstone across the work.
Strengths-based / resource installation aligned with EMDR (Korn & Leeds, 2002); attachment-informed support mapping (Bowlby, 1969/1982).

2. Build a scene of you doing what you do well

Strength spotlight · Ages 6+
"Pick something you're good at — anything. Big or small. Build a tiny scene of you doing it."
What to watch for For clients who insist they're not good at anything, don't argue. Try: "What's something you're better at than you used to be?" The reframe to growth-over-time often unlocks more than absolute claims of skill (Dweck, 2006). Note the body — strengths usually open the chest, soften the voice. If they don't, sit with that.
VIA character strengths framework (Peterson & Seligman, 2004); growth mindset (Dweck, 2006).

3. A time you handled something hard

Past mastery · Ages 8+
"Build a scene from a time something was hard and you got through it. Doesn't have to be the biggest hard. Just a real one."
What to watch for Resilience research finds that past mastery is one of the strongest predictors of future coping — and that clients regularly underestimate their own track record (Masten, 2014). This prompt is mining the record. Ask one open question after the build: "Who or what helped you get through?"
Self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1997); resilience research (Masten, 2014); narrative "unique outcomes" (White, 2007).

Holding identity

4. Roles you wear

Identity multiplicity · Ages 10+
"You are a lot of different things to different people — and to yourself. Build a scene that shows the different roles you wear. Sister, student, friend, soccer player, helper, anything. Place them however the relationship between them feels right."
What to watch for Distance, hierarchy, and overlap among the roles say a lot. A role placed far from the rest may be one the client feels disconnected from or pressured into. A central role is often the one the client most identifies with. Watch for missing roles too — what wasn't placed.
Internal Family Systems "parts" mapping (Schwartz, 2021); narrative therapy multiplicity (White, 2007).

5. What's been true for a long time about you

Stable self · Ages 8+
"Build a scene that shows something that's been true about you for as long as you can remember. Something that hasn't really changed, even when other things did."
What to watch for For clients in transition or upheaval, this prompt anchors. It often surfaces values rather than achievements — kindness, fairness, curiosity, humor. Save the screenshot; the image of "what doesn't change" can be returned to when life is changing too fast.
ACT values clarification (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 2012); IFS Self leadership (Schwartz, 2021).

6. The best version of you on a regular Tuesday

Achievable identity · Ages 10+
"Forget the highlight reel. Build a scene of the best version of you on an ordinary day. Walking to class. Talking to your sister. Eating lunch. The everyday version — but the best version of that."
What to watch for Most identity work asks clients to imagine their grandest possible self. This prompt is the opposite — concrete, scaled, repeatable. The "best Tuesday" is something a client can actually become. Often more powerful than future-self prompts that feel out of reach.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy committed action work (Hayes et al., 2012); ASCA Mindset M5 (using abilities to fullest in everyday work).

Becoming who you are

7. Who you'd be if no one was watching

Authentic self · Ages 12+
"Build a scene of you doing or being something you'd love, if no one was watching, no one was judging, no one had opinions. Anything at all."
What to watch for Especially powerful in adolescence, when identity is heavily mediated through peer perception. Clients sometimes can't access this prompt the first time; it's worth coming back to in a later session. A client whose tray looks identical to their performed self has clinical material there too.
Self-determination theory's autonomy construct (Deci & Ryan, 2000); compassionate self work (Gilbert, 2010).

8. What helps you become more you

Identity supports · Ages 10+
"Build a scene of the things — places, people, music, hobbies, anything — that make you feel more like yourself. Not what you do because you should. What makes you feel like you."
What to watch for Treatment-planning gold. The figures that show up here are concrete coping resources you can name in a treatment plan: spends time at the skate park; listens to particular music; cooks with grandmother. These are the activities to protect during heavy clinical periods, not abandon.
Behavioral activation principles (Martell, Dimidjian, & Herman-Dunn, 2010); ACT values-based action (Hayes et al., 2012).

9. A symbol of what's strong in you, even when it doesn't feel that way

Installed strength · Ages 10+
"Pick or build one thing — a figure, an object, a small scene — that stands for something strong in you. Something that's true even on the days when you can't feel it."
What to watch for This is resource installation: the client is intentionally creating an internal anchor they can return to under duress. After the session, screenshot or photograph the symbol and offer it to the client to keep on their phone or bedroom wall. Crossover use during crisis ("remember the eagle?") is genuinely effective.
EMDR resource installation (Korn & Leeds, 2002); compassionate image work (Gilbert, 2010).

Self across time

10. What you'd want a younger you to know

Self-compassion · Ages 12+
"Build a scene of a younger you — five, eight, twelve — going through something hard. Then put a figure of you, now, in the scene. What does the older you bring? Stand near them, sit beside them, speak — whatever feels right."
What to watch for This is one of the most clinically generative prompts in the library. It activates the compassionate self toward the younger self, which is often easier to access than self-compassion in the present tense. Many clients cry. Hold the silence; do not interpret. A small "Mmm" is enough.
Compassion-focused therapy (Gilbert, 2010); inner-child work in IFS (Schwartz, 2021); rescripting protocols (Arntz & Weertman, 1999).

11. Build a hero — but they're you

Re-authoring · Ages 8+
"Build a hero. Anyone you want — fairy tale, action movie, regular person who does brave things. But here's the thing: it's secretly you. What kind of hero are you?"
What to watch for The choice of hero — armed, healing, hidden, leading, lone-wolf, team-based — tells you how the client narrates strength. A "secret hero" is sometimes safer than direct self-affirmation, especially for clients who recoil from explicit praise. Save the screenshot.
Narrative therapy re-authoring (White, 2007); hero's journey in clinical narrative work (Pearson, 1998).

12. You in five years, doing something you love

Future self · Ages 12+
"Build a scene of you, five years from now. Older. Doing something you love. Don't worry about whether it's realistic — what matters is that it feels like you."
What to watch for Clients who can't access a future self at all have important clinical material — depression, hopelessness, trauma-related foreshortened future. Clients whose future self is wildly disconnected from their present (mansions, fame) may be in compensatory fantasy; that's also useful data. The most clinically rich futures are specific, modest, and recognizable as the same person.
Possible selves theory (Markus & Nurius, 1986); foreshortened-future indicator in trauma (Schultz et al., 2017); ACT values-anchored future (Hayes et al., 2012).

For school counselors specifically

This library is among the most school-friendly. Several prompts work as a single Tier 1 classroom guidance lesson with a small group, especially #1 (team in your corner), #4 (roles), and #11 (hero). The 15-Minute Tier 2 Protocol can be done with #2 or #6 substituted in for the three-figure check-in when you want a strengths-leaning session.

For students returning after a disciplinary incident: lead with #3 (a time you handled something hard) and #11 (the hero). The framing communicates "you are bigger than this incident" without bypassing accountability.

ASCA Mindset alignment is broad — most prompts here support M1 (whole self), M3 (positive attitude), M5 (using abilities). Cite directly in your guidance lesson plans.

Citations & Further Reading

  1. Arntz, A., & Weertman, A. (1999). Treatment of childhood memories: Theory and practice. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37(8), 715–740.
  2. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W. H. Freeman.
  3. Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss, vol. 1: Attachment (2nd ed.). Basic Books. (Original work published 1969)
  4. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.
  5. Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
  6. Gilbert, P. (2010). Compassion focused therapy: Distinctive features. Routledge.
  7. Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2012). Acceptance and commitment therapy: The process and practice of mindful change (2nd ed.). Guilford.
  8. Korn, D. L., & Leeds, A. M. (2002). Preliminary evidence of efficacy for EMDR resource development and installation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(12), 1465–1487.
  9. Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41(9), 954–969.
  10. Martell, C. R., Dimidjian, S., & Herman-Dunn, R. (2010). Behavioral activation for depression. Guilford.
  11. Masten, A. S. (2014). Ordinary magic: Resilience in development. Guilford.
  12. Pearson, C. S. (1998). The hero within: Six archetypes we live by. HarperOne.
  13. Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford University Press.
  14. Rashid, T. (2015). Positive psychotherapy: A strength-based approach. Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(1), 25–40.
  15. Saleebey, D. (1996). The strengths perspective in social work practice: Extensions and cautions. Social Work, 41(3), 296–305.
  16. Schwartz, R. C. (2021). No bad parts: Healing trauma and restoring wholeness with the Internal Family Systems model. Sounds True.
  17. White, M. (2007). Maps of narrative practice. W. W. Norton.