The client- the client is an 11-year-old male. He has been bullied about his appearance/height for an extended period of time. His parents do not live together and often fight. His two cousins live with him, who he does not get along with. Him and his sister have a good relationship. He does not get to see his father as often as he would like. The client came in with behavioral challenges, he was not respecting his parents, teachers or any elders. He also came in with an extremely low self esteem due to bullying.

Strength based approach was used to helps the client focus on his strengths and positive attributes as opposed to his weaknesses/ what he can’t do. This helped him see the good in himself which boosted his self-esteem and strengthened his sense of self. An activity we did was for the client to go home and each day write one positive or good thing he did- helped someone, respected his mom’s decision when it wasn’t the outcome he had hoped for… he did this each day for a week.

This helped him see all the good and positive things he does. It shows him that he is capable and that he has skills, which he believed he did not have as a result of the bullying.  He reports having a better self-image and does his best to ignore or filter out what the bullies at school say about him. The client explained that the disrespect would come from a place of insecurity. He expressed that he now listens when his mom or teacher tells him to do something, he removes himself from bad situations at school, no longer engages with the bullies and is putting more effort into his schoolwork.